The freeCodeCamp community just published our new Responsive Web Design certification. You can now sit for the exam to earn the free verified certification, which you can add to your résumé, CV, or LinkedIn profile.
Each certification is filled with hundreds of hours worth of interactive lessons, workshops, labs, and quizzes.
How Does the New RWD Certification Work?
The Responsive Web Design certification will teach you core concepts including semantic HTML, working with forms, the importance of accessibility, CSS Flexbox, responsive design, CSS Grid, and more.
The certification is broken down into several modules that include lessons, workshops, labs, review pages and quizzes to ensure that you truly understand the material before moving onto the next module.
The lessons are your first exposure to new concepts. They provide crucial theory and context for how things work in the software development industry.
These lessons include our new interactive editor so you can see previews of the code. You can also play around with the examples for deeper understanding and comprehension.
At the end of each lesson, there will be three comprehension check questions to test your understanding of the material from the lesson.
After these lessons, you’ll head over to the workshops. These workshops are guided step-based projects that provide you with an opportunity to practice what you have learned in the lessons.
After the workshops, you’ll complete a lab which will help you review what you have learned so far. This will give you the chance to start building projects on your own, which is a crucial skill for a developer. You’ll be presented with a list of user stories and will need to pass the tests to complete the lab.
At the end of each module, there is a review page containing a list of all of the concepts covered. You can use these review pages to help you study for the quizzes.
The last portion of the module is the quiz. This is a 20 question multiple choice quiz designed to test your understanding from the material covered in the module. You’ll need to get 18 out of 20 correct to pass.
Throughout the certification, there will be five certification projects you’ll need to complete in order to qualify for the exam.
![[Alt Text: List of HTML certification projects in the new Responsive Web Design certification]](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1763401326863/5b35b3d3-7e15-427a-b37c-023b3b259648.png)
Once you’ve completed all 5 certification projects, you’ll be able to take the 50 question exam using our new open source exam environment. The freeCodeCamp community designed this exam environment tool with two goals: respecting your privacy while also making it harder for people to cheat.
Once you download the app to your laptop or desktop, you can take the exam.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is all of this really free?
Yes. freeCodeCamp has always been free, and we’ve now offered free verified certifications for more than a decade. These exams are just the latest expansion to our community’s free learning resources.
What prevents people from just cheating on the exams?
Our goal is to strike a balance between preventing cheating and respecting people's right to privacy.
We've implemented a number of reliable, yet non-invasive, measures to help prevent people from cheating on freeCodeCamp's exams:
For each exam, we have a massive bank of questions and potential answers to those questions. Each time a person attempts an exam, they'll see only a small, randomized sampling of these questions.
We only allow people to attempt an exam one time per week. This reduces their ability to "brute force" the exam.
We have security in place to validate exam submissions and prevent man-in-the-middle attacks or manipulation of the exam environment.
We manually review each passing exam for evidence of cheating. Our exam environment produces tons of metrics for us to draw from.
We take cheating, and any form of academic dishonesty, seriously. We will act decisively.
This said, no one's exam results will be thrown out without human review, and no one's account will be banned without warning based on a single suspicious exam result.
Are these exams “open book” or “closed book”?
All of freeCodeCamp’s exams are “closed book”, meaning you must rely only on your mind and not outside resources.
Of course, in the real world you’ll be able to look things up. And in the real world, we encourage you to do so.
But that is not what these exams are evaluating. These exams are instead designed to test your memory of details and your comprehension of concepts.
So when taking these exams, do not use outside assistance in the form of books, notes, AI tools, or other people. Use of any of these will be considered academic dishonesty.
Do you record my webcam, microphone, or require me to upload a photo of my personal ID?
No. We considered adding these as additional test-taking security measures. But we have less privacy-invading methods of detecting most forms of academic dishonesty.
If the environment is open source, doesn't that make it less secure?
"Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow." – Linus’s Law, formulated by Eric S. Raymond in his book The Cathedral and the Bazaar
Open source software projects are often more secure than their closed source equivalents. This is because a lot more people are scrutinizing the code. And a lot more people can potentially help identify bugs and other deficiencies, then fix them.
We feel confident that open source is the way to go for this exam environment system.
How can I contribute to the Exam Environment codebase?
It's fully open source, and we'd welcome your code contributions. Please read our general contributor onboarding documentation.
Then check out the GitHub repo.
You can help by creating issues to report bugs or request features.
You can also browse open help wanted issues and attempt to open pull requests addressing them.
Are the exam questions themselves open source?
For obvious exam security reasons, the exam question banks themselves are not publicly accessible. :)
These are built and maintained by freeCodeCamp's staff instructional designers.
What happens if I have internet connectivity issues mid-exam?
If you have internet connectivity issues mid exam, the next time you try submit an answer, you’ll be told there are connectivity issues. The system will keep prompting you to retry submitting until the connection succeeds.
What if my computer crashes mid-exam?
If your computer crashes mid exam, you’ll be able to re-open the Exam Environment. Then, if you still have time left for your exam attempt, you’ll be able to continue from where you left off.
Can I take exams in languages other than English?
Not yet. We’re working to add multi-lingual support in the future.
I have completed my exam. Why can't I see my results yet?
All exam attempts are reviewed by freeCodeCamp staff before we release the results. We do this to ensure the integrity of the exam process and to prevent cheating. Once your attempt has been reviewed, you'll be notified of your results the next time you log in to freeCodeCamp.org.
I am Deaf or hard of hearing. Can I still take the exams?
Yes! While some exams may include audio components, we do make written transcripts available for reading.
I am blind or have limited vision, and use a screen reader. Can I still take the exams?
We’re working on it. Our curriculum is fully screen reader accessible. We're still refining our screen reader usability for the Exam Environment app. This is a high priority for us.
I use a keyboard instead of a mouse. Can I navigate the exams using just a keyboard?
This is a high priority for us. We hope to add keyboard navigation to the Exam Environment app soon.
Are exams timed?
Yes, exams are timed. We err on the side of giving plenty of time to take the exam, to account for people who are non-native English speakers, or who have ADHD and other learning differences that can make timed exams more challenging.
If you have a condition that usually qualifies you for extra time on standardized exams, please email support@freecodecamp.org. We’ll review your request and see whether we can find a reasonable solution.
What happens if I fail the exam? Can I retake it?
Yes. You get one exam attempt per week. Afterward, if you don’t pass, there is a one-week (exactly 168 hour) “cool-down” period where you cannot take any freeCodeCamp exams. This is to encourage you to study and to pace yourself.
There is no limit to the number of times you can take an exam. So if you fail, study more, practice your skills more, then try again the following week.
Do I need to redo the projects if I fail the exam?
No. Once you’ve submitted a certification project, you do not need to ever submit it again.
You can re-do projects for practice, but we recommend that you instead build some of our many practice projects in freeCodeCamp’s developer interview job search section.
What happens if I already have the old Legacy Responsive Web Design certification? Should I claim the new one?
The new certification has more theory and practice as well as an exam. So if you’re looking to brush up on your skills, then you can go through the new version of this certification.
What will happen to my existing coursework progress on the Full Stack Certification? Does it transfer over to the Responsive Web Design course?
If you’ve already started the Certified Full Stack Developer Curriculum, all of your previously completed work should already be saved there.
To be clear, we’ve copied over all of the coursework from the full stack certification to this newer certification.
Can I still continue with the current Full Stack Developer Certification and just not do the new certification?
We’ve moved the coursework for the Full Stack Developer Certification over and broken it up into smaller certifications. Currently there are seven courses available for you to go through. Here is the complete list:
The Certified Full Stack Developer Certification button will remain on the learn page for a short time to give people the opportunity to switch over to the new certifications. Over the next few months, though, this option will disappear.
Will my legacy certifications become invalid?
No. Once you claim a certification, it’s yours to keep.
Also note that we previously announced that freeCodeCamp certifications would have an expiration date and require recertification. We don’t plan to implement this anytime soon. And if we do decide to, we will give everyone at least a year’s notice.
Will the exam be available to take on my phone?
At this time, no. You’ll need to use a laptop or desktop to download the exam environment and take the exam. We hope to eventually offer these certification exams on iPhone and Android.
I have a disability or health condition that is not covered here. How can I request accommodations?
If you need specific accommodations for the exam (for example extra time, breaks, or alternative formats), please email support@freecodecamp.org. We’ll review your request and see whether we can find a reasonable solution.
Anything else?
Good luck working through freeCodeCamp’s coursework, building projects, and preparing for these exams.
Happy coding!