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1.1 ACP-120 Exam Structure, Blueprint & Testing Strategy

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Atlassian Certified Professional - Jira Administration for Cloud ACP-120

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1 Chapter 1: Exam Overview, Blueprint & Jira Cloud Fundamentals

1.1 ACP-120 Exam Structure, Blueprint & Testing Strategy 1.2 Jira Cloud Architecture, Products & Admin Hierarchy

2 Chapter 2: Organizations, Managed Accounts & Global Access

2.1 Atlassian Organizations, Domain Verification & Managed Accounts 2.2 Atlassian Guard, SAML SSO, SCIM & Authentication Policies 2.3 Site Access, Product Access Tiers & Global Permissions 2.4 User Directory Architecture: Groups vs. Project Roles

3 Chapter 3: Project Permissions & Issue-Level Security Schemes

3.1 Permission Scheme Mechanics & Critical Project Permissions 3.2 Permission Troubleshooting, Additive Permissions & Permission Helper 3.3 Issue Security Schemes, Security Levels & Access Containment

4 Chapter 4: Project Configuration, Types, Versions & Boards

4.1 Company-Managed vs. Team-Managed Project Architecture 4.2 Project Templates, Project Keys & Project Categories 4.3 Project Components, Component Leads & Default Assignees 4.4 Versions, Fix Versions, Release Lifecycles & Project Archiving 4.5 Scrum and Kanban Board Configuration, Board Filters & Columns

5 Chapter 5: Issue Types, Custom Fields, Screens & Schemes

5.1 Standard vs. Sub-task Issue Types & Issue Type Schemes 5.2 Custom Field Types, Global vs. Project Contexts & Options 5.3 Field Configurations, Renderers, Hiding & Required Fields 5.4 Screens, Screen Schemes & Issue Type Screen Schemes

6 Chapter 6: Workflows — Company-Managed and Team-Managed

6.1 Statuses, Status Categories, Direct & All-to-One Global Transitions 6.2 Transition Rules: Conditions vs. Validators 6.3 Post Functions, Execution Order & Resolution Management 6.4 Workflow Schemes, Editing Active Workflows & Status Migration 6.5 Team-Managed Workflows, Statuses & Workflow Rules

7 Chapter 7: Jira Cloud Automation

7.1 Automation Engine, Rule Architecture & Event Triggers 7.2 Automation Conditions, Smart Values & String/Date Expressions 7.3 Branch Rules, Related Issues, Sub-tasks & Parent Epics 7.4 Rule Scopes, Automation Usage, Audit Logs & Error Handling

8 Chapter 8: Notifications, Events, Personal Settings & Mail Handlers

8.1 Jira Events, System Events & Notification Schemes 8.2 Notification Recipients, Custom User Fields & Deduplication 8.3 Team-Managed Notifications, Personal Settings & Troubleshooting Missing Email 8.4 Mail Handlers: Creating Issues and Comments from Email

9 Chapter 9: JQL, Filters, Dashboards & Bulk Operations

9.1 JQL Fundamentals, Clauses, Operators & History (WAS / CHANGED) 9.2 Advanced JQL Functions & Dynamic Date Searches 9.3 Filter Permissions, Shared Filters & Filter Subscriptions 9.4 Dashboard Layouts, the Default Dashboard, Sharing & Essential Gadgets 9.5 Bulk Operations: Edit, Move, Transition, Delete & Watch

10 Chapter 10: System Administration

10.1 Global UI Features: User Defaults, Look and Feel, Announcement Banner & Default Dashboard 10.2 Statuses, Resolutions, Priorities & Sub-tasks: Global Configuration 10.3 Global Settings: Time Tracking, Issue Linking, Attachments & Application Links 10.4 System Backup, Restore & Data Import

1.1 ACP-120 Exam Structure, Blueprint & Testing Strategy

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

ACP-120 has 60 questions in 180 minutes, and Atlassian sets the passing score at 38 correct (roughly 63%).

The exam costs $249, is proctored online, is scheduled through the Atlassian Certification portal (CertMetrics), and the credential is valid for 24 months.

The Exam Topics V2 blueprint (April 2025) weights seven domains: Access, Permissions, Security 28%; Issue Types, Fields, Screens 18%; Workflows and Automation 14%; Advanced User Features 12%; General Project Configuration 11%; System Administration 9%; Notifications 8%.

Jira Cloud now says work items, spaces, and work types, but the V2 blueprint still uses issues, projects, and issue types.

Hands-on practice in a free Jira Cloud site builds the troubleshooting judgment that scenario questions test.

Last updated: September 2026

ACP-120 Exam Structure, Blueprint & Testing Strategy

The Atlassian Certified Professional – Jira Administration for Cloud (ACP-120) certification is Atlassian's role-based credential for people who configure and run Jira Cloud sites. Atlassian describes the target candidate as a Jira admin who can translate business requirements into Jira configuration: access and permissions, project setup, work types and fields, workflows and automation, notifications, advanced search, and system settings.

This section gives you the verified exam logistics, the official ACP-120 Exam Topics V2 blueprint (version dated April 2025), how the blueprint maps to this guide, and a practical study plan.

Terminology note: During 2025 Atlassian began renaming Jira Cloud concepts in the product UI and documentation. Issues are now work items , projects are spaces , and issue types are work types . The ACP-120 V2 blueprint still uses the older words (project, issue, issue type), so this guide uses the blueprint vocabulary. When you practice in a live site, expect menus such as Settings > Work items where older material says Settings > Issues .

Official Exam Specifications

Atlassian publishes these exam specifics on the ACP-120 certification page (Atlassian Learning, checked 26 September 2026):

  • Exam Parameter Official Value What It Means for Your Preparation
  • Exam Jira Administration for Cloud (ACP-120) Atlassian Certified Professional (ACP) tier
  • Questions 60 About 3 minutes per question
  • Time limit 180 minutes Enough time to reread long scenarios; pace matters less than precision
  • Passing score 38 correct 38 of 60 is roughly 63%
  • Price $249 (USD) Per attempt
  • Delivery Proctored online You test from home or office with a remote proctor

Scheduling Atlassian Certification portal (CertMetrics) Review the environment and permitted test-aid rules before booking

Product covered Jira Cloud (listed as Jira Software Cloud) Company-managed and team-managed projects are both in scope

Validity 24 months Plan renewal before the expiry date

Two points trip up candidates who rely on older prep material:

Kryterion Webassessor is no longer the scheduling path. Current Atlassian instructions point you to the Atlassian Certification portal hosted on CertMetrics.

The passing standard is a raw count, not "75%". Atlassian states the passing score as 38 correct out of 60 questions.

Renewal: Atlassian certifications are valid for 24 months. Atlassian's renewal program (announced in 2024) lets ACP holders renew by earning continuing-education (CE) units from Atlassian learning activities, or by retaking the exam. Check the current CE requirement in the Atlassian certification FAQ well before your expiry date. The certification page does not publish a retake waiting period or retake discount, so confirm those details in the certification portal before you book a second attempt.

The Seven Official Blueprint Domains (Exam Topics V2)

Atlassian's detailed exam-topics PDF (ACP-120 Exam Topics V2, April 2025) gives a precise weight for each domain. The certification web page shows the same seven domains as percentage bands. The two sources agree on six domains. For Workflows and Automation, the PDF gives 14% and the web page gives a 15–20% band. Use the PDF weights as planning figures, and treat each domain as roughly the size shown below.

  • # Domain V2 PDF Weight Web Page Band Approx. Questions (of 60) Where This Guide Teaches It
  • 1 Access, Permissions, Security 28% 25–30% ~17 Chapters 1–3
  • 2 General Project Configuration 11% 10–15% ~7 Chapter 4
  • 3 Issue Types, Fields, Screens 18% 15–20% ~11 Chapter 5
  • 4 Workflows and Automation 14% 15–20% ~8 Chapters 6–7
  • 5 Notifications 8% 5–10% ~5 Chapter 8
  • 6 Advanced User Features 12% 10–15% ~7 Chapter 9
  • 7 System Administration 9% 5–10% ~5 Chapter 10

Domain 1 is the largest by far. Access, permissions, and security make up more than a quarter of the exam, so expect many troubleshooting scenarios about why a user can or can't see or change something.

Blueprint Sub-Objectives

The V2 PDF breaks each domain into sub-objectives. Its numbering starts at 1.2 in Domain 1.

Domain Sub-objectives

1. Access, Permissions, Security 1.2 Determine appropriate administrator privileges (org admin, Jira admin, project admin); 1.3 Configure global permissions; 1.4 Configure project permissions (team-managed access vs. permission schemes, roles vs. groups, user/group custom fields); 1.5 Configure issue-level security (including team-managed restrictions and inheritance)

2. General Project Configuration 2.1 Project types, templates, and shared configurations; 2.2 Project details and sidebar (including the impact of changing a name or key); 2.3 Manage versions; 2.4 Components and auto-assignment

3. Issue Types, Fields, Screens 3.1 Configure issue types (schemes, sub-tasks, time-tracking roll-up, epics, team-managed issue types); 3.2 Configure fields (contexts, field configurations, team-managed fields); 3.3 Configure screens and issue layout

4. Workflows and Automation 4.1 Company-managed workflows (transitions, conditions, validators, post functions, boards, resolution); 4.2 Team-managed workflows; 4.3 Automation rules (project vs. global rules, branching, related issues, if-else, smart values, permissions)

5. Notifications 5.1 Company-managed notification schemes and custom events; 5.2 Team-managed notifications; 5.3 Personal notification settings; 5.4 Mail handlers

6. Advanced User Features 6.1 Advanced JQL (fields, functions, operators, keywords, parentheses, date ranges, basic-search limits); 6.2 Filters, dashboards, and subscriptions; 6.3 Bulk operations

7. System Administration 7.1 Global UI features (user defaults, look and feel, announcement banner, default dashboard); 7.2 Attachments, issue links, application links, time tracking; 7.3 Statuses, resolutions, priorities, sub-tasks; 7.4 Backup and import

How ACP-120 Questions Are Written

Atlassian's objectives are phrased as "determine", "configure", "understand", and "troubleshoot", so most questions are scenarios rather than menu-location trivia. Expect three recurring patterns:

1. Pick the Best-Practice Configuration

Several options may technically work, but only one is the scalable, recommended design. For example, if project leads need to control who can assign issues, you could:

  • create a separate permission scheme for every project and hard-code groups (causes scheme sprawl);
  • grant project leads the Administer Jira global permission (far too much access); or

grant the permission to a project role in a shared permission scheme and let each project admin manage role membership ( best practice ).

  • 2. Troubleshoot an Unexpected Behavior
  • "A developer can't see a custom field on the Create dialog."
  • "A QA analyst can view an issue but has no Close transition."
  • "A user receives comment emails but not status-change emails."

You find the answer by walking through the layers that interact: product access, permission scheme, issue security, workflow conditions, field configuration, screens, and notification settings.

  • 3. Predict the Outcome of a Change
  • "What happens to existing issues when you change the project key?"
  • "Which statuses count as done when you complete a sprint?"
  • "Who receives the email when a group subscription uses currentUser() ?"

If a question asks for more than one answer, the stem tells you how many to choose. Read it carefully.

Six-Week Hands-On Study Plan

A free Jira Cloud site is the best study tool. Build every configuration you read about, then break it on purpose and fix it.

Week Focus Hands-On Exercises Checkpoint

1 Admin roles, global permissions, product access Compare org admin, Jira admin, and project admin actions; review Settings > System > Global permissions Explain which admin can change a project key, edit a shared workflow, or restore a backup

2 Permission schemes, roles, issue security Build a role-based permission scheme and a three-level issue security scheme; test with the Permission Helper Diagnose "can't see / can't edit / can't assign" scenarios

3 Projects, work types, fields, screens, layout Create company-managed and team-managed projects; configure contexts, field configurations, screen schemes, and issue layout Explain hiding a field vs. leaving it off a screen

4 Workflows and automation Build a workflow with restrict, validate, and action rules; set the resolution; write automation rules that use branches and smart values Explain why a transition is hidden or why a rule failed

5 Notifications and email Create a custom event and map it in a notification scheme; configure team-managed notifications and a mail handler Trace a missing email through scheme, permissions, and personal settings

6 JQL, filters, dashboards, bulk changes, system settings Write history queries ( WAS , CHANGED ), set up group subscriptions, bulk-move issues, and review Backup manager options Take timed practice sets at about 3 minutes per question

Exam-Day Tactics

Read the final sentence of the stem first. Knowing whether you're asked for a root cause, the best configuration, or a predicted outcome keeps you focused.

Check which scheme or workflow the project actually uses. Many distractors describe a correct change made to the wrong scheme.

Remember that permissions are additive. Jira permission schemes have no "deny" entry. A user gets a permission if any grant (group, role, or user field) includes them.

Separate "hidden" from "not on the screen". A field hidden in the field configuration disappears everywhere for that issue type. A field left off a screen still exists and can hold values.

Separate company-managed from team-managed behavior. Many questions hinge on whether a feature such as permission schemes, notification schemes, or issue security schemes exists in the project type described.