Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert MS-102 Exam Review

Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) – 2026 Exam Review

February 2026

The Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) exam is Microsoft’s definitive assessment of enterprise-level Microsoft 365 administration skills. When it comes to validating real-world Microsoft 365 administration knowledge, there’s genuinely no other exam quite like it.

This certification sits within the Microsoft 365 Administrator certification pathway and is aimed at professionals with broad, hands-on experience administering Microsoft 365 environments. Candidates typically have exposure across a wide range of Microsoft technologies, including:

  • Microsoft 365 (Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive)
  • Microsoft Entra (identity and access management)
  • Microsoft Defender (XDR, Office 365, Cloud Apps)
  • Microsoft Sentinel
  • Microsoft Purview (compliance and data governance)

What makes MS-102 particularly challenging is its focus on day-to-day operational administration. It’s not enough to understand the technologies—you need to know how to manage, secure, and maintain them in a live enterprise tenant.

What the MS-102 Exam Covers

The MS-102 exam covers a wide range of topics related to managing and securing a Microsoft 365 tenant at scale. The exam tests your ability to:

  1. Deploy and manage Microsoft 365 tenants
  2. Implement and manage identity and access controls
  3. Secure the environment against modern threats
  4. Configure and manage Microsoft Defender for Microsoft 365 and cloud workloads
  5. Manage compliance and data governance using Microsoft Purview

If you’ve ever worked in helpdesk, systems administration, or security administration roles within Microsoft 365, many scenarios will feel familiar—but the exam expects expert-level depth and breadth.

Preparing for the Exam

If you’re preparing for MS-102, it’s strongly recommended to use multiple study resources. Microsoft provides several official preparation options, including:

  • Microsoft Learn – MS-102 Certification Learning Path
  • Official study guides
  • Practice assessments
  • Instructor-led training

Because Microsoft 365 services evolve rapidly, it’s essential to regularly review the official MS-102 certification page to stay up to date with changes to exam objectives and skills measured.

Skills Measured

  1. The skills measured for the MS-102 exam are broadly weighted as follows:
  2. 30–35% – Deploy and manage a Microsoft 365 tenant
  3. 30–35% – Implement and manage identity and access (Microsoft Entra ID)
  4. 25–30% – Manage security and threats using Microsoft Defender for Microsoft 365
  5. 15–20% – Manage compliance using Microsoft Purview

(Always refer to Microsoft Learn for the most current breakdown.)

My Overall Experience with the Exam

Based on my experience, over 70% of the exam focused on deploying and managing a Microsoft 365 tenant and implementing identity and access controls.

These areas were consistently emphasised throughout the exam, to the point where it felt closer to a security-focused Microsoft 365 administration exam than a traditional admin test.

The remaining portion of the exam covered:

  • Managing security and threats using Microsoft Defender
  • Managing compliance using Microsoft Purview
  • At first glance, the weighting can appear to exceed 100%, but this is by design.
  • Microsoft clearly states in the score report:

“Because the number of questions in each section varies, the length of the bars cannot be used to calculate the number of questions answered correctly, and bars cannot be combined to determine percentage of questions answered correctly.”

In practice, this means candidates will receive a variable distribution of questions across all four domains, even though each domain has a defined weighting range.

Key Takeaway

This is a tough exam. Based on my score report, my two strongest areas accounted for over 65% of the exam, while my weaker areas covered the remaining 35%.

That experience strongly suggests the exam places heavier emphasis on:

  • Identity and access management
  • Microsoft Defender for Microsoft 365

If you’re planning to sit MS-102, make sure you have a deep understanding of Entra ID and Defender, alongside solid tenant administration fundamentals.

Study Resources I Used

  • My study library consisted of:
  • Microsoft Learn – MS-102 Certification Learning Path
  • Microsoft Learn – MS-102 Practice Assessment
  • MeasureUp – MS-102 Practice Assessment

Final Thoughts

The MS-102 exam is a true administrator expert-level certification. It rewards hands-on experience, strong security fundamentals, and a deep understanding of how Microsoft 365 operates in real enterprise environments.

Best of luck with your studies.

#AlwaysLearning

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