Mock Exams

Overview

These mock exams are designed to simulate the real CKS exam experience as closely as possible. Each exam contains 17 questions distributed across all six CKS domains, weighted proportionally to the actual exam. The questions are performance-based, requiring you to execute commands, write YAML manifests, and configure security controls on live clusters.

Exam Format Reminder

Detail	Value
Duration	2 hours (120 minutes)
Format	Performance-based (hands-on CLI tasks)
Passing Score	67%
Questions	15-20 questions
Clusters	Multiple clusters (you switch between them)
Resources	kubernetes.io docs, tool docs allowed

How to Use These Mock Exams

Simulation Approach

For the most realistic experience, follow these steps:

1. Set a timer for 2 hours -- do not go over
2. Use a real Kubernetes cluster (kind, kubeadm, or killer.sh sandbox)
3. Only reference kubernetes.io -- no other docs, no notes, no AI
4. Do not look at solutions until the timer expires
5. Score yourself honestly after completing the exam
6. Review every question -- even the ones you got right

Time Budget Per Question

With 17 questions in 120 minutes, you have roughly 7 minutes per question. However, questions are weighted differently:

Question Weight	Time Budget	Strategy
4-7% (low weight)	4-6 minutes	Quick wins -- do these first
8-10% (medium weight)	7-10 minutes	Solid effort -- core questions
11-13% (high weight)	10-14 minutes	Complex scenarios -- allocate extra time

Golden rule: If you are stuck for more than 3 minutes on any single step, flag it and move on. Return to flagged questions after completing all others.

Recommended Study Strategy

Domain Distribution in Mock Exams

Each mock exam distributes questions proportionally to the official CKS exam weights:

Domain	Exam Weight	Questions per Mock	Approximate Points
Cluster Setup	15%	2-3	15
Cluster Hardening	15%	2-3	15
System Hardening	15%	2-3	15
Minimize Microservice Vulnerabilities	20%	3-4	20
Supply Chain Security	20%	3-4	20
Monitoring, Logging & Runtime Security	15%	2-3	15
Total	100%	17	100

Scoring Guide

After completing a mock exam, score yourself using these criteria:

Scoring Rubric

• Full marks: Task completed correctly with all verification steps passing
• Partial marks (50-75%): Core task completed but minor details missed (e.g., correct policy but wrong namespace, correct RBAC but missing one verb)
• Minimal marks (25%): Correct approach but incomplete execution (e.g., started YAML but did not apply, or applied with errors)
• Zero marks: Not attempted, completely wrong approach, or broke the cluster

Be honest with yourself. In the real exam, partial credit is awarded by automated scoring. If your YAML has a syntax error, it will not apply, and you get zero for that task.

Common Scoring Mistakes

• Do not give yourself credit for "knowing the answer" -- you must execute it
• Verify your work with kubectl get, kubectl describe, or kubectl auth can-i
• Check that pods are running after applying security contexts
• Ensure NetworkPolicies actually block traffic by testing

Available Mock Exams

Exam	Focus	Difficulty
Mock Exam 1 - Questions	Comprehensive coverage of all domains	Hard
Mock Exam 1 - Solutions	Step-by-step solutions with verification	--
Mock Exam 2 - Questions	Edge cases and commonly failed areas	Hard
Mock Exam 2 - Solutions	Step-by-step solutions with verification	--

Do Not Read Solutions Before Attempting

The value of these mock exams comes from struggling with the questions under time pressure. Reading solutions first will give you a false sense of readiness. Attempt the full exam first, then review.