Siemens TIA Portal

TIA Portal is Siemens' engineering framework. STEP 7 is the PLC programming tool that runs inside it. Siemens describes STEP 7 as the tool to configure, program, test and diagnose all SIMATIC controllers. It says TIA Portal also brings WinCC Unified for HMI screens and SINAMICS Startdrive for drives. In this course you use STEP 7 to program the S7-1200, WinCC to build the HMI screen, and S7-PLCSIM to test it, all inside TIA Portal.

Most PLCs, Siemens included, are programmed in the languages defined by the international standard IEC 61131-3. According to the IEC, the current edition is IEC 61131-3:2025. It defines structured text as the textual language, and ladder diagram and function block diagram as the graphical languages. Sequential function charts are used to structure programs. This course starts with ladder logic, the language most beginners meet first, and builds up to reusable function blocks.

No. Siemens offers a time-limited trial of TIA Portal, which is the full product while it lasts. It includes STEP 7 for the PLC, WinCC for the HMI screen, and S7-PLCSIM for simulation. You need a Siemens account to download it, which is also free. Read the trial terms on the Siemens download page, because the length and conditions can change.

It can be if you install it at the right moment. Check when the trial clock starts before you install, because in some licences it begins on installation or first use. Modules 1 to 3 need no software, so do those first and install before module 4. That leaves the whole trial for modules 4 to 22, at about an hour a day. If the trial runs out, the remaining lessons still make sense to read. The assessments do not require the software.

No. Every exercise runs in S7-PLCSIM, the simulator included in the trial. A physical S7-1200 is useful later, but nothing in this course requires one and no exercise assumes you have one.

You need a 64-bit Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise PC with administrator rights, at least 8 GB of RAM and 20 GB free on the drive. Siemens recommends 16 GB and an SSD with about 50 GB free. TIA Portal V21 no longer supports Windows 10 Pro; older versions such as V17 still install on Windows 10. It does not run on macOS or Linux. A Windows virtual machine works if you give it plenty of memory.

No, and the first three modules exist for exactly that reason. They cover what a PLC is, what the scan cycle means, what 24 V DC is, and how sinking and sourcing inputs differ. All of this comes before any software is opened.

Yes. Every module, every practice task and every assessment. You create an account so your progress is saved and so the assessments can be marked. The only paid item is the certificate, and only if you decide you want it.

It is an EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you pass the final assessment. It carries a unique number anyone can verify on our site. It is not a Siemens credential and we will never describe it as one. Siemens issues its own certifications separately, and no third party can award them.

On its own, no course will. What it gives you is a program you wrote and can talk through in an interview, which is more than most new graduates bring. It covers the Siemens fundamentals that appear in almost every automation job advert worldwide. It is also a reasonable way to find out whether the work suits you before paying for anything.

No. The lab is optional practice. You can skip it whenever you like, and it never blocks your progress, the final assessment or your certificate.

Yes. Every lab level for this course opens in your browser, free, with nothing to install.

The Siemens TIA Portal course has 22 modules. It opens with "What Automation Is, and What a PLC Actually Does", goes through "Inside the PLC, Hardware and the Scan Cycle", "Contacts and Coils, The Two Symbols That Matter", "Comparators, Making Decisions on Values" and "Your First HMI Screen" and ends with "Capstone Project and Final Assessment". The full list with minutes is under "What you learn" on this page.

After the Siemens TIA Portal course: Read a ladder rung and predict what the PLC will do with it; Wire sinking and sourcing sensors to an S7-1200 without guessing; Build timers, counters and comparators into working interlocks. These are the practical outcomes the course is written around, and the final assessment of 15 questions checks them.

For the Siemens TIA Portal course, software: The current TIA Portal trial (21 days) with S7-PLCSIM. Hardware: none, everything runs in simulation. The course itself is free.

Siemens TIA Portal is rated beginner. Absolute beginner. No prior PLC, electrical or programming knowledge assumed. It is written for engineering students, apprentices, technicians and working engineers in automation, electrical and instrumentation, and takes about 10.5 hours at your own pace.

Skills from the Siemens TIA Portal course (for example: read a ladder rung and predict what the PLC will do with it) are used in roles such as PLC programmer, controls engineer, automation technician and commissioning engineer, and in automation engineer work. The course gives you practical evidence of the skill; it does not promise a job, and employers decide on experience and interview.