The exam
PL-300: Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst is the current Power BI certification, replacing the older DA-100. Passing earns the Power BI Data Analyst Associate credential.
It covers four skill areas: prepare the data, model the data, visualise and analyse the data, and manage and secure Power BI. Microsoft adjusts the weightings periodically — check the official skills outline before you book, since it's the authoritative source and it does change.
Where the marks are
Modelling and data preparation together dominate. Expect substantial coverage of Power Query transformations and folding, star schema design, relationship cardinality and direction, DAX measures, and time intelligence.
Row-level security appears reliably. So do workspace roles, refresh configuration, and gateway requirements — the governance side is easy to under-prepare because it's less fun than DAX.
Question formats include multiple choice, drag-and-drop ordering, and case studies where several questions share one scenario.
How to study
Work the lessons in each track here, then rebuild everything in Desktop with a real dataset — the AdventureWorks or Contoso samples are ideal because they're already star-shaped.
Specific drills worth doing until they're automatic: build a Date table and mark it, write a YTD and a prior-year measure, set up dynamic RLS with an entitlement table and test it as a Viewer, and configure incremental refresh with RangeStart/RangeEnd.
Microsoft Learn's free PL-300 learning path maps directly to the exam objectives and is the best free companion to practice.