There have been rumors running around for months about what exams would be required to earn the Microsoft Certified Solution Developer certification for SharePoint 2013. MS Learning officially added MCSD: SharePoint to their site today. You can see all the SharePoint certifications, including MCSD, here.
The Two SharePoint specific Development exams haven’t been released yet, but should be available later this summer. In the meantime you can get started on the two non-SharePoint specific certification exams.
Another point that should be noted. This announcement continues the trend started with the SharePoint Microsoft Certified Masters certification. Certifications will now be time constrained. You must recertify every two years to maintain the MCSD: SharePoint certification. This is also true for MCSM: SharePoint (three years) and MCSE: SharePoint (two years). This recertification requirement reflects Microsoft’s move away from doing major specific releases, like 2007, 2010, and 2013, to a more continuous release cycle with quarterly service releases for Office 365. You can expect to see On-premise SharePoint going to a more continuous evolution over the next several years also. These new certs anticipate that development in both the Online and On-Premise environments.