Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider

What is it?

What exactly is the Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider?

Professional service-provider networks

CCNP Service Provider certifies skills in architecting and operating service-provider networks, via the SPCOR core plus a concentration.

Before you book

Who is eligible to sit the Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider?

Who it is for: Service-provider engineers

The test itself

What is the format of the Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider?

The Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider is administered by Pearson VUE and runs 120 minutes (core), contains 90–110 (core) questions and requires ~825 of 1000 to pass.

Money & time

How much does the Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider cost?

For the Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider, the exam fee is $400 per exam; the all-in cost is typically $700+; most candidates spend 4–8 months preparing.

The fine print

What are the retake and renewal rules for the Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider?

Proctoring & delivery

Delivered by Pearson VUE: at authorized test centers or online via OnVUE remote proctoring (CCST uses the Certiport/Pearson VUE platform). A government-issued photo ID is required; online tests include a room/environment scan.

Retake policy

If you fail, Cisco requires a waiting period of 5 calendar days before you may retake the same exam. Each attempt requires full payment of the exam fee. Cisco does not cap total attempts, but some exams limit attempts within a 12-month window.

Score reporting

Results are reported as pass/fail and made available online (Cisco Certification Tracking System) typically within 48 hours. A section-level performance breakdown is provided to help target further study; scaled scores use a 300-1000 range (CCNA/CCNP-style exams).

Recertification

All Cisco certifications are valid for 3 years from the date earned. Recertify before expiry by (a) passing a higher-or-equal level qualifying exam, (b) earning Continuing Education (CE) credits through eligible training/activities, or (c) a combination of exam + CE. For associate-level certs 30 CE credits are required; for professional-level 40 CE credits. Certificates can also be extended via the Cisco Continuing Education program.

Refunds & rescheduling

Exam fees are generally non-refundable once scheduled, but Pearson VUE allows rescheduling or cancellation up to 24-48 hours before the appointment without penalty; no-shows forfeit the fee. CCST/Certiport policies may differ by region.

What it pays

How much does this credential pay?

$130,390 median for computer network architects (BLS, May 2024)

There is no Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation called "CCNP Service Provider" — the Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider credential validates professional-level service provider networking skill, and the wage question belongs to the role you perform with it. The closest official BLS occupation is Computer Network Architects, SOC 15-1241, which had a May 2024 median wage of $130,390 ($62.69 per hour), with the lowest 10 percent earning less than $79,520 and the highest 10 percent more than $198,030. The fit is deliberate: CCNP Service Provider holders work as network engineers and architects inside telecom carriers, internet service providers and large network operators — the people who design and run MPLS backbones, segment-routing cores, VPN services and provider cloud interconnect, which is precisely the architecture and implementation work the computer network architect occupation describes. BLS counted 179,200 computer network architect jobs in 2024 and projects 12 percent employment growth from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations, with about 11,200 openings a year, driven by firms building new networks and upgrading existing ones as they invest in cloud, AI and infrastructure. The limitation to state plainly: the BLS median covers the whole occupation at all levels and across all industries, and service provider engineers are a specialist slice of that workforce — carrier networking is a comparatively small, deep-skills segment, and pay within it follows the specific operator, union or contractor arrangement rather than the national median; employer surveys, which are not BLS data, typically place senior carrier network architects above the median. Read the government figure as the market level for the occupation the credential serves, not as a measure of the certificate’s premium, and remember the credential itself does not appear in wage data because BLS classifies by job duty rather than by certificate.

Job growth.BLS projects 12 percent growth for computer network architects from 2024 to 2034, about 11,200 openings per year.

Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook - Computer Network Architects

Your schedule

How long should I study for it?

150-250 hours over 12-16 weeks (core), plus 40-80 hours for the concentration exam of focused study

The CCNP Service Provider is a two-exam certification: the 350-501 SPCOR core exam (120 minutes, about 90-110 questions, US$400) plus one concentration exam — 300-510 SPRI on advanced routing, 300-515 SPVI on VPN services, or 300-540 SPCNI on cloud network infrastructure — each 90 minutes and US$300. SPCOR covers the core of service provider networking: architecture, services, networking, automation, quality of service, security and network assurance, with the heavy content sitting in MPLS, segment routing, routing protocols at provider scale, QoS and VPN technologies. A defensible plan runs 150 to 250 hours over 12 to 16 weeks for the core, with 40 to 80 hours on top for the concentration. Weeks 1-4 build the routing and MPLS core: OSPF, IS-IS and BGP at the professional level, MPLS LDP and L3VPN fundamentals, and segment-routing concepts, with heavy lab work, because the exam rewards configuration and troubleshooting knowledge. Weeks 5-7 cover architecture and services: provider edge and core design, VPN services (Layer 2, Layer 3, IPv6), QoS design, and multicast. Weeks 8-9 cover automation and network assurance: network programmability, telemetry, and the monitoring stack. Weeks 10-11 cover security and remaining services at provider scale. Weeks 12-14 add question-bank drilling and two full timed practice exams. Weeks 15-16 pivot to the chosen concentration exam, since the full certification is not earned until both exams pass. The plan is lab-heavy because SPCOR items present real provider configurations and ask for the correct command, fix or analysis, and candidates who only read guides find the scenario items impossible to answer confidently. Candidates coming from an enterprise background should add study time on MPLS and provider services, which are the areas enterprise jobs do not cover.

1. Weeks 1-460

   Routing, MPLS and segment routing

   • OSPF, IS-IS and BGP at professional scale
   • MPLS LDP, L3VPN fundamentals and segment-routing concepts
   • Lab every protocol until configuration and troubleshooting are fluent
2. Weeks 5-745

   Architecture, services and QoS

   • Provider edge and core architecture
   • Layer 2, Layer 3 and IPv6 VPN services
   • QoS design and multicast at provider scale
3. Weeks 8-930

   Automation and network assurance

   • Network programmability and telemetry
   • Monitoring and assurance stacks
   • First full practice exam
4. Weeks 10-1130

   Security and remaining services

   • Security controls in the provider network
   • Integration scenarios across the domains
   • Second full practice exam
5. Weeks 12-1440

   Drill and timed practice

   • Question-bank drilling in volume
   • Re-lab every miss by domain
   • Two full 120-minute practice exams
6. Weeks 15-1640

   Concentration exam

   • Pick the concentration aligned to your job
   • Study the 90-minute concentration blueprint
   • One full practice exam for the concentration

What to buy

Which study resources are worth paying for?

CCNP Service Provider prep centres on lab access plus a course, and the buying logic starts with the fact that the two required exams anchor the budget: the SPCOR core exam is US$400 and each concentration exam is US$300, so the two-exam certification costs $700 in exam fees alone, before any training, books or labs, and a realistic total budget including training and materials is $900 to $2,500. Cisco’s official learning resources include the exam topics documents (free), Cisco U. courses and the Cisco Learning Network, and the official Cisco Press SPCOR Official Cert Guide is the standard reference for the core exam, running roughly $50-$80. Third-party training companies offer full SPCOR courses and labs from roughly $100 to $1,000 depending on format, with self-paced video courses at the low end and instructor-led programs at the high end. Lab access is non-negotiable — either a paid lab subscription (roughly $50-$200) or a local virtual lab environment such as Cisco Modeling Labs or GNS3 — because the exam rewards configuration practice on MPLS, segment routing and provider VPN services, and candidates who try to save money by skipping the lab typically pay the $400 retake fee instead. The exam fee is payable with Cisco Learning Credits, which employers in carrier environments often provide, so checking your employer’s training budget before paying list price is a genuine cost lever. Service provider lab environments can be heavier than enterprise labs because MPLS and VPN topologies need multiple routers, so candidates without hardware should budget for a lab subscription rather than assuming a laptop install will carry the workload. Prices below are list prices as of mid-2026 and change frequently; we rank nothing by commission.

List prices as of mid-2026, subject to change; SPCOR is $400 and concentration exams $300. No commission or affiliate ranking is implied.

What you'll face

What question types will I see?

The 350-501 SPCOR exam has about 90 to 110 questions in 120 minutes, mixing single-answer multiple choice, multiple-response, drag-and-drop and scenario-based items, and the exam is delivered at Pearson VUE centres or through online proctoring in English. The content spans core service provider networking — architecture, services, networking, automation, quality of service, security and network assurance — and many items present an actual provider configuration, topology or symptom and ask for the correct command, fix or analysis, the style that rewards hands-on practice over memorisation. The concentration exams follow the same question mix in a shorter 90-minute format and drill one domain in depth: 300-510 SPRI on advanced routing, 300-515 SPVI on VPN services, or 300-540 SPCNI on cloud network infrastructure. Cisco reports results as pass/fail on a scaled score with no published numeric threshold, so there is no official percentage to target and the exam cannot be gamed against a cut line; the score report shows relative performance by topic area, which is the most useful feedback a candidate gets. Because the item count and mix can vary slightly between exam forms, pacing matters more than any single-item expectation: at roughly one minute per item, the scenario and configuration items consume most of the clock, so candidates should flag uncertain items early, avoid dwelling on a single drag-and-drop, and budget the reading-heavy questions deliberately rather than answering in presented order. Candidates who have configured MPLS and VPN topologies in a lab have a decisive advantage on the scenario items, which are the questions most likely to separate a pass from a fail. The samples below are editor-written illustrations of the published exam topics and the configuration-flavoured style of the real items, not live exam items.

Samples are editor-written illustrations of the published blueprint, not live exam items.

Reference

What are the key facts about the Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider?

Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider is a certification credential; awarded by Cisco; the exam fee is $400 per exam; typical preparation is 4–8 months; holders typically earn $95,000 – $135,000.

In short

Is the Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider worth it?

• CCNP Service Provider = SPCOR core + 1 concentration.
• It covers MPLS and carrier routing.
• It renews every three years.

Worth comparing

How does the Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider compare with similar credentials?

• Cisco Certified Network Associate Cisco Systems

Trust

Where does this information come from?

Everything above is taken from the awarding body's own published material. Fees, question counts and domain weights are revised regularly — check the official page before you pay.

• Cisco Awarding body
• Official Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider exam page Exam page
• Cisco certification programme Programme rules

Research confidence: high · Last reviewed 2026-08