Here are the resources I used to pass the CompTia Security+ exam:

Books

YouTube

Other

I purchased the exam ticket that is valid for 1 year. I didn’t spend the extra money to repeat the exam. I sat the exam on the last day that it was available to me - and started studying about 4 months before the deadline.

My recommendation is to:

  • Start studying about 6 months before you sit the exam, this will give you an understanding of what you need to cover and a better idea of how long it might take.
  • Study the book.
  • Listen to the YouTube videos when there is spare time. I would listen to them while walking to the train station.
  • Use the Practice Test app, it was useful.
  • When 4 or 6 weeks from the exam, sit a practice exam. This will give you a good idea of where to improve. Do another practice exam about 2 weeks from the exam.

How the exam is run

Everything was online. I had to take pictures of my work area. Before I could take the exam I needed to wait for a person to view the pictures. I sat there starting at the lock down browser app for 30 minutes doing nothing. There was a message on the screen saying that if I was to leave the view of the camera the session could be cancelled…

The person asked me to show my room again, checked under my mouse pad etc, then started the exam.

I used the full 90 minutes and was worried I was going to fail, however I was successful. I filled out my address information on the website and am expecting a certificate to arrive, the website isn’t clear about this and there is no shipping notifications.