Search for SY0-801 and you will find launch dates, preview windows and advice to hold off until it arrives. None of it comes from CompTIA. CompTIA has published no launch date for a successor to SY0-701. What it has published is the other end of the window: English SY0-701 retires on 11 June 2027, with the Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai versions following on 13 August 2027. One of those two things is a fact you can plan against. The other is speculation with a date attached.
This page compares the decision honestly, using only what CompTIA publishes on its own pages and saying plainly where it publishes nothing. Every figure was verified on 12 September 2026.
What is published, and what is not
| SY0-701 launched | 7 November 2023 (version V7) |
| SY0-701 retires, English | 11 June 2027 |
| SY0-701 retires, other languages | 13 August 2027 — Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai |
| SY0-801 launch date | Not published by CompTIA |
| SY0-801 exam objectives | Not published by CompTIA |
| Validity of the certification you earn | Three years from your certification date, whichever version you sat |
| Retaking SY0-701 after passing | Not permitted until a new version is released |
The window that exists versus the one being guessed at
CompTIA runs its exam versions on a cycle, and it tells candidates when a version stops being available. It does not, on the certification page, tell them when the next one starts. That asymmetry is the whole of this decision, and it is why “wait for SY0-801” is advice that cannot be costed: nobody outside CompTIA knows what they would be waiting for, or for how long.
Meanwhile the thing waiting would cost you is concrete. Every month spent holding out is a month you are not certified, cannot put it on an application, and cannot start the clock on the three-year validity period.
Can you answer a SY0-701 question in 60 seconds?
Timed practice tests built to CompTIA’s published domain weights, with a written explanation for every answer — so the questions you get wrong are the ones you learn from.
- Full-length timed tests that hold you to the real 90-minute limit
- An explanation for every answer, right and wrong
- Weighted to the official blueprint — 12 / 22 / 18 / 28 / 20% across the five domains, matching CompTIA exactly
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Starting further back? ISC2 CC practice questions. Filling the networking gap first? Network+ N10-009 practice exams.
The certification is the same either way
This is the point that dissolves most of the anxiety. You do not earn “SY0-701” — you earn CompTIA Security+. The exam code is the version of the test you happened to sit, and your certification is valid for three years from your certification date whichever version that was. An employer’s requirement reads “Security+”, not a series code.
So sitting the current version does not leave you holding something inferior. It leaves you holding the certification, three years earlier than someone still waiting for a launch announcement.
When sitting now is clearly right
- You need it for a job, an application or a contract. A credential you hold beats a better one you might sit later.
- You have already started studying SY0-701 material. Your preparation is aligned to a published set of objectives; there is no published successor blueprint to switch to.
- You can be ready comfortably before the retirement date. There is a long runway to 11 June 2027, and no reason to crowd it.
When waiting is defensible
Rarely, and only for reasons that have nothing to do with the version number. If you are not going to be ready for a long time anyway — you are new to IT, studying part-time, and realistically a year or more out — then the version you eventually sit will be decided by your own timeline rather than by a decision you make today. That is not “waiting for SY0-801”. That is preparing, and sitting whatever is current when you are ready.
What is not defensible is delaying a sitting you could take in the next few months in the hope of a newer exam whose existence, contents and date CompTIA has not published.
If you are sitting in a language other than English
The window is slightly longer. CompTIA publishes 13 August 2027 as the retirement date for the Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai versions, two months after the English retirement on 11 June 2027. Worth knowing if you are planning a sitting close to the end of the cycle.
Where practice questions fit
Practice questions are a diagnostic, not a syllabus. Their job is to find the domain you are weak in and to train you to decide inside a minute. Used that way — timed, reviewed, weighted to the published blueprint — they are the most efficient preparation available in the last few weeks before the exam.
A caution that matters more than it appears to. Sites offering “real exam questions”, brain dumps or leaked SY0-701 content are selling you a violation of the CompTIA Candidate Agreement, and CompTIA can revoke certifications over it. They are also usually stale — and a dump aimed at a version that is being retired is staler still. Original questions written from the published blueprint teach you to reason; memorised answers teach you to recognise a question you will not be asked.
Find your weak domain before the exam does.
The short answer
Sit SY0-701 when you are ready, and do not time your career against an unpublished date. If you want the full set of published parameters before you book, our CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) exam guide lays them out, including what CompTIA does not publish at all.
Frequently asked questions
When does SY0-801 launch?
CompTIA has not published a launch date for a successor to SY0-701. Dates circulating on third-party sites are not CompTIA’s. The only version dates CompTIA publishes are SY0-701’s retirement dates.
Should I wait for the new Security+ exam?
Generally no. Waiting has an unknown length because no launch date is published, while the cost of waiting is certain — months during which you are not certified. If you need the certification, sit the current version when you are ready.
Is a certification earned on SY0-701 worth less than one earned on a later version?
No. You earn CompTIA Security+, and it is valid three years from your certification date regardless of which exam version you sat. The series code describes the test, not the credential.
What happens to my certification when SY0-701 retires?
Nothing. Retirement means the exam is no longer offered; it does not shorten a certification already earned, which runs three years from your certification date and is renewed through continuing education.
Does SY0-701 retire on the same date in every language?
No. CompTIA publishes 11 June 2027 for English and 13 August 2027 for the Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai versions.
Sources. All version and retirement dates above come from CompTIA’s own Security+ certification page, accessed 12 September 2026, with validity and renewal details from CompTIA’s certification renewal policy. No launch date for a successor exam is quoted because CompTIA publishes none. Exam parameters change; if you spot a discrepancy, check CompTIA’s page and tell us so we can correct it.
Disclosure and disclaimer. FoxMedium publishes independent study material. Our practice tests are not official CompTIA content and are not endorsed by, affiliated with, or representative of CompTIA or the official certification examination. All questions are original and written from publicly published exam blueprints. We do not host or distribute real exam content. Links to our courses earn us revenue if you enrol. CompTIA, Security+ and all related trademarks belong to their respective owners.
