Passing the Spring Professional (2V0-72.22) exam on your first attempt comes down to two things: knowing which topics carry the most weight, and practicing with questions that match the real exam style.
This guide gives you both — a structured 8-week study plan, an honest breakdown of what each section requires, and the resources that actually matter.
Before You Start: Know What You're Preparing For
Official exam name: Spring Certified Professional 2024 v2 Exam code: 2V0-72.22 Format: 60 questions, 130 minutes, multiple choice and multiple select Passing score: 300 on a scaled 100–500 system (~76%, approximately 46 out of 60 correct) Versions tested: Spring Framework 5.3 and Spring Boot 2.x — not Spring 6 or Boot 3 Cost: $250 USD (no discounts, no regional pricing)
Who is this exam for? The recommended profile is developers with 6–12 months of hands-on Spring experience. If you've worked with Spring professionally, you already know a large portion of the material — the exam tests depth, not just familiarity.
Topic Weights: Where to Focus
The exam is divided into 6 sections. Knowing the weights tells you exactly where to invest your study time.
| Section | Topics | Approx. Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Spring Core | IoC container, DI, Bean lifecycle, AOP, Pointcuts | ~28% |
| 2 — Data Management | JDBC, JPA, Transactions, Spring Data | ~14% |
| 3 — Spring MVC | Controllers, REST, DispatcherServlet | ~10% |
| 4 — Testing | @SpringBootTest, MockMvc, Mockito, @DataJpaTest | ~14% |
| 5 — Spring Security | Filter chain, Authentication, Authorization | ~6% |
| 6 — Spring Boot | Auto-configuration, Actuator, Properties, Profiles | ~28% |
Key insight: Spring Core and Spring Boot together account for roughly 56% of the exam. If you master these two sections, you are more than halfway there regardless of your performance elsewhere.
The 8-Week Study Plan
This plan assumes you have 1–2 hours per day available for study. Adjust the pace to fit your schedule — the section order matters more than the timing.
Weeks 1–2: Spring Core
Spring Core is the foundation. Everything else builds on it.
What to cover:
- The IoC container —
ApplicationContextvsBeanFactory, when each is used - Dependency injection: constructor injection vs setter injection vs field injection, and which the exam favors
- Bean scopes:
singleton,prototype,request,session,application— when each applies - Bean lifecycle: instantiation → dependency injection →
@PostConstruct/InitializingBean→ ready →@PreDestroy/DisposableBean - Configuration styles:
@Configuration+@Bean,@Component+@ComponentScan, XML (you need to recognize it, not write it) @Autowired,@Qualifier,@Primary,@Value,@Profile- AOP concepts:
@Aspect,@Pointcut, advice types (@Before,@After,@Around,@AfterReturning,@AfterThrowing), pointcut expressions
Focus areas: The distinction between @Component and @Configuration proxy behavior is a common exam topic. Understand why @Configuration classes create CGLIB proxies and what difference that makes for @Bean method calls.
Week 3: Data Management
What to cover:
JdbcTemplate— basic usage,queryForObject,query,update- Spring Data JPA —
@Entity, repositories,@Query, derived query methods - Transaction management:
@Transactionalattributes —propagation,isolation,readOnly,rollbackFor - Transaction propagation types:
REQUIRED,REQUIRES_NEW,NESTED,SUPPORTS,NOT_SUPPORTED,MANDATORY,NEVER @Repositoryand exception translation
Focus areas: Transaction propagation is heavily tested. Know what happens when a REQUIRED method calls a REQUIRES_NEW method, and when a transaction rolls back vs commits. The readOnly = true attribute and its performance implications also appear frequently.
Weeks 4–5: Spring Boot
Spring Boot is the largest single section (28%). Give it the most time.
What to cover:
- Auto-configuration mechanism:
@EnableAutoConfiguration,spring.factories/AutoConfiguration.imports, condition annotations (@ConditionalOnClass,@ConditionalOnMissingBean,@ConditionalOnProperty) - Properties and configuration:
application.properties,application.yml,@ConfigurationProperties,@Value, property relaxed binding rules - Profiles:
@Profile,spring.profiles.active, profile-specific property files - Spring Boot Actuator: built-in endpoints (
/health,/info,/metrics,/env,/beans), enabling/disabling endpoints,management.endpoints.web.exposure.include SpringApplicationand the application startup lifecycle- Embedded server configuration
@SpringBootApplication— what it combines (@Configuration+@EnableAutoConfiguration+@ComponentScan)
Focus areas: Auto-configuration conditions are a major topic. Be able to trace why a bean does or does not get created based on @Conditional* annotations. Actuator endpoint security and exposure configuration also appears frequently.
Week 6: Testing + Spring Security
Testing (14%):
@SpringBootTest— full application context vs slice tests- Test slices:
@WebMvcTest,@DataJpaTest,@JsonTest— what context each loads MockMvc— testing controllers without starting a server@MockBeanvs@SpyBean— when to use each@TestConfiguration— providing test-specific beansTestcontainers— you should recognize the concept, not configure it
Spring Security (6%):
- Security filter chain architecture
AuthenticationvsAuthorization@PreAuthorize,@PostAuthorize,@Secured- Basic HTTP security configuration with
SecurityFilterChainbean UserDetailsServiceandPasswordEncoder- CSRF protection — when it applies and when to disable it
Focus areas for Security: Since Security is only 6%, don't go deep. Focus on understanding the filter chain concept, method-level security annotations, and how to configure a basic SecurityFilterChain. You don't need to know OAuth2 internals in detail.
Week 7: Mixed Review + Weak Areas
Stop new material. Focus entirely on:
- Revisit your weakest section — review notes and re-read official docs for the topic where you felt least confident
- Practice questions — work through exam-style questions and pay close attention to the explanations for every wrong answer
- Flashcard-style review — annotation meanings, propagation types, condition annotations — anything you can test yourself on quickly
Do not cram new topics in Week 7. Solidifying what you already know is more valuable than adding new material at this stage.
Week 8: Mock Exams + Final Preparation
- Take at least 2 full mock exams under timed conditions (60 questions, 130 minutes)
- Review every incorrect answer — understand why it was wrong, not just what the right answer was
- Check the official Broadcom exam objectives one final time — if anything feels unfamiliar, revisit it briefly
- Schedule your exam if you haven't already
If you're consistently scoring above 80% on mock exams, you're ready. If you're at 70–75%, another week of focused practice on weak areas is worth it.
Recommended Study Resources
Official
| Resource | What It's For |
|---|---|
| Spring Academy | Official training — free courses available |
| Spring Framework docs | Spring 5.3 reference — use this, not the latest docs |
| Spring Boot docs | Spring Boot 2.7 reference |
| Exam blueprint (Broadcom) | Official list of all exam objectives |
Practice
| Resource | What It's For |
|---|---|
| Free Practice Questions | Exam-style questions with detailed explanations, free |
| Full Course on Udemy | 970+ practice questions + video explanations |
Why practice questions matter: The 2V0-72.22 exam tests nuance, not recall. Many questions present two seemingly correct answers — the difference is a subtle behavior of the API. Practicing with exam-style questions trains you to spot these distinctions before exam day.
Common Mistakes That Cause Candidates to Fail
1. Studying Spring 6 or Boot 3 material The exam is based on Spring 5.3 and Spring Boot 2.x. Studying the latest versions will give you wrong answers on topics where behavior changed (e.g., auto-configuration loading mechanism, security defaults).
2. Underestimating Spring Boot Many candidates spend most of their time on Spring Core because it feels more foundational. Spring Boot is 28% of the exam — give it equal time.
3. Memorizing without understanding The exam rarely asks "what annotation does X?" — it asks "given this configuration, what will happen?" Understanding the why behind each concept is more useful than memorizing lists.
4. Ignoring transaction propagation
This topic has a reputation for being on nearly every version of the exam in some form. If you can't clearly explain the difference between REQUIRED and REQUIRES_NEW, make it a priority.
5. Not practicing with multiple-select questions Some exam questions require selecting 2 or 3 correct answers from 6 options. There is no partial credit — you need all correct answers and no incorrect ones. This format requires a different test-taking strategy than single-select.
Exam Day Tips
- Read each question twice before looking at the answers — the wording often contains the key
- Eliminate obviously wrong answers first — even in multiple-select questions, eliminating 2–3 wrong options narrows the decision significantly
- Flag and come back — the exam interface allows flagging questions; if a question is taking more than 3 minutes, flag it and move on
- 130 minutes is generous — at 60 questions you have ~2 minutes per question on average; most candidates finish well before time
- Don't change your first answer unless you have a clear reason — second-guessing without new reasoning reduces accuracy
How Long Will Preparation Take?
| Experience Level | Recommended Study Time |
|---|---|
| 1–2 years of daily Spring work | 4–6 weeks, 1–2 hours/day |
| Some Spring exposure, not daily | 6–8 weeks, 1–2 hours/day |
| Limited Spring experience | 10–12 weeks, 1–2 hours/day |
These are realistic estimates, not guarantees. Candidates who spend time on practice questions tend to perform better than those who only read documentation, regardless of total hours.
Ready to Start?
→ Try Free Practice Questions — 15 exam-style questions with detailed per-answer explanations, free
→ Read the Full Exam Guide — complete breakdown of all 6 sections, official objectives, and registration steps
→ View the Full Course on Udemy — 970+ practice questions with video explanations, structured to match the exam blueprint