How I Passed the BSCP After 4 Attempts

My Background (So You Know Where I'm Coming From)

I have a computer engineering degree and I'd been working as an IT Technician for a while, but my actual security experience was pretty much zero. Just the PortSwigger Academy labs and some general web dev knowledge.

I started the Academy casually over a year before my first exam attempt, but I wasn't consistent. I'd do a few labs, get distracted, come back weeks later. The real progress only happened when I committed to studying every day for 3-4 months straight (After the BSCP was announced).

Here's the reality - I was studying 2-4 hours every day after my 9-5 job. Weekends too. It was exhausting, but I was weirdly enjoying it.

What Actually Worked

Just Stick to PortSwigger Academy (At First)

This might sound boring, but hear me out. When I first started, I was all over the place - reading random blog posts, watching YouTube videos, trying different tools. It was overwhelming and honestly just wasted time.

Everything you need for the exam is in the Academy. I know it's tempting to look for shortcuts or "secret tricks," but there aren't any. Once I stopped looking for hacks and just worked through the labs methodically, things clicked.

Do the labs. Redo them. Do them again until you can solve them without looking at the solutions. I skipped some of the expert-level ones, but I did almost everything else multiple times.

You Need to Be Actually Ready

I wasn't ready for my first attempt. Or my second. Or my third, if I'm being honest. I just thought "I've done most of the labs, I'll be fine." I wasn't fine.

The practice exam from PortSwigger is gold. Do it multiple times. Time yourself. The real exam is 4 hours and it goes by fast when you're stuck on something.

Don't book the exam until you can consistently complete the practice exam with time to spare. I learned this the hard way.

It's Not About Memorizing

One mistake I made early on was trying to memorize payloads or specific lab solutions steps. That's not what the exam tests.

The exam is about your methodology:

• How do you enumerate an application?
• Can you spot weird behavior?
• Do you know when to use Burp Scanner vs doing things manually?
• Can you chain vulnerabilities together?

If you only know tricks and payloads, you'll burn through your 4 hours and end up frustrated. Trust me, I've been there.

My Daily Routine (When I Got Serious)

I work a full-time job, so this was my schedule:

Morning (15-30 minutes): Quick warm-up lab. Usually something I'd already done, just to get in the zone.

Evening (60-120 minutes): New labs. I'd pick one or two and really dig into them. Take notes, try different approaches, understand why things worked or didn't work.

Before bed (30 minutes): Review old labs or run through the practice exam. Sometimes I'd just watch my old recordings to see what I'd forgotten.

Weekly: At least one full practice exam under exam conditions. No breaks, no looking at solutions.

The key was consistency. Even on days I was tired, I'd do at least something. Missing a day made it harder to get back into it.

How I Actually Took Notes

I tried different systems before finding what worked:

Lab Notes: For every lab, I wrote down:

• What I tested
• What payloads worked
• What didn't work and why
• Any encoding tricks I needed
• The full exploitation chain

Video Logs: This sounds weird but I started recording myself explaining labs out loud. Later when I'd forget something, I could watch it back. Way more useful than written notes sometimes.

Cheat Sheets: One page per vulnerability type. What to test, common parameters, typical bypasses. Nothing fancy, just quick reference material.

Exam Day Reality Check

The exam is randomized. Every attempt felt different. Some vulnerabilities I spotted immediately, others I completely missed.

Here's what I learned through my failures:

Attempt 1: Panicked, spent too much time on one challenge, didn't manage my time.

Attempt 2: Better time management but missed obvious vulnerabilities because I was tunnel-visioned on complex stuff.

Attempt 3: Got stuck trying to force a vulnerability that wasn't there. Wasted an hour.

Attempt 4: Finally passed. Stayed calm, moved on when stuck, came back with fresh eyes.

What Actually Helped During the Exam

Test everything: Don't assume. Every parameter, every input field, every cookie. Compare response codes, content lengths, timing. Small differences matter.

Use the Scanner first: Then customize based on what you find. Don't just blindly trust the results.

When stuck, move on: Seriously. I wasted so much time on my early attempts being stubborn. Set a timer - if you're stuck after 30 minutes, switch challenges.

The exploit server is your friend: Some challenges need you to chain vulnerabilities or host malicious content. Practice using it beforehand.

Encoding matters: URL encoding, base64, HTML entities. Know when to use what.

Things I Wish I Knew Earlier

Don't take the exam until you're actually ready. I know it's expensive and you want to get it done, but failing costs money and demoralizes you.

The practice exam is the best predictor. If you can't consistently pass it, you're not ready for the real thing.

Your first attempt is probably going to be a learning experience. That's okay. I learned more from failing than from most of my practice.

Take breaks when studying. I had sessions where I ground away for hours getting nowhere. Stepping away for 30 minutes and coming back fresh solved things in minutes.

Before You Book

Ask yourself honestly:

• Can you consistently complete the practice exam?
• Are you comfortable with the Burp Suite Scanner?
• Have you done most of the Academy labs multiple times?
• Can you explain how to exploit vulnerabilities without looking at notes?

If you're answering "maybe" or "sort of" to these, you're probably not ready yet. And that's fine. Better to wait and pass than rush and fail.

Final Thoughts

The BSCP is hard. It should be hard. But it's not impossible.

I needed four attempts. Some people pass on their first try. Some need more attempts than me. Everyone's different.

What matters is that you actually learn the material. Don't just chase the cert - if you're not enjoying the process of learning web security, you're going to burn out.

The certification is nice to have, but the real value is what you learn along the way. I use stuff from the Academy in bug bounty hunting all the time now.

If you're struggling, that's normal. Keep going. Take breaks when you need them. Learn from your failures.

And if you fail an attempt, it's not the end of the world. Each attempt teaches you something. Use it.

Good luck.

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