Starting October 15, Fortinet is introducing a significant update to its certification program — reintroducing the well-known NSE level names, while retiring some exams and launching new ones. In this blog post, you’ll find everything you need to know about the updated NSE path, requirements for FCP and FCSS certifications, exam retirements, and upcoming changes.
NSE Levels Are Back
While Fortinet continues to organize certifications into five tiers: Fundamentals, Associate, Professional, Specialist, and Expert the NSE 1–8 level numbering is making a comeback. This makes the roadmap clearer and easier to follow, while maintaining consistency for those familiar with the previous NSE system:
Certification Level: Professional
| Flavor | Requirements | Core Exams | Elective Exams |
| Secure Networking | 1x Core, 1x Elective | NSE 4: ■ FortiOS (former FortiGate Administrator) | NSE 5: ■ FortiSwitch ■ FortiNAC ■ Secure Wireless LAN ■ FortiManager |
| SASE | 1x Core, 1x Elective | NSE 4: ■ FortiOS (former FortiGate Administrator) | NSE 5: ■ FortiSASE and SD-WAN Core |
| Cloud Security | 1x Core, 1x Elective | NSE 4: ■ FortiOS (former FortiGate Administrator) | NSE 5: ■ FortiWeb |
| Security Operations | 1x Core, 1x Elective | NSE 4: ■ FortiOS (former FortiGate Administrator) | NSE 5: ■ FortiAnalyzer Analyst ■ FortiSandbox |
Please note: SASE is a new flavour and includes the “FortiSASE and SD-WAN Core” certification, which is a combined exam of two standalone courses!
Certification Level: Solution Specialist
| Flavor | Requirements | Core Exams | Elective Exams |
| Secure Networking | 1x Core, 1x Elective | NSE 7: ■ Enterprise Firewall | NSE 6: ■ LAN-Edge ■ Network Security Support Engineer ■ OT Security |
| SASE | 1x Core, 1x Elective | NSE 7: ■ FortiSASE Enterprise (former FortiSASE administrator) | NSE 6: ■ FortiClient EMS Administrator ■ FortiEDR ■ SD-WAN Enterprise (former SD-WAN Architect) |
| Cloud Security | 1x Core, 1x Elective | NSE 7: ■ Public Cloud Security Architect | NSE 6: ■ Perception Point ■ FortiMail |
| Security Operations | 1x Core, 1x Elective | NSE 7: ■ Security Operations Architect | NSE 6: ■ FortiSOAR ■ FortiSIEM Analyst |
Impact on Existing Certifications
Current certifications will automatically be renamed on October 15 to align with the updated track naming conventions:
- FCP in Network Security → becomes FCP in Secure Networking
- FCP in Public Cloud Security → becomes FCP in Cloud Security
- FCP in Security Operations → no changes
- FCSS in Network Security → becomes FCSS in Secure Networking
- FCSS in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) → becomes FCSS in SASE
- FCSS in Public Cloud Security → becomes FCSS in Cloud Security
- FCSS in Security Operations → remains unchanged
- FCSS in OT Security → will be retired!1
Exams Retiring on October 15
Fortinet will be retiring several exams on October 15, though in some cases the courses will remain available for learning purposes:
Exams Retired But Courses Will Still Be Available
- FortiAuthenticator Administrator
- FortiAnalyzer Administrator
Exams and Courses to Be Fully Retired
- AWS Cloud Security Administrator
- Azure Cloud Security Administrator
- Google Cloud Security Administrator
Conclusion
In short: not much is changing – but everything is getting clearer. The certifications you know are staying just with updated names and reorganized tracks.
Stay secure!
- All existing FCSS in OT Security certifications will be honored by Fortinet until their expiration date. The OT Security Architect exam will be part of Secure Networking.
Therefore, existing holders of the FCSS in OT Security certification can take the NSE 7 Enterprise Firewall exam after October 15, before the certification expires, to be granted FCSS in Secure Networking. ↩︎
