Oracle 1Z0-071 Syllabus 2026: All 16 Exam Topic Groups
Half the guides online say 78 questions. Oracle's own current data says 63. Here is the real topic list, all sixteen groups, and why no percentage belongs next to any of them.
- 63Questions
- 120 minTime
- 16Sections
- NoWeights published
- 63%Pass mark
- $245Fee
Table of Contents
The whole paper in one bar
Oracle's published exam topics for 1Z0-071 is the exam guide Oracle publishes for Oracle Database SQL (1Z0-071), restated so you can see the shape of the paper before you read a word of the detail. The bar below is the entire syllabus: 16 sections, in the order the certifying body lists them.
- §1 Relational Database concepts
- §2 Retrieving Data using the SQL SELECT Statement
- §3 Restricting and Sorting Data
- §4 Using Single-Row Functions to Customize Output
- §5 Using Conversion Functions and Conditional Expressions
- §6 Reporting Aggregated Data Using Group Functions
- §7 Displaying Data from Multiple Tables
- §8 Using Subqueries to Solve Queries
- §9 Using SET Operators
- §10 Managing Tables using DML statements
- §11 Managing Indexes Synonyms and Sequences
- §12 Use DDL to manage tables and their relationships
- §13 Managing Views
- §14 Controlling User Access
- §15 Managing Objects with Data Dictionary Views
- §16 Managing Data in Different Time Zones
Oracle lists these sections in a fixed order but does not attach a percentage to any of them. Every site that shows you a tidy pie chart for this exam made those numbers up. Plan on all 16 sections carrying real weight, and do not skip one because a blog told you it is “only 10%”.
The syllabus, section by section
Each block below is one section of the official outline. The bullets are the sub-objectives Oracle publishes underneath it — the actual scope statement, not a summary of it.
Relational Database concepts
- Theoretical and physical aspects of a relational database
- Relating SELECT clauses to components of an ERD
- The relationship between a database and SQL
Retrieving Data using the SQL SELECT Statement
- The SQL SELECT statement
- Column aliases
- Concatenation, literal character strings and the alternative quote operator
- The DISTINCT keyword
- Arithmetic expressions and NULL values
Restricting and Sorting Data
- Rules of precedence for operators in an expression
- Limiting rows returned in a SQL statement
- Substitution variables
- The DEFINE and VERIFY commands
- Sorting data
Using Single-Row Functions to Customize Output
- Manipulating strings with character functions in SELECT and WHERE
- Performing arithmetic with date data
- ROUND, TRUNC and MOD
- Manipulating dates with date functions
Using Conversion Functions and Conditional Expressions
- NVL, NULLIF and COALESCE
- Implicit versus explicit data type conversion
- TO_CHAR, TO_NUMBER and TO_DATE
- Nesting multiple functions
Reporting Aggregated Data Using Group Functions
- Using group functions
- Creating groups of data
- Restricting group results
Displaying Data from Multiple Tables
- Various types of joins
- Self-joins
- Non-equijoins
- OUTER joins
- Cartesian products
Using Subqueries to Solve Queries
- Single-row subqueries
- Multiple-row subqueries
- Updating and deleting rows using correlated subqueries
Using SET Operators
- Matching the SELECT statements
- UNION and UNION ALL
- INTERSECT
- MINUS
- ORDER BY in set operations
Managing Tables using DML statements
- INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE operations
- Multi-table inserts
- MERGE statements
- Managing database transactions
- Controlling transactions
Managing Indexes Synonyms and Sequences
- Managing indexes
- Managing synonyms
- Managing sequences
Use DDL to manage tables and their relationships
- Describing and working with tables
- Columns and data types
- Creating tables
- Dropping columns and setting a column UNUSED
- Truncating tables
- Temporary tables
- External tables
- Managing constraints
Managing Views
- Creating, modifying and dropping views
Controlling User Access
- System privileges versus object privileges
- Granting privileges on tables
- Granting privileges versus granting roles
Managing Objects with Data Dictionary Views
- Using data dictionary views
Managing Data in Different Time Zones
- CURRENT_DATE, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and LOCALTIMESTAMP
- INTERVAL data types
Two numbers to get right, because most pages do not. The exam is 63 questions, not 78 - the 78 figure is real, but it comes from Oracle's retired 12c SQL Fundamentals product record and was never updated by the sites that copied it. And the passing score is 63%, which is the same number by pure coincidence. 63 questions, 63% to pass, about 40 correct answers. Some published guides have collapsed the two.
What the weightings really mean
With no published percentages, the honest planning model is to weight your time by the size of each section’s sub-objective list and by how much of it is unfamiliar to you, not by a number someone invented. The sub-objectives in the outline above are the best proxy the vendor gives you: a section with eight bullets covering distinct services is going to eat more of the paper than one with three.
It also changes what a practice score means. Without weightings you cannot compute a predicted mark, but you can still see which sections you fail on repeatedly — and that signal is the one worth acting on either way.
Reading the verbs in the objectives
The verb at the front of each sub-objective is the part candidates skim and examiners take literally. It sets the depth you are tested at, and it is the difference between recognising a service name and being asked to choose between two that both look right.
| Verb | What a question at that depth looks like |
|---|---|
| Using / Writing | The dominant verb, and it means what it says. You are shown a statement and asked what it returns, or shown a requirement and asked which statement satisfies it. Syntax accuracy decides most of these. |
| Managing | The DDL and object groups. Create, alter, drop, and the constraint rules that make a statement fail. Error behaviour is tested as often as success behaviour. |
| Explaining / Describing | Only the first group, on relational theory and how SQL maps to an ERD. Recall-level and quick, and the one part of this exam you can revise on paper. |
There is no Design, no Troubleshoot and no Optimise anywhere on this outline. That is what makes 1Z0-071 an associate SQL exam and not a DBA exam: it tests whether you can write correct SQL against an Oracle database, not whether you can tune it.
Study it in this order, not the syllabus order
Exam guides are written to describe a job role, not to teach one. The published order is almost never the order that builds knowledge fastest. This is the sequence that front-loads the material everything else depends on.
| Order | Why here |
|---|---|
| 1. SELECT, restricting and sorting | Groups two and three. Every later group is written on top of a SELECT statement, and operator precedence quietly decides answers all the way through the paper. |
| 2. Single-row, conversion and group functions | Three groups together. Conversion functions and implicit type conversion produce more wrong answers on this exam than any other topic. |
| 3. Joins, subqueries and set operators | Three more groups, and the heart of the exam in practice. Non-equijoins, outer joins and correlated subqueries are where careful readers separate from fast ones. |
| 4. DML, transactions and DDL | INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, MERGE, multi-table inserts, then tables and constraints. Learn constraint violation behaviour, not just constraint syntax. |
| 5. Views, indexes, sequences, synonyms, privileges, dictionary, time zones | Six small groups that together are a real slice of the paper. They are quick, and they are the ones candidates skip. |
| 6. Relational database concepts | Last. It is theory, it is short, and it makes more sense once you have written everything above. |
Because Oracle publishes no weightings, treat the count of groups as your planning signal instead. Six of the sixteen groups are small object-management topics - views, indexes, synonyms, sequences, privileges, the data dictionary and time zones. Skipping them because each looks minor is how candidates lose a pass by a couple of questions.
What changed, and how to spot the next change
No retirement is announced - Oracle's own product data carries no retirement date, and 1Z0-071 remains the single entry point to the Oracle Database SQL Certified Associate credential. What has changed is quieter: the exam moved off the old 12c SQL Fundamentals route, and the item count in Oracle's data went from 78 to 63 with it. The exam is validated for Oracle Database 11.2.0.1.0 up to 19c, and explicitly not against 21c or 23ai - so SQL features introduced after 19c are out of scope no matter what you use at work. The certification itself does not expire and has no renewal requirement.
Two habits keep you from studying a retired outline. First, open the official exam guide and look for its revision date before you buy anything — courses and question banks lag a syllabus change by months, and the cheapest ones never catch up. Second, re-check it the week you book. A revision announced after you started studying is still a revision you sit.
Turn the syllabus into questions
Reading an outline tells you the shape of the paper. Answering questions tells you which sections you would actually lose marks on. Start free, then $5.99 unlocks the full 1Z0-071 bank.
Free practice test1Z0-071 exam pageFAQ
How many questions are on the Oracle 1Z0-071 exam?
63 questions in 120 minutes, with 63% required to pass - roughly 40 correct answers. The 78-question figure widely quoted online came from Oracle's retired 12c SQL Fundamentals listing and is out of date.
Does Oracle publish topic weightings for 1Z0-071?
No. Oracle lists 16 topic groups with sub-bullets and attaches no percentage to any of them, so any site showing you a weighted pie chart for this exam invented it. Do not infer weight from bullet counts either - groups range from one bullet to eight.
Which Oracle Database versions does 1Z0-071 cover?
Oracle states the exam is validated for Oracle Database 11.2.0.1.0 and up to 19c. It is not validated against 21c or 23ai, so features introduced after 19c are outside the tested scope.
Does the Oracle Database SQL Certified Associate certification expire?
No. It carries no expiry date and no recertification or CPE requirement. It ages against Oracle Database versions rather than against a clock.
Sources
Every section title, sub-objective and number on this page comes from the certifying body:
- https://mylearn.oracle.com/ou/exam/oracle-database-sql-1z0-071/105037/110647/170369
- https://education.oracle.com/oracle-database-sql/pexam_1Z0-071
- https://education.oracle.com/oracle-database-sql-certified-associate/trackp_457
Checked September 2, 2026. Exam guides are revised without notice — confirm against Oracle before you build a study plan around this page.