Architecting with AWS (Associate)

AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate Cloud architecture training, built around you

Have you ever wondered how platforms like Netflix or Amazon stay online when millions of people use them simultaneously?

The answer is cloud computing — and more specifically, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world's largest and most widely adopted cloud platform.

This course teaches you exactly how those systems are designed, built, and maintained. By the end, you won't just understand how the modern internet works — you'll know how to architect it yourself.

What this course is about

The AWS Solutions Architect — Associate certification is one of the most respected and sought-after credentials in the tech industry. It proves you can design cloud systems that are secure, scalable, cost-efficient, and built to handle real-world demand.

This programme prepares you for that certification from the ground up — covering the core principles of cloud architecture, the AWS platform in depth, and the practical skills that employers are actively hiring for right now.

No prior experience is required. Just curiosity and a willingness to learn.

What you will learn

• How modern websites and applications are designed and built in the cloud
• The AWS Well-Architected Framework — the industry blueprint for building reliable, secure, and cost-effective systems
• How to design cloud systems that are resilient, fast, and scalable under heavy demand
• Core AWS services including compute, storage, networking, databases, and security
• How to approach and pass the official AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate exam with confidence

How you will learn it

Theory alone doesn't build cloud architects. This programme is hands-on from day one — guided labs, scenario-based exercises, and practical design sessions that reflect the kind of challenges you'll face in a real enterprise environment.

Every session is delivered by an active industry professional, not just a course instructor.

Flexible delivery — designed around your life

We offer multiple training formats so you can learn in the way that suits you best:

One-to-one (1:1) Private, personalised sessions scheduled around your availability.

Group training (cohort) Prefer to learn alongside others? Our weekend cohort sessions bring motivated learners together in a structured, collaborative environment — a great option if you enjoy the energy of a group and want to build connections along the way.

What's included

• Personalised AWS Solutions Architect — Associate training plan
• Full exam preparation and technique coaching
• Hands-on labs and real-world architecture scenarios
• Access to an expert trainer before, during, and after sessions
• Guidance on study materials and additional resources

Who this is for

This course is designed for anyone who wants to build a career in cloud architecture — regardless of background or experience level. It is equally well suited to:

• Complete beginners with no IT experience
• IT professionals looking to move into cloud roles
• System administrators, DevOps engineers, and developers seeking AWS certification
• Anyone preparing to take on cloud architecture responsibilities within their organisation

Your outcome

You will walk away with the knowledge to design robust, production-ready AWS architectures, a globally recognised certification to validate your skills, and the confidence to support cloud transformation initiatives across any organisation.

Not sure if this is the right course for you? Our student support team is happy to help. Get in touch and we'll give you an honest answer.

Course curriculum

AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate

Foundations of cloud computing and virtualisation

Begin your journey by understanding how modern cloud infrastructure works — from traditional IT models through to the core concepts that power AWS itself.

• Types of computing: traditional IT, cloud, and hybrid models
• Virtualisation: server, network, and storage virtualisation
• Cloud deployment models: public, private, and hybrid clouds
• Key advantages of cloud computing: cost efficiency, scalability, elasticity, and global reach
• AWS global infrastructure: regions, availability zones, and edge locations
• Accessing AWS: management console, CLI, SDK, and the free tier

Cloud service and deployment models

Understand the three fundamental service models that underpin every cloud platform and how they apply to real-world architecture decisions.

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Software as a Service (SaaS)
• Public, private, and hybrid deployment models

Account security and Identity Access Management (IAM)

Learn how to secure your AWS environment from the ground up — controlling who can access what, and how permissions are structured across an organisation.

• Introduction to IAM, API interfaces, and multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Root users, IAM users, and IAM groups
• Credentials management best practices
• Delegating access securely using IAM roles
• Configuring and understanding IAM policies
• Resource-based policies and permission boundaries
• Policy inheritance and advanced policy types

Introduction to EC2: launching Linux and Windows instances

Get hands-on with AWS's core compute service — launching, connecting to, and configuring virtual servers in the cloud.

• EC2 core concepts: instances, Amazon Machine Images (AMIs), and instance types
• Configuring security groups for inbound and outbound traffic
• Key pair creation and secure SSH access
• Step-by-step launch of Windows Server and Linux instances

EC2 configuration and vertical scaling

Go beyond launching instances — learn how to configure, automate, and scale your compute resources efficiently.

• Connecting to Linux and Windows instances via SSH and RDP
• Installing and configuring Apache web server on EC2
• Automating setup with User Data bootstrapping scripts
• Vertical scaling: resizing instances to meet demand
• EC2 pricing models: on-demand, reserved, savings plans, and spot pricing

Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS): managing and scaling storage

Learn how to attach, manage, and protect block storage volumes for your EC2 instances.

• EBS volume types: General Purpose SSD, Provisioned IOPS SSD, Throughput Optimised HDD, and Cold HDD
• Creating, attaching, detaching, and extending volumes
• Snapshots for backup and disaster recovery
• AMI creation and management from snapshots
• Cross-region snapshot copying

Elastic File System (EFS) and Amazon S3 storage solutions

Explore AWS's two most widely used storage services — one built for shared file access, the other for scalable object storage.

• Amazon S3: buckets, objects, object URLs, and storage classes (Standard, Standard-IA, Glacier, Intelligent-Tiering)
• S3 versioning, lifecycle policies, and static website hosting
• S3 Transfer Acceleration for faster global data transfers
• Amazon EFS: setting up and managing shared elastic file storage

Data protection and encryption

Understand how to protect sensitive data at rest and in transit using AWS-native encryption tools and key management services.

• Data protection strategies and best practices
• Client-side encryption (CSE) vs server-side encryption (SSE)
• AWS Key Management Service (KMS): key management and usage
• Overview of AWS CloudHSM for dedicated hardware security

Virtual Private Cloud (VPC): networking in AWS

Master the networking layer of AWS — building isolated, secure, and highly connected cloud environments from scratch.

• VPC fundamentals: subnets, route tables, internet gateways, and NAT gateways
• Creating custom VPCs and configuring public, private, and elastic IP addresses
• Subnetting: CIDR notation and fixed-length subnet masking (FLSM)
• VPC peering: cross-region and cross-account connectivity
• Site-to-site VPN: virtual private gateway, customer gateway, and AWS Direct Connect
• VPC endpoints: gateway and interface types for S3, DynamoDB, and other services

Load balancers, auto scaling, and DNS

Learn how to build systems that stay fast, available, and resilient under any level of demand.

• Elastic Load Balancing (ELB): Application Load Balancer (ALB), Network Load Balancer (NLB)
• Path-based routing with ALB
• Auto Scaling Groups: scaling policies, launch configurations, and termination policies
• High availability architecture with AWS Route 53 and DNS fundamentals

Cloud monitoring and event response

Build visibility into your AWS environment and configure automated responses to keep systems healthy and operational.

• Amazon CloudWatch: metrics, alarms, dashboards, and log management
• AWS EventBridge: event-driven automation and automated responses
• Amazon SNS: topics, subscribers, and service notifications
• Log collection, processing, and analysis

Serverless technologies: Lambda, API Gateway, SQS, and Kinesis

Discover how to build scalable, event-driven applications without managing any underlying infrastructure.

• AWS Lambda: event-driven compute, function configuration, and service integrations
• API Gateway: building and managing APIs that trigger Lambda functions
• Amazon SQS: standard and FIFO queues, message visibility, and decoupled architectures
• Amazon Kinesis: real-time data streaming, collection, and ingestion

Databases in AWS: RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB, and ElastiCache

Explore the full range of AWS database services — from relational and NoSQL to in-memory caching and live migration tools.

• Amazon RDS: database types, multi-AZ deployments, read replicas, backups, and restore
• Amazon Aurora: cluster architecture, read scaling, and fault tolerance
• Amazon DynamoDB: key-value concepts, tables, partition keys, indexes, and capacity planning
• DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX): query acceleration with in-memory caching
• Amazon ElastiCache: Redis and Memcached for high-performance caching
• AWS Database Migration Service (DMS): migrating on-premises databases to AWS with minimal downtime
• AWS Server Migration Service (SMS): planning and executing server migrations to the cloud

Automating infrastructure: Terraform, CloudFormation, and Elastic Beanstalk

Learn how to define, deploy, and manage infrastructure as code — reducing manual effort and increasing consistency at scale.

• AWS CloudFormation: infrastructure as code, template structure, stacks, and change sets
• Terraform: modules, variables, state management, and provider configuration
• AWS Elastic Beanstalk: rapid application deployment and environment management

AWS Systems Manager and AWS Organizations

Understand how to manage infrastructure and governance across multiple AWS accounts at enterprise scale.

• AWS Systems Manager: managing EC2 instances, run commands, and automated patching across accounts and regions
• AWS Organizations: multi-account management, service control policies, cross-account services, and consolidated billing
• AWS Control Tower: governance best practices and landing zone setup

Introduction to containers

Get up to speed with containerisation — one of the most important shifts in modern application deployment.

• What containers are and why they matter
• Introduction to Docker and container images
• Container management, orchestration, and Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR)
• Amazon ECS: launch types, Fargate vs EC2, task definitions, and service scheduling
• Introduction to Kubernetes and Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)
• Choosing the right container hosting option on AWS

Edge services and application security

Learn how to deliver content globally and protect your applications against modern cyber threats.

• Content delivery fundamentals and Amazon CloudFront
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS): attack types and mitigation strategies
• AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF): setup and configuration for DDoS protection
• AWS Firewall Manager and AWS Shield: centralised security management and advanced threat protection

Backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity

Prepare your architectures to withstand failure — understanding how to design for resilience and recover quickly when things go wrong.

• Recovery Point Objective (RPO) vs Recovery Time Objective (RTO) — what they mean and why they matter
• Backup and disaster recovery features built into core AWS services
• Disaster recovery strategies: backup and restore, pilot light, warm standby, and multi-site active/active

This programme is fully aligned with the official AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate exam. 

Every module, lab, and practical exercise is designed not only to build real-world cloud architecture skills, but to ensure you have exactly the knowledge and confidence needed to sit and pass this globally recognised certification.

AWS Certified Architect Associate exam (SAA-C03)

Where this course can take you

Completing your AWS Solutions Architect — Associate training is a significant milestone — but it's also a starting point. Whether you want to specialise deeper into AWS, broaden into other cloud platforms, or move into an entirely new area of tech, there are clear paths forward from here.

Your next steps

Sit the AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate exam (SAA-C03) Put your new knowledge to the test and earn one of the most recognised certifications in the cloud industry. We'll have you exam-ready and confident before you book your seat.

Advance to AWS Professional Architect Ready to go deeper? The AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Professional certification builds on your Associate foundation with more advanced topics including multi-account strategy, complex hybrid architectures, and enterprise-scale organisation management.

Specialise in operations, security, or DevOps Take your skills in a more focused direction with advanced AWS programmes in SysOps Administration, DevOps Engineering, or AWS Security Specialty — each one building directly on what you've already learned.

Move into data or machine learning If working with data interests you, our AWS Data Engineer and AWS Machine Learning Engineer programmes offer a natural next step — opening doors into two of the fastest-growing and highest-paying areas in tech right now.

Explore other cloud platforms AWS is the market leader, but the cloud world is broader than one provider. Our Google Cloud Platform (GCP) training and certification programmes give you the flexibility to expand your expertise and make yourself an even more versatile candidate in the job market.

Not sure which direction is right for you? Speak to one of our advisers — we'll help you map out a learning path that matches your goals, your timeline, and where you want your career to go.