This MLS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of machine learning implementation and operations. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A SageMaker training job fails with the failure reason shown in the exhibit. What is the most likely cause?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
The training instance ran out of memory
Why wrong: OutOfMemory would have a different error message.
The S3 bucket with training data is not accessible
Why wrong: S3 access errors show AccessDenied, not ExitCode.
The SageMaker service limit for the instance type has been exceeded
Why wrong: Limit exceeded gives ResourceLimitExceeded error.
There is an error in the custom training script
ExecuteUserScriptError with ExitCode 1 indicates script error.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
There is an error in the custom training script
Option D is correct because the failure reason in the exhibit (not shown here but implied by the question) typically indicates a runtime error such as a Python exception, missing module, or syntax error in the custom training script. SageMaker logs the exact error from the container, and when the script itself fails, the training job terminates with a 'ClientError' or 'AlgorithmError' referencing the script, not infrastructure issues.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
The training instance ran out of memory
Why it's wrong here
OutOfMemory would have a different error message.
The S3 bucket with training data is not accessible
Why it's wrong here
S3 access errors show AccessDenied, not ExitCode.
The SageMaker service limit for the instance type has been exceeded
Why it's wrong here
Limit exceeded gives ResourceLimitExceeded error.
There is an error in the custom training script
Why this is correct
ExecuteUserScriptError with ExitCode 1 indicates script error.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The MLS-C01 exam often tests the distinction between infrastructure failures (S3 access, memory, limits) and application-level failures (script errors), and the trap here is that candidates assume any training failure is due to resource limits or data access, ignoring the explicit error message from the script.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
S3 access errors show AccessDenied, not ExitCode.
Detailed technical explanation
SageMaker runs custom training scripts inside a Docker container; the failure reason field in the DescribeTrainingJob API response contains the last 1024 characters of the container's stderr. If the script has an unhandled exception (e.g., KeyError, ImportError), that traceback is captured. Under the hood, SageMaker sets the container entrypoint to the user's script, so any non-zero exit code from Python (exit code 1) is reported as a training job failure.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
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FAQ
Machine Learning Implementation and Operations — This question tests Machine Learning Implementation and Operations — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: There is an error in the custom training script — Option D is correct because the failure reason in the exhibit (not shown here but implied by the question) typically indicates a runtime error such as a Python exception, missing module, or syntax error in the custom training script. SageMaker logs the exact error from the container, and when the script itself fails, the training job terminates with a 'ClientError' or 'AlgorithmError' referencing the script, not infrastructure issues.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
This MLS-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the MLS-C01 exam.
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