National Professional Practice Exam - FAQ

Common inquiries ...


A license is a permit granted by WPE Studio to use our exam simulation software. Therefore, to use our NPPE practice exams, you need to purchase a license. Currently, we offer the following licenses:

  • “NPPE: 1 Exam”   which gives you the right to use 1 of our practice exams.
  • “NPPE: 2 Exams”  which gives you the right to use 2 of our practice exams.
  • “NPPE: 3 Exams”  which gives you the right to use 3 of our practice exams.
  • “NPPE: 3 Exams+” which gives you the right to use 3 of our practice exams. Additionally, you will receive a copy of our book 'Engineering & Geoscience - NPPE: Law and Ethics.'
  • “NPPE: 3 Exams#” which gives you the right to use 3 of our practice exams. Additionally, you will receive a copy of our book 'NPPE Exam: 580 Q&A you need to know.'
  • “NPPE: 3 Exams ACE” which gives you the right to use 3 of our practice exams. Additionally, you will receive copies of both our books: ‘Engineering & Geoscience - NPPE: Law and Ethics’ and ‘NPPE Exam: 580 Q&A You Need to Know.'

To purchase a license, click the LICENSES menu where you can choose any of the licenses on offer. (The LICENSES menu will appear only if you are registered and logged in.)

NOTE: Our licenses do not differentiate among exams at the moment. Once you purchase any of the licenses, you can activate the one, two, or three exams of your choice.

Once you purchase a license, click the "EXAMS" menu and activate as many of the exams as your license is valid for. Once your exams are active, you can start using any of them. Just click the start button of a specific exam.

NOTE: Despite their names, all of our exams are equivalent in content, depth, and difficulty. Currently, you can only purchase one license. If you need an upgrade, please contact us.

A license will last for 90 days and will give you the ability to use the exams as many times as you need from up to two devices (PCs, laptops, tablets, phones). The software will prompt you to register your devices. A registered device cannot be changed, so think before registering one.

Yes, WPE Studio offers a money-back guarantee if you fail the official multiple-choice-question NPPE exam. (This is due to the nature of the digital content.) Alternatively, it offers an option for a free renewal of your license.

Yes, if you buy a license for a number of practice exams, you can upgrade it to a license for a larger number of exams if these are offered. However, the process will be manual and you will need to contact the administration to do so.

No. The system is currently set so that each user can only buy one license at a time. However, if you need more than one license, it is probably because you need to get access to more exams. If that is the case, the appropriate route is to contact the administration for an upgrade.

Currently, our three full-length multiple-choice-question NPPE practice exams are named:

  1. NPPE-01
  2. NPPE-02
  3. NPPE-03

Each of these three full-length exams contains 110 questions and follows the format of the official NPPE exam.

NOTE: As explained in the LICENSES section, you can purchase a license to access a) any one of our exams, b) any two of our exams, or c) any three of our exams. You have the choice.

Each of our NPPE practice exams contains 110 questions, four answer choices per question but only one correct answer. The number of questions per topic area in each exam follows the distribution implied by the National Professional Practice Exam Blueprint or Syllabus and is as follows:

  1. PROFESSIONALISM (7 – 10 percent)
  2. ETHICS (17 – 21 percent)
  3. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE (27 – 32 percent)
  4. LAW FOR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE (23 – 28 percent)
  5. PROFESSIONAL LAW (7 – 10 percent)
  6. REGULATION OF MEMBERS & DISCIPLINE PROCESSES (7 – 10 percent)

Just as in the official NPPE exam, the duration is set to 2.5 hours. Also, the questions are scored zero (0) if incorrect or not-answered, and one (1) if correct. There is no penalty for incorrect answers, so it is best not to leave a blank question: guess if you are not sure about the answer.

NOTE: The official NPPE exam marks only 100 out of the 110 questions as 10 of them are included only to be tested for use in future versions of the NPPE exam. However, since WPE Studio provides feedback on all 110 questions, it took the practical approach to mark all of them, so your score will reflect your performance on all the questions without exception.

No. All questions in one practice exam are different from the questions on the other exams, i.e., no question is repeated. Note however that there may be questions that test the same concept in different exams in a different way and the theoretical explanations may be similar.

No. Our three exams are equivalent in content, depth, and difficulty. Nevertheless, as explained above, all the questions in different exams are different.

If your objective is to master the concepts of the NPPE, rather than just pass the NPPE exam, the best strategy would be to study the short but comprehensive book "Engineering & Geoscience NPPE: Law and Ethics" published by WPE Studio and try at least two of our full-length practice exams or the three, for best results. The book and the practice exams are designed to work together and reinforce each other. If you do it this way, passing the NPPE will just be a byproduct.

Since you will be a Professional Engineer or Geoscientist, this is the most rational approach towards the NPPE exam as during your professional career you will need a good command of these concepts and the main objective of WPE Studio is exactly that: to help you master them.

If you follow our strategy, the time you will need to master those concepts will amount to the time it takes you to study (not just read) a 240 pages book, plus the time you would need to take and review the two or three full-length practice examinations.

No. There are 15 associations of professional engineers and/or geoscientists across Canada. Only 13 out of the 15 use the NPPE exam as a requirement for licensure. Therefore, our NPPE practice exams are suitable for any of these 13 associations. The two associations that do not use the NPPE exam as a requirement for licensure are both from Quebec: OIQ (Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec) and OGQ (Ordre des Géologues du Québec). Each of these two associations uses its own equivalent examination. They both refer to their respective examinations as the Professional Exam (L’Examen Professionnel) though one of these is also different from the other. Despite the format, syllabus, and recommended study materials for the Professional Exams of OIQ and OGQ are not the same as for the NPPE, most of the tested concepts have to be because both Professional Exams also test knowledge of ethics, law, liability, and professional practice as the NPPE does. Therefore, our NPPE practice exams could still be used to prepare for these Professional Exams too.

In summary, our NPPE practice exams and study materials are completely suitable for you to prepare for the official NPPE exam if you are applying for engineering or geoscience licensure in any province or territory of Canada, with the only exception of Quebec.

Yes, you can. When you start an exam, the software will prompt you to choose between two options: the default "Timer" or the alternative "Practice Mode."

If you chose the "Timer" option, the software will simulate exam conditions. This means that the exam will be timed and will end and automatically be submitted for marking at the exact duration set for the exam unless you submit it before the set duration.

If you chose the "Practice Mode," the exam will not be timed. Therefore, once you believe you completed the exam, you will need to press the "Options" dropdown menu and choose “Submit” for the exam to be marked.

At any one point, if the software finds that you answered all the questions, a pop-up may also prompt you to submit your exam.

Yes, your exam is marked immediately and the software will show you a detailed report where you will see your score, a pie chart with the correct, incorrect, and not-answered questions, a question index for review, one bar chart with your scores-per-area, another bar chart with the time you took in each area, and finally the time you took to answer each question.

NOTE: You can use the chart scores-per-area to diagnose your preparation level and guide your efforts as it will show the topic areas where you displayed strength or weakness.

Yes, the report will show you a question index (i.e., a matrix with the question numbers.) Each question will be colored green, red, or gray if your answers were correct, incorrect, or not answered. If you click any question on the index, you will enter "Review Mode".

When you click a question number, the software will lead you to that question where you can see your answer marked with a blue border.

If your answer is incorrect, then, apart from the blue border, your answer will also be highlighted in red and the correct answer will be highlighted in green.

If your answer is correct, then, apart from the blue border, your answer will also be highlighted in green.

Just as during the exam, you can navigate to the next or previous question with the corresponding buttons, or you can press the "Index" button which will lead you back to the question index where you can pick any other question you want to review. (If you only want to review your incorrect answers, you may prefer to go back to the question index.)

Once you complete your review, click the Finish checkbox to exit Review Mode.

Yes, when you are in Review Mode, each question screen will show on the top right-hand side an "Explanation" button. If you press it, the theoretical explanation you are looking for will pop up.

Yes, the top band and footer of the webpage will show menus that read "Reports". If you click any of them, the software will lead you to the Report Section where you will find the reports you saw at the end of each exam plus some statistical information. However, you cannot go back to "Review Mode" as the question index will no longer be shown.

Yes, you can track your performance in two ways:

  • First, when you start the exam, you can choose to have a visible progress bar. It will show the percentage of the questions you have answered at any point in time.
  • Second, you can press the Index button at any time. Since you are in Exam Mode, the matrix of questions will show the questions you answered highlighted in blue and the questions which are still blank in grey.

NOTE 1: If during the exam you are not sure about your answer to a particular question, you can mark it by clicking the Mark/Unmark button. Questions that are marked (whether answered or unanswered) will appear with a little red mark in the Index matrix.

NOTE 2: If you are not sure about your answer to a question, it is best practice to have a guess, pick a tentative answer, and then mark that question rather than just mark an unanswered question. If time does not play in your favor and you cannot return to review your tentative answer, the question will at least have that tentative answer that may earn you a point that otherwise will not. Remember, there is no penalty for incorrect answers.

Yes, as long as you have an electronic device that has an internet connection, a browser, and can connect to our website. Remember however that you can only use our exams from up to two devices.

No. That is not possible as the software needs to constantly transfer data from the front end to the back end and vice versa for it to work properly.

.