What is the NCEES Pass Rate?

As a comparison, you can also check the NCEES website for the current overall pass rate for every exam. As of the writing of this post The current NCEES pass rate is 71% for the Power PE CBT Exam started in December 2020. This pass rate is based on 643 test takers between December 2020 and January 2021.

Power PE Exam EPG Pass Rate

"The Engineering Pro Guides material was mainly what I used to study and I think I would have been lost without it! The course structure was great to keep me on top of my learning and I liked the combination of methods - live class, reading the textbook, watching videos, and practice exams - all working together to reinforce the concepts. Justin is great at explaining everything and very attentive when we have questions. I would definitely recommend the full 16-week course to get the full benefit of his materials and to go over each subject a second time. I appreciated how he allowed me to continue to access everything after the 16 weeks due to the exam being cancelled, up until my CBT exam was scheduled."   -Jacinda, PE [Passed!]

15% OFF on all Power PE On-Demand Courses Until June 15!

On-Demand Power PE Course Power Code Exam Power Full Exam Power Final Exam

How Difficult is the PE Exam? What is the pass rate?

Engineering Pro Guides conducts a survey mainly to those who take our courses. The current EPG pass rate is 93% for the Power PE CBT Exam started in December 2020. We conduct surveys to gain an understanding of the difference between those who pass and those who fail. Over the years, the reasons why people fail and the reasons why people pass have become more clear. The survey is based on 48 test takers.

Survey Results Link

Power PE Exam EPG Pass Rate


"I think the EPG materials are amazing - pretty much the only resources I used to pass the exam. Of course if you don't understand a certain concept, there are a ton of online resources and videos that can help clarify. Justin is also wonderful at responding to emails so don't hesitate to ask questions. Justin was also super flexible around my, not one, but two cancelled exams. I was allowed to access all of the course materials throughout the year+ of prep and was even re-enrolled in the live classes. There's no doubt in my mind that passing the exam was only possible for me with the EPG materials and Justin's instruction."   - Nathan, PE [Passed]

What is the passing score?

The passing score is not provided by NCEES but after each exam, people share their failing scores on forums. The highest failing score can provide insight into the passing score. The highest failing score that I have seen has been 60%, with the majority of failing scores in the range of 50%. If you aim to exceed 70% then you should put yourself in a good position to pass the exam.



Practice Exam
Goal Score 70%




"I would recommend you master the NEC and engineering economics to give yourself a buffer towards the test. You should focus on understanding the concepts and knowing how to use your NCEES Power Reference Handbook."   - Anonymous [Did not pass]

How many hours did you study for the exam?

The PE exam is a difficult exam and requires a lot of studying, but it is difficult to tell how much studying is required. The following figure is a survey of 48 people who took the Power PE exam from December 2020 to May 2021. The figure shows that the majority of people studied for approximately 200 - 500 hours.

Recommended
Study Time
300 hours




Power PE Exam EPG Pass Rate

"Stick with Justin materials. Basically this exam require 6 months of studying 20 hr/week. If you find the time to do that you will pass. Stick with Justin schedule it is amazing. I have not used any resources beside Engineering Pro Guid and NEC. The exam is 40% conceptual problems 30% codes and 30% calculation problems. Be prepared for the conceptual problems. The refreshment sessions should be your favorite. Follow 16 weeks sch with Justin and take additional 8 week to solve the problems couple times. Wish all the best!"   - Wisam, PE [Passed]

What resources are provided during the exam?
Is there a search function?

On the Power PE exam you will be given the following resources in PDF format, (1) NCEES Power PE Reference Handbook, (2) NFPA 30B-2015, (3) NFPA 70-2017, (4) NFPA 70E-2018, (5) NFPA 497-2017, (6) NFPA 499-2017 and the (7) NESC 2017. Many of the questions can be answered with the references but there will also be experience based problems that cannot be solved by searching through your references. There are approximately 10 codes and standards problems that can be solved with the given NFPA codes and the NESC. The majority of the codes and standards problems will be from NFPA 70-2017. The codes and standards versions will be valid until September 2023, so you will not need the latest version of each code. The calculation based problems can be solved with the NCEES Power PE Reference Handbook.

(1) NCEES Power Handbook
(2) NFPA 30B-2015
(3) NFPA 70-2017
(4) NFPA 70E-2018
(5) NFPA 497-2017
(6) NFPA 499-2017
(7) NESC 2017




Search Function
Bookmarks
Included

"I wish I would have known how the program for references worked. Didn't seem like there were many resources on CBT operation beyond "the line tool". You can't use ctrl+F, you have to click in the search bar. Searching is exact, so while you can search "motor compressor" in Adobe, Pearson's search tool will only bring up the same result if you type "motor-compressor". There's no efficient way to jump to a specific page, unless you search the exact number of the page and don't mind sifting through other results. There's no way to jump into sections below the articles, e.g. A430.52. It was easier to go to the article group below and scroll up to latter parts of an article."   - Adam, PE [Passed]

"Overall the book is wonderful at giving a high level overview before going into the weeds. I will be keeping the book and the cheat sheets as a work reference. There was a bunch of links within the document that I never looked up or needed to pass the exam. such as with batteries. My biggest complaint was there there was a lot on the new Ncees reference handbook that was never explained and there were inconsistencies with the text book that was different from the reference handbook. You need to know the handbook and learn how to use every part of it. It would be helpful for a whole live class soley dedicated to going over the handbook and what type of problems you might get so you know when to plug and chug."   - Jacob, PE [Passed]

TOP -->