Security+ V7 or V8: count forward from your own start date

Let your calendar pick the version before your preference does.

Two dates frame the choice

CompTIA expects to launch V8 (SY0-801) on or around 17 November 2026, in English only. English V7 (SY0-701) retires on 11 June 2027. In Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai, V7 retires on 13 August 2027.

In English that leaves an overlap of almost seven months in which you may sit either version. Both lead to the same credential, and the format does not change: up to 90 questions in 90 minutes, a mix of multiple-choice and performance-based questions, and a pass mark of 750 on a scale of 100 to 900.

The counting method

CompTIA publishes no single figure for study hours. CredenTrek works from 60 to 100 hours for someone with IT experience, so 80 is the midpoint used here. Then:

1. Divide 80 by the hours you can really give each week.
2. Round up to whole weeks.
3. Add about one buffer week for every eight weeks of study, rounded to the nearest whole week and never fewer than one.
4. Count forward from your first study day.

Three start dates

The first row finishes well inside the V7 window. The second does too, and it lands inside the end-of-February line described below, with its two buffer weeks already counted. The third finishes in April, which is close enough to the 11 June retirement that a failed first attempt would be risky. That candidate should study V8 from day one.

A rule of thumb for the margin

CredenTrek, not CompTIA, suggests that your first V7 sitting should fall by the end of February 2027. The reason is simple. A retake has to fit before 11 June, and every attempt is paid in full. A February first sitting leaves about three and a half months to retake, if you need to.

If your count lands after that, do not hurry to squeeze V7 in. Choose V8 and buy V8 material.

Special cases

• Your course or employer chose the version. Ask whether it includes labs and performance-based practice, and get the exam date in writing.
• You need Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish or Thai. This page cannot give a V8 date for those languages. Check the CompTIA Security+ page before you plan past 13 August 2027.
• You have already started a V7 course. Count your remaining hours, not 80, and run the same sum.

Record it

Write your version, your count and the date you will review it in your decision record. If your weekly hours change, redo the sum on the day they change, not at the end of the month. A count that is a month out of date can put you on the wrong side of 11 June.