100+ Free PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner Practice Questions

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Question 1

Score: 0/0

An event arrives at an Event Orchestration with the field 'severity: info'. A rule matches and upgrades it to 'severity: critical'. The event is then routed to a service with 'high urgency' behavior. Who is notified?

No one — info-severity events are always suppressed

Only the Stakeholder users subscribed to the service

The on-call user via their high-urgency notification rules

All Global Admins automatically

to track

2026 Statistics

Key Facts: PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner Exam

75%

Passing Score

PagerDuty University

~50

Exam Questions

PagerDuty University

3 attempts

Allowed Retakes

PagerDuty University

Exam Fee

Included with PagerDuty subscription

6 months

Recommended Experience

PagerDuty University

14 courses

Prerequisite On-Demand Courses

PagerDuty University

The PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner exam requires a 75% passing score on approximately 50 scenario-based questions. Access is included with a PagerDuty subscription and free certification events are offered periodically. Three exam attempts are provided. Preparation typically takes 20–40 hours using PagerDuty University's 14 foundational on-demand courses plus hands-on platform practice.

Sample PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to test your PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1A PagerDuty Service acts as a central configuration object that connects which two things together?

A.A monitoring tool and a Runbook

B.An integration source and an escalation policy

C.A schedule and a Response Play

D.A user and a contact method

Explanation: In PagerDuty, a Service is the primary configuration object that links an integration (an inbound event source such as a monitoring tool) to an escalation policy (which determines who gets notified). Without both an integration and an escalation policy attached, the service cannot receive and route alerts to on-call responders.

2Which incident state means a responder has seen the incident and is actively working on it, temporarily halting escalation?

A.Triggered

B.Suppressed

C.Acknowledged

D.Resolved

Explanation: When a responder acknowledges an incident it moves to the Acknowledged state, which pauses escalation and signals that someone is working the issue. If the acknowledgement timeout expires without resolution, PagerDuty returns the incident to Triggered and resumes escalation. Resolved is the terminal state that stops all notifications.

3An escalation policy has two levels. Level 1 has User A with a 30-minute escalation timeout. No one acknowledges the incident. What happens after 30 minutes?

A.The incident is automatically resolved

B.The incident is suppressed and archived

C.PagerDuty notifies the targets on Level 2

D.PagerDuty re-notifies User A indefinitely

Explanation: Escalation policies work by notifying level targets in order. After the configured escalation timeout elapses at Level 1 with no acknowledgement, PagerDuty moves to Level 2 and notifies those targets. This cascade continues until someone acknowledges or the policy is exhausted, after which PagerDuty can optionally repeat the policy.

4Which PagerDuty object must be added to an escalation policy level for schedule-based on-call rotation to drive incident notifications?

A.A Response Play

B.An on-call schedule

C.A service integration

D.A postmortem template

Explanation: On-call schedules define rotation rules and determine who is on call at any given moment, but they only generate notifications when added to a level of an escalation policy. The escalation policy must then be attached to at least one service. Without this chain — schedule → escalation policy level → service — no notifications are sent.

5What is the maximum number of users who can be on call simultaneously on a single schedule layer?

A.1

B.2

C.5

D.Unlimited

Explanation: A single schedule layer supports a maximum of two simultaneous on-call users. If your coverage model requires more than two concurrent on-call responders you need to add additional layers to the schedule or create additional schedules. This limit ensures clear ownership while allowing a primary and a shadow or backup.

6A new alert arrives on a service that already has an open incident. PagerDuty groups the new alert into the existing incident instead of creating a new one. Which feature is responsible?

A.Event Rules routing

B.Alert deduplication

C.Response Play auto-trigger

D.Stakeholder notification

Explanation: Alert deduplication prevents alert storms by merging alerts that share the same dedup_key into a single open incident. When an alert arrives with a dedup_key that matches an existing open incident, PagerDuty groups it rather than triggering a new incident, reducing noise and keeping related signals together.

7Which user role in PagerDuty can view objects but cannot modify them, and only gains temporary Responder access if assigned to a specific incident?

A.Manager

B.Responder

C.Observer

D.Global Admin

Explanation: The Observer role grants read-only access across PagerDuty objects. When an Observer is explicitly assigned to an incident, they temporarily receive Responder-level access for that incident only, allowing them to take action on it. This makes Observer suitable for stakeholders who occasionally need to assist without broad write permissions.

8A service is configured with 'high urgency' incidents. Which of the following best describes the impact of urgency on notifications?

A.High urgency incidents are silently logged with no user notification

B.High urgency incidents follow high-urgency notification rules, which may include phone calls

C.All incidents regardless of urgency follow the same notification rules

D.High urgency incidents are automatically resolved without user acknowledgement

Explanation: Incident urgency (high or low) determines which set of a user's notification rules fire. High urgency incidents can use aggressive notification methods such as phone calls and SMS, while low urgency incidents might only send email. Users configure separate notification rules for high and low urgency so critical alerts always reach them promptly.

9What does the 'dedup_key' field in a PagerDuty Events API payload control?

A.The routing destination for the event

B.The priority level assigned to the resulting incident

C.Which existing incident the alert is grouped into or identified by

D.The authentication token used to post the event

Explanation: The dedup_key is a unique identifier for an alert within a service. If an alert with the same dedup_key already has an open incident, PagerDuty groups subsequent alerts into that incident (deduplication). Sending a resolve event with the same dedup_key closes the incident. Without it, every event creates a new incident.

10An engineer wants to run automated diagnostic scripts the moment an alert arrives on a service, before a human is paged. Which PagerDuty feature supports this?

A.Postmortems

B.Stakeholder notifications

C.Automation Actions (Runbook Automation)

D.Schedule overrides

Explanation: Automation Actions (also called Runbook Automation) allow PagerDuty to trigger pre-defined scripts or runbooks automatically or on-demand when an incident is created. Running diagnostics before paging reduces mean time to resolve by providing responders with context or even auto-remediating known issues before human intervention.

About the PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner Exam

The PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner Certification validates a practitioner's ability to use the core features of the PagerDuty platform. The exam covers services and integrations, escalation policies, on-call schedules, the incident lifecycle (Triggered, Acknowledged, Resolved), urgency and priorities, notification rules and contact methods, Event Orchestration, alert deduplication, Response Plays, Stakeholder communications and Status Pages, postmortems, Analytics (MTTA/MTTR), Automation Actions, and user roles and teams.

Questions

50 scored questions

Time Limit

45-60 minutes

Passing Score

75%

Exam Fee

Included with PagerDuty subscription (PagerDuty University)

PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner Exam Content Outline

~20%

Services & Integrations

Service configuration, integration keys, maintenance windows, service dependencies, PD-CEF format (summary, severity, dedup_key), Events API v2 actions (trigger/acknowledge/resolve)

~15%

Escalation Policies

Escalation levels, per-level timeouts, policy snapshot behavior, repeat escalation, referencing schedules vs. individual users in policy levels

~15%

Schedules & On-Call

Schedule layers, rotation types (daily/weekly/custom), handoff time, restrictions, overrides, layer precedence, and the schedule-to-escalation-policy notification chain

~20%

Incident Management

Incident lifecycle states, urgency (high/low), incident priorities (P1–P5), acknowledgement timeout, adding responders, manual escalation, Response Plays, Incident Workflows, Incident Roles, mobile app

~10%

Users, Roles & Teams

Account Owner, Global Admin, Manager, Responder, Observer, Restricted Access, Stakeholder license, Advanced Permissions, contact methods, notification rules, team scoping

~10%

Event Orchestration & Alert Intelligence

Routing Rules, Service Orchestration Rules, Global Orchestration Rules (AIOps only), dedup_key deduplication, Time-Based Alert Grouping, Intelligent Alert Grouping (AIOps), suppression, set severity actions

~5%

Stakeholder Communications & Status Pages

Stakeholder notifications, Public Status Pages, Private Status Pages (SSO-gated), subscriber management

~5%

Postmortems, Analytics & Automation

Postmortem workflow, timeline auto-population, action items, MTTA/MTTR reporting, noise reports, Automation Actions, Runbook Automation runner agent

How to Pass the PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner Exam

What You Need to Know

Passing score: 75%
Exam length: 50 questions
Time limit: 45-60 minutes
Exam fee: Included with PagerDuty subscription

Keys to Passing

Complete 500+ practice questions
Score 80%+ consistently before scheduling
Focus on highest-weighted sections
Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner Study Tips from Top Performers

1Understand the three-part notification chain: schedule → escalation policy level → service. Every exam scenario builds on this foundation.

2Know the incident lifecycle cold: Triggered (escalating) → Acknowledged (paused) → Resolved (closed). The acknowledgement timeout returning an incident to Triggered is a common exam scenario.

3Practice deduplication: one dedup_key, one open incident regardless of how many events arrive. A resolve event with the same key closes it; the next trigger opens a new one.

4Memorize the five user roles: Account Owner (one per account), Global Admin, Manager, Responder, Observer, plus Restricted Access and Stakeholder. Know what each can and cannot do.

5Understand urgency: high-urgency incidents follow high-urgency notification rules (phone calls), low-urgency follows low-urgency rules (email). Dynamic urgency ties urgency to support hours.

6For Event Orchestration: Routing Rules are on all plans; Global Orchestration Rules require AIOps. Intelligent Alert Grouping requires AIOps; Time-Based Alert Grouping does not.

7Schedule overrides are for temporary coverage — they do not change the underlying rotation. The highest-numbered active layer wins for the Final Schedule view.

8Complete 100+ practice questions across all domains and review explanations for every wrong answer until you understand the why, not just the what.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the passing score for the PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner certification?

The PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner certification requires a passing score of 75%, which is approximately 38 correct answers out of 50 questions. Candidates receive three attempts to pass. The exam is delivered through PagerDuty University and is included with an active PagerDuty subscription.

How many questions are on the PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner exam?

The PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner exam contains approximately 50 scenario-based questions. The exam tests practical understanding of PagerDuty features including services, escalation policies, schedules, incident management, user roles, and Event Orchestration rather than theoretical memorization.

What does the PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner certification cost?

The exam is included with an active PagerDuty subscription at no additional cost. PagerDuty also periodically offers free certification events open to everyone. Check university.pagerduty.com for the current access model and any ongoing promotions.

What topics does the PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner exam cover?

Core topics include: services and integrations (integration keys, Events API), escalation policies (levels, timeouts, snapshots), on-call schedules (layers, overrides, restrictions), the incident lifecycle (Triggered/Acknowledged/Resolved), urgency and priorities, notification rules and contact methods, Event Orchestration, alert deduplication, Response Plays, Stakeholder communications, Status Pages, postmortems, Analytics (MTTA/MTTR), and user roles and Teams.

How long should I study for the PagerDuty Foundational Practitioner exam?

Practitioners who use PagerDuty daily typically prepare in 2–4 weeks (20–40 hours). Focus on PagerDuty University's 14 foundational on-demand courses plus hands-on work with services, escalation policies, schedules, and incident response. Aim for consistent scores above 80% on practice questions before attempting the exam.

What is the relationship between schedules, escalation policies, and services in PagerDuty?

A schedule defines who is on call and when. A schedule must be added to a level of an escalation policy to drive notifications. An escalation policy must be assigned to a service for the service to generate incident notifications. This three-part chain — schedule → escalation policy level → service — is foundational to the certification exam.

What is the difference between the Observer and Responder roles in PagerDuty?

Observers have read-only access to PagerDuty objects and cannot modify them, but gain temporary Responder-level access when explicitly assigned to an incident. Responders can take action on incidents (acknowledge, resolve, reassign) and create schedule overrides. Neither role can create or modify services, escalation policies, or schedules — those require Manager or higher permissions.