Free NPPE practice exam

Knowing the material and passing the NPPE are different skills. The real exam gives you about 80 seconds a question, asks you to choose between answers that both sound reasonable, and runs long enough that concentration becomes a factor. A timed practice exam is the only way to find out how you handle all three at once.

It also tells you where to spend your remaining study time. A score broken down by blueprint section shows whether you are losing marks in law, ethics or professional practice, which an overall percentage hides.

Both use an interface modelled on the official one: a question list you can filter, bookmarks, notes on each question, and a countdown timer that keeps running if you close the tab. Every question has a full explanation once you submit, covering why the right answer is right and why each of the other three is wrong.

The mini exam runs at the same pace as the real one (82 minutes for 60 questions is the real exam's 150 minutes for 110, scaled down), so it is a fair test of timing as well as knowledge.

The NPPE program sells its own practice tests through a separate practice site. They are built from questions that appeared on previous NPPE exams, run on the same testing platform as the real thing, and come with a diagnostic report by blueprint area and a rationale for each question.

Candidates who have used it are split. Some found it the most realistic preparation available; others found its style different from the sitting they wrote. The program itself states that passing the practice test is not a guarantee of passing the NPPE. It is worth considering as one input, especially close to exam day, but not as your only preparation.

• Sit it under real conditions: one sitting, no notes, phone away, timer running.
• Take the first one about halfway through your preparation, not the night before, so the results still change how you study.
• Read every explanation afterwards, including for the questions you got right. A right answer for the wrong reason will not survive the real exam.
• Go back to the study guide for your weakest section before taking the next practice exam.
• Aim comfortably above 65 percent. The real pass mark is a scaled score, and a margin covers the difference between practice and exam day.

Between exams, topic practice is more efficient than repeated full exams. See NPPE practice questions for how to work through the blueprint section by section.