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CCNA v1.1 or v2.0: what changes on 3 February 2027

Exam 200-301 Written and maintained by Grindstone Prep Last checked 16 October 2026

Checked against Cisco’s own exam-topics PDFs and Cisco’s 20 May 2026 blog post, 2026-10-16.

Cisco is replacing the CCNA 200-301 exam blueprint on 3 February 2027 — the first major change to the CCNA topics since 2019. If you’re deciding whether to sit the current version or wait for the new one, this page lays out what Cisco has actually published about the change, side by side, with nothing smoothed over and nothing guessed at.

The dates, from Cisco directly

Cisco’s 20 May 2026 blog post on the change says: “The exam topics are available on May 20, 2026, and the refreshed exam will be available on February 3, 2027.” It also says of the current exam: “That exam will remain live until the new exam goes into effect.” Cisco calls the new version “the first major CCNA blueprint change since 2019.”

(Source: Cisco blog, 20 May 2026.)

So: v1.1 is the version you can book today, and it stays bookable right up to 3 February 2027. From that date, the exam code stays 200-301, but the version moves to v2.0 with a new blueprint underneath it.

Cisco’s v2.0 topics PDF also describes what the new exam covers: “…a 120-minute exam that validates your expertise of IP routing, switching and network access, network services and security, network infrastructure and connectivity, AI, and network operations and management. As part of the exam, you may be required to evaluate output and recommendations from agentic AI and digital network assistants to support network operations and troubleshooting activities.”

The domain tables, side by side

Cisco weights each version’s domains differently, and it does not publish a mapping that says any v1.1 domain “became” a specific v2.0 domain. The table below just puts the two domain lists next to each other for reading — read it as two separate lists, not as a row-by-row conversion.

Two separate lists placed side by side. Each weight is the percentage Cisco states next to the domain heading in that version’s exam-topics PDF.

v1.1 domain	Weight	v2.0 domain	Weight
1.0 Network Fundamentals	20%	1.0 Network Infrastructure and Connectivity	25%
2.0 Network Access	20%	2.0 Switching and Network Access	25%
3.0 IP Connectivity	25%	3.0 IP Routing	20%
4.0 IP Services	10%	4.0 Network Services and Security	20%
5.0 Security Fundamentals	15%	5.0 AI, and Network Operations and Management	10%
6.0 Automation and Programmability	10%	—	—

v1.1 has six domains totaling 100% (20+20+25+10+15+10). v2.0 has five domains totaling 100% (25+25+20+20+10) — Automation and Programmability is gone as a standalone domain in v2.0; some of its content is folded elsewhere (see below).

(Weights are each PDF’s own stated percentage next to its domain heading: the v1.1 exam topics PDF and the v2.0 exam topics PDF. The v2.0 PDF states, directly under its exam description and above its domain table, that “additional related topics may be included in any given exam version” and that its guidelines are “subject to change at any time without notice.” The v1.1 PDF carries an equivalent caveat in different wording, in the same position: “other related topics may also appear on any specific delivery of the exam” and the guidelines “may change at any time without notice” — worth reading both in full before you treat either list below as closed.)

What v1.1 covers that has no clear v2.0 counterpart

Topics in v1.1 with no clear v2.0 counterpart as a standalone objective. Some appear to be dropped outright; others are folded into a broader v2.0 objective in a narrower or reworded form — each entry below says which, where this project’s reading could tell:

• Network topology architectures — two-tier, three-tier, spine-leaf, WAN, SOHO, on-premises and cloud (v1.1 objective 1.2)
• The role and function of individual network components — routers, Layer 2/3 switches, next-generation firewalls and IPS, access points, controllers, endpoints, and servers, as a named objective (v1.1 1.1)
• TCP vs UDP (v1.1 objective 1.5)
• IPv6 anycast and multicast — v2.0’s addressing objective names only unicast and modified EUI 64 (v1.1 1.9.b/1.9.c vs. v2.0 1.4)
• VRFs — v2.0 keeps hypervisors, VMs, and containers in the same spot but drops VRFs from the wording (v1.1 1.12 vs. v2.0 1.2)
• Switching concepts as a standalone objective — MAC learning and aging, frame flooding, the MAC address table (v1.1 1.13)
• BPDU filter — v2.0’s spanning-tree sub-item lists root guard, loop guard, and BPDU guard, dropping BPDU filter (v1.1 2.5.d vs. v2.0 2.5.d)
• Device-management access protocols named individually — Telnet, HTTP, HTTPS, and console access (v1.1 2.8; the same objective also names SSH — see the SSH/4.8 paragraph below for why that one isn’t listed here or there). The AAA/TACACS+/RADIUS part of the same v1.1 objective does carry over, into v2.0 4.1 — see “What stays,” below.
• The WLAN GUI itself as a named objective — WLAN creation, security settings, QoS profiles (v1.1 2.9). Two related v1.1 objectives, Cisco wireless architectures/AP modes (2.6) and WLAN physical connections (2.7), are narrowed into v2.0’s edge-host connectivity objective instead of being dropped — see “What stays,” below.
• NTP (v1.1 4.2)
• QoS per-hop behavior — classification, marking, queuing, congestion, policing, shaping (v1.1 4.7)
• TFTP/FTP — v2.0’s file-transfer objective is SFTP/SCP instead (v1.1 4.9 vs. v2.0 4.2)
• Security concepts and security program elements as named objectives (v1.1 5.1, 5.2)
• Password policy and MFA as a named objective (v1.1 5.4)
• WLAN GUI configuration with WPA2 PSK (v1.1 5.10)
• SDN architecture as a standalone objective — overlay, underlay, fabric, and control/data-plane separation. v2.0 keeps “controller based” in two places: as one of several management approaches in a different objective (v1.1 6.3 and its sub-items vs. v2.0 5.3), and separately in 2.2.b’s edge-host connectivity objective (see “What stays,” below). The related objective, comparing traditional networks with controller-based networking (v1.1 6.2), is narrowed into that same v2.0 5.3 management-approaches list rather than dropped — see “What stays,” below. 6.3 is also the one topic on this list the live CCNA bank still sells against, as a disclosed, capped exception removed at the 3 February 2027 changeover — see the product note under “What stays.”
• REST APIs as a named objective (v1.1 6.5)
• JSON as a named objective (v1.1 6.7)
• Terraform — v2.0’s configuration-management objective names only Ansible, and the verb changes from “Recognize” to “Use” (v1.1 6.6 vs. v2.0 5.5)

One v1.1 objective doesn’t fit cleanly into this list or the “what stays” list below: 4.8, “Configure network devices for remote access using SSH.” The v2.0 topics PDF does not use the word “SSH” anywhere; the nearest objectives are v2.0 4.1 (local and AAA device access) and 4.2 (SFTP/SCP), neither of which names SSH. Whether SSH access carries over or is dropped is an open question this page does not resolve — it isn’t in either list above.

What stays — objectives that carry into v2.0

These are the objectives this project reads as carrying into v2.0 in substance, even where the wording or the verb changes (several v2.0 objectives shift from “Configure and verify” or “Describe” to “Troubleshoot” or “Diagnose” — the underlying topic is the same one being tested a different way), including two that carry over narrowed rather than whole:

• IPv4 and IPv6 addressing
• wireless principles
• interface and cable issues
• VLANs, trunks, and 802.1Q
• CDP/LLDP
• EtherChannel/LACP
• Rapid PVST+
• routing-table interpretation
• static routing
• single-area OSPFv2
• first hop redundancy protocols
• NAT
• DHCP relay
• SNMP
• syslog
• IPsec VPNs
• ACLs
• DHCP snooping, dynamic ARP inspection, and port security
• local and AAA device access
• AI’s role in network operations (present in both versions, though v2.0 expands it)
• Ansible
• traditional vs. controller-based networking — narrowed: v1.1 treats this as its own objective (6.2); v2.0 folds “controller-based” into 5.3’s list of several management approaches, alongside device-based, cloud-based, automation-based, and infrastructure-as-code
• Cisco wireless architectures/AP modes and WLAN physical connections — narrowed: v1.1’s 2.6 and 2.7 become part of v2.0 2.2/2.2.b’s edge-host connectivity objective (“Wireless access points (standalone and controller based)”); the WLAN GUI itself (v1.1 2.9) is not part of this and is listed above as having no clear counterpart

This list is this project’s own reading of which topics carry over — it is not a precise statement of what the live CCNA 200-301 practice bank at Grindstone Prep sells questions on. The bank keeps one v1.1-only topic as a disclosed, capped exception (three items on SDN architecture, objective 6.3, removed at the 3 February 2027 changeover — see the “no clear counterpart” list, above), and leaves one other objective (SSH, 4.8, noted above) unresolved either way against the v2.0 text. For the bank’s own precise, current coverage statement, read its product page directly, or the full build methodology at /methodology#sources-cisco. As of this writing, the product page reads: “Practice questions for Cisco’s 200-301 CCNA exam (v1.1), covering all six of its domains: Network Fundamentals, Network Access, IP Connectivity, IP Services, Security Fundamentals, and Automation and Programmability. Questions cover objectives that carry over into Cisco’s v2.0 exam topics, with one exception: three items on SDN architecture (objective 6.3), a v1.1-only topic, which are removed from the bank at the 3 February 2027 version changeover. A few other v1.1-only topics (for example TCP vs UDP and switching concepts) are not included — see how we build it at /methodology#sources-cisco. Cited to Cisco documentation.” A free 5-question diagnostic drawn from that same bank is at /ccna-sample if you want to see where you stand before deciding anything below.

New in v2.0, or substantially expanded

Also this project’s own reading, not a Cisco statement. Some of this is genuinely new; some is a narrower v1.1 objective grown wider (the v1.1 root is noted in brackets where there is one):

• Troubleshooting wired and wireless client connectivity [v1.1 1.10]
• Troubleshooting DHCPv4 client, server, and relay on IOS devices [v1.1 4.6; 4.3]
• Switch virtual interfaces (SVIs) as a named sub-item
• Edge-host port attributes — IoT, APs, VoIP phones, virtualized hosts, appliances
• “Validate the accuracy of network documentation using CDP and LLDP”
• Troubleshooting with show commands, ping, extended ping, traceroute, and packet capture
• OSPFv3 for IPv6
• HSRP and VRRP named explicitly, at the “interpret the operational status” level [v1.1 3.5 named no specific protocol]
• SFTP/SCP
• PAT, and IOS XE routers specifically, named for the first time [NAT itself was already v1.1 4.1; what’s new in v2.0 is PAT and the IOS XE scoping]
• DNS record types — A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR [v1.1 4.3]
• IPsec “protocols and transport modes”
• ACL types named — standard, extended, numbered, named
• Storm control
• RA guard
• Agentic AI, as its own objective
• Choosing a prompt for a generative AI system
• Interpreting syslog, as its own objective

Sitting before or after the cutover — the facts, not a recommendation

This is deliberately just the facts Cisco has published, laid out so you can make your own call. Nothing below is advice beyond what’s stated.

• The cutover date is 3 February 2027. Anyone who sits and passes before that date gets certified on v1.1 content. Cisco’s blog says the exam topics “are available on May 20, 2026, and the refreshed exam will be available on February 3, 2027,” and that the current exam “will remain live until the new exam goes into effect.” Those two statements, taken together, give no stated window where a candidate chooses which version to sit — the date decides it.
• Cisco publishes no transition or grandfathering policy specific to this changeover in any of the three sources this page cites: the blog contains neither “grandfather” nor “transition,” and neither topics PDF mentions one.
• If you sit before 3 February 2027, you’re tested on v1.1’s six domains, including the topics listed above with no v2.0 counterpart — TCP vs UDP, NTP, QoS, TFTP/FTP, REST APIs, JSON, VRFs, and the rest.
• If you sit on or after 3 February 2027, you’re tested on v2.0’s five domains, including the new and expanded topics listed above — agentic AI, SFTP/SCP, OSPFv3, HSRP/VRRP by name, DNS record types, and the rest. Topics listed in the “no clear counterpart” section above are not named in the v2.0 topics PDF, as far as this project’s reading shows — but the v2.0 PDF itself states, directly under its exam description, that it is “a general guide for the exam” and that “additional related topics may be included in any given exam version,” subject to change without notice. (v1.1 carries an equivalent caveat in different wording, in the same position — see “The domain tables, side by side,” above.) Don’t drop a topic from your own prep on this page’s say-so alone.
• Either way, the exam code stays 200-301 and the exam is a 120-minute exam in both versions, per each version’s own topics PDF.
• Study material written for one version does not automatically cover the other. A v1.1-dated prep resource — book, course, or practice bank — will not include v2.0’s new topics; a v2.0-dated one will not match what’s actually bookable before 3 February 2027. Check which version any resource you’re using is written against.

Checked on

2026-10-16. The next re-check is scheduled for the week of 2027-02-03, when this page’s framing needs to flip from “v2.0 is coming” to “v2.0 is now the live exam,” and the “what stays” section needs reconfirming against whatever the CCNA bank covers at that point — including whether the SSH (4.8) and SDN (6.3) reconciliation notes above are still accurate.

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