GH-900 — GitHub Foundations (GH-900) Exam Study Plan

Who this Study Plan is for

This independent Study Plan is for candidates preparing for the GitHub Foundations (GH-900) exam from GitHub. It is designed for practical exam preparation: diagnosing gaps, reviewing GitHub concepts, doing hands-on Git and GitHub tasks, practicing questions, and building timed-exam confidence.

The GH-900 exam is foundation-level, so your preparation should focus on clear understanding rather than memorizing obscure commands. You should be able to explain what GitHub features do, when to use them, and how common collaboration workflows fit together.

Which plan should you use?

Use the shortest plan only if you can already explain these without notes:

• Repository, commit, branch, merge, clone, fork, pull request, issue
• Difference between Git and GitHub
• How collaboration works through branches, reviews, and pull requests
• Basic GitHub Actions terminology
• Basic security and access-control features in GitHub
• Common GitHub productivity features such as Projects, Discussions, Markdown, releases, and notifications

GH-900 study buckets

Use these as practical study buckets. They are not presented as official exam weights.

Daily practice rhythm

Use this rhythm on most study days. Adjust duration based on your available time.

What each block should include

1. Recall warm-up

   • Write 3 to 5 terms from memory.
   • Example: “fork, clone, branch, pull request, merge.”
   • Define each in one sentence.

2. Objective review

   • Study one narrow topic, not a whole product area.
   • Example: “pull request review states” or “workflow jobs and steps.”

3. Hands-on task

   • Do the thing in GitHub or Git where possible.
   • If you cannot do it hands-on, draw the workflow.

4. Practice questions

   • Use mixed practice only after you have covered the topic once.
   • Early in the plan, use topic-specific questions.

5. Missed-question log

   • Do not just record the correct answer.
   • Record why your original reasoning failed.

Diagnostic-first setup

Before starting any plan longer than 7 days, take a short diagnostic practice set.

For a 7-day plan, take the diagnostic on Day 1 and immediately turn the results into a review list.

7-day final review plan

Use this if your exam is in one week and you already have working familiarity with GitHub. This is not ideal for learning GitHub from zero.

7-day rule

After Day 5, stop trying to “cover everything.” Your score will improve more from correcting repeated mistakes than from rushing through new topics.

14-day focused plan

Use this if you have two weeks and can study most days. This plan assumes you know basic computer concepts but may not use GitHub daily.

14-day priorities

If time gets tight, protect these activities:

1. Diagnostic practice
2. Pull request and issue workflow practice
3. GitHub Actions terminology review
4. Security and permissions review
5. Timed mock plus missed-question review

30-day balanced plan

Use this as the default plan if you are preparing while working or studying part time. Aim for 5 study days per week, with 45 to 90 minutes per session.

Week 1: Git, GitHub, and repository foundations

Hands-on command practice:

git clone <repository-url>
cd <repository-name>
git checkout -b feature/readme-update
git status
git add README.md
git commit -m "Update README"
git push -u origin feature/readme-update

Know what each command does. The exam is foundation-level, so focus on concept and workflow, not memorizing every option.

Week 2: Collaboration and project workflows

Week 3: Actions, security, and GitHub features

Simple GitHub Actions practice:

name: foundation-ci

on:
  - push
  - pull_request

jobs:
  check:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: echo "GH-900 workflow practice"

Be able to identify:

• Workflow name
• Trigger event
• Job
• Runner
• Step
• Action being used
• Command being run

Week 4: Exam practice and weak-area repair

60/90-day full preparation path

Use this if you are new to Git, new to GitHub, or want a low-stress schedule. The 60-day version compresses the first two phases. The 90-day version gives more time for hands-on repetition.

Phase 1: Foundations

End-of-phase check:

• Can you explain what happens between making a local commit and opening a pull request?
• Can you identify whether a task belongs in Git, GitHub, or both?
• Can you describe why branches are useful?

Phase 2: Collaboration

End-of-phase check:

• Can you choose between an issue, pull request, discussion, and project item?
• Can you explain the normal flow from reported bug to merged fix?
• Can you identify what reviewers, assignees, labels, and milestones do?

Phase 3: Platform features, automation, and security

End-of-phase check:

• Can you read a simple workflow YAML file and identify its parts?
• Can you match a security feature to a common risk?
• Can you explain why least privilege matters in repositories and organizations?

Phase 4: Exam practice

Phase 5: Final review

Missed-question review method

A missed-question log is more useful than taking endless new questions. Use a table like this.

Root-cause tags

Tag each miss with one primary cause:

Recheck schedule

For each missed or guessed question:

1. Review it the same day.
2. Re-answer it 48 hours later without notes.
3. Re-answer a similar question within one week.
4. If missed again, do a hands-on task or draw the workflow.

Timed mock exam strategy

Do not save all timed practice for the end. Timed practice teaches pacing, question interpretation, and endurance.

How to review a timed mock

Spend at least as much time reviewing the mock as taking it.

High-yield comparison tables

Git and GitHub workflow terms

Collaboration feature selection

Automation and security feature selection

Final-week rules

Follow these rules during the last week, especially if you are taking the 7-day or 14-day path.

Exam-readiness checks

You are likely ready when you can do most of the following without notes:

As a practical target, aim for consistent strong performance on independent timed practice before exam day. Do not treat any practice score as an official passing standard.

Practical next step

Pick the shortest plan that honestly fits your current readiness, then start with a diagnostic practice set. Use the results to choose your first weak-area sprint, and combine daily GH-900 practice questions with small hands-on GitHub tasks until your missed-question log stops repeating the same topics.