Symfony 8 was released at the end of November 2025, alongside Symfony 7.4. Both versions share the exact same features, but Symfony 8.0 removes all deprecated features and requires PHP 8.4 or higher.

Today, we're introducing the new certification exam for Symfony 8. The exam duration and structure remain the same as previous exams. The list of topics is similar to the previous Symfony 7 exam, with minor adjustments: we've reduced the number of HTTP Caching questions (though it's still covered) and increased the number of questions related to Messenger to reflect its growing importance in modern Symfony applications.

The exam focuses on the core concepts of Symfony, and those haven't changed, but the actual questions are different because we've removed many questions, added new ones and updated the rest to use the latest Symfony practices.

From Memorization to Understanding

The Symfony certification has always focused on testing your understanding of Symfony's core concepts rather than API memorization. However, previous exams still included some questions that tested your ability to recall specific method names or option spellings.

For Symfony 8, we've refined this approach. In the era of IDE autocompletion and AI-assisted coding, memorizing these details is no longer relevant. We've now rewritten most of those memorization-style questions to test your understanding of how Symfony works instead.

Here's an example to illustrate this change (these are not real exam questions, just realistic examples to show the difference):

Before (API memorization):

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Which option defines the HTTP methods allowed for a route?

A) `method`
B) `methods`
C) `http_methods`
D) `allowed_methods`

After (understanding):

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A route is defined with `methods: ['POST']`.

If no other route matches the same path, what happens when a client
sends a GET request to that path?

A) The request is routed normally and the controller decides
B) Symfony returns `404 Not Found`
C) Symfony returns `405 Method Not Allowed`
D) Symfony redirects the request to POST

We still include a few API-focused questions, but only for absolutely fundamental classes like Request and Response.

The Exam in Practice

This is how the Symfony certification exam works:

  • You can take the exam up to one year after purchasing a certification voucher;
  • The exam is taken online, from the comfort of your home or office;
  • Some basic rules are enforced during the exam to avoid cheating;
  • The exam lasts 90 minutes and includes 75 questions divided into 13 topics;
  • Question types: single choice, multiple choice, and true/false (there are no open-ended questions and you don't need to write code samples);
  • There are two certification levels: advanced and expert, depending on your score.

Visit certification.symfony.com, purchase your voucher today, and become one of the first Symfony 8 Certified Developers!

Published in #Symfony