CompTIA A+ PBQs: How Simulation Questions Work and How to Prepare

What CompTIA confirms about A+ PBQs

CompTIA's "Performance-Based Questions Explained" page, checked October 17, 2026, describes two kinds of PBQ: simulations, which approximate a tool or environment with limited functionality, and virtual environments, which are full virtual machines. It lists A+ among the exams that use simulation PBQs only. For simulations, CompTIA says:

• There is a reset button. You can return the item to its starting state.
• You can skip and return. A simulation does not have to be finished when you first see it.
• Your work is saved as you go and when you move to another item.
• Partial credit may be given, and there can be more than one way to solve the task.

CompTIA does not publish how many PBQs are on each A+ exam, where they appear, or how much time they take. The V15 exam pages list a maximum of 90 questions in 90 minutes, mixing multiple choice, drag-and-drop, and performance-based questions. The exam format guide has a pacing method that leaves room for simulations.

Which objectives are hands-on

Every objective in the 220-1201 and 220-1202 documents starts with a verb. The ones that start with "Given a scenario" ask you to configure, install, troubleshoot, or choose a tool, which is the kind of task a simulation can test. CompTIA does not say PBQs are limited to those objectives, so treat this as a way to prioritize hands-on practice, not as a prediction.

The tasks below were written for this guide. They are not recalled exam items.

For the full procedures behind these tasks, see the malware removal steps guide, the Windows commands guide, and the Core 1 networking guide.

A router screen, worked through

This is an original scenario modeled on Core 2 objective 2.10, which covers security settings on SOHO wireless and wired networks. The full 2.10 checklist lives in the Core 2 security guide. The point here is how a simulation's goal sentence decides which settings matter.

Starting state. A small dental office has one router. The admin password is still the factory default. The firmware has not been updated in two years. Wi-Fi uses WPA2 with TKIP. Staff and patients share one network name. UPnP is on, and a port-forwarding rule still points at a security camera the office removed last year.

Goal. Patients get internet access without reaching the office computers or printer, and the router exposes as little as possible.

Changes that answer the goal, and why:

1. Change the default admin password, because anyone who knows the factory default can reconfigure the router.
2. Update the firmware, because old firmware can carry known flaws that updates fix.
3. Change the encryption from TKIP to AES, or to WPA3 if every device supports it. TKIP is the older, weaker option.
4. Turn on guest access for patients, separate from the staff network. This is the change that directly meets the stated goal.
5. Delete the port-forwarding rule for the removed camera. A forward with no purpose is an open path from the internet.
6. Turn off UPnP unless a device in the office needs it, since UPnP lets devices open ports on their own.

Notice what is missing. Renaming the staff network or hiding it is not wrong, but neither answers the goal as written. In a simulation, the goal sentence tells you what "done" means. If you are unsure about one setting, make the others anyway. Partial credit may be given, and a half-finished screen is better than an untouched one.

Handling a simulation on exam day

1. Read the goal first. It decides which settings matter.
2. Spend a minute finding what you can click, type, or drag before you change anything.
3. Make the changes you can defend. If you get stuck, move on. Your work is saved, and you can come back after the multiple-choice questions.
4. Reset only when your changes have left the item worse than it started. A reset returns the whole item to its starting state, including the changes you got right.
5. Do not leave a simulation blank on your way out.

Build your own practice at home

You do not need a commercial simulator to practice the skills behind A+ PBQs. The A+ study guide lists a small lab drawn from the sample hardware and software list at the end of CompTIA's objectives documents. For PBQ practice, how you use that lab matters more than what is in it.

• Work from a goal, not a tour. Write a starting state and a one-sentence goal, like the router example above, then change only what the goal needs. Check the result against the goal, not against every setting you could have touched.
• Swap tasks with a study partner. Each of you takes a "Given a scenario" objective, writes a starting state and a goal, and trades. Writing the task teaches you which details a simulation would test.
• Keep risky practice in a virtual machine. Run Windows and a Linux distribution in a free hypervisor. Never point a disk command such as format or diskpart at a drive you care about.

Practice A+ scenario questions between lab sessions → when you want quick reps on the judgment part. They are multiple choice. They will not open a simulated router or desktop.

What not to use

Sites that sell "actual" or recalled PBQs are the kind of unauthorized material CompTIA calls brain dumps. The objectives documents say candidates who use such material will have their certifications revoked and be suspended from future testing. Build the skill instead, with original tasks like the ones above.