Did you know that the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCESS) offers free reference handbooks for people preparing for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam and Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Exam? The FE exam is comprehensive and covers most of the topics you would see in an undergraduate engineering curriculum, and is the first of two exams engineers must pass to become licensed professional engineers (PE). The PE exam tests for a minimum level of competency in a particular engineering discipline.
Passing both the FE and PE can seem like a daunting task, which is why NCEES provides aid in the form of free handbooks for exam takers. Exam handbooks that would be of interest to IEEE Members:
- FE Reference Handbook 10.4, Effective Beginning 1 July 2024
- PE Electrical and Computer: Computer Engineering Reference Handbook 1.3, For October 2024 exam
- PE Electrical and Computer: Electronics, Controls, and Communications Reference Handbook 1.2, For April 2024 Exam
- PE Electrical and Computer: Power Reference Handbook 1.2, Effective through September 2024
- PE Electrical and Computer: Power Reference Handbook 1.3, Effective beginning October 2024
To access these free handbooks, you must create a MYNCEES account. After you create the account, you can browse all the features within MYNCEES and access the free handbooks. Please note that anyone who registered for an NCEES exam from October 2010 to the present already has an existing MYNCEES account.
Interactive FE Practice Exams
The FE and PE practice exams are available for purchase in the MYNCEES portal. For the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam, NCEES offers interactive practice exams. The practice exam contains 50 items and solutions that are representative of the computer-based exam format and content. The practice exam contains item types you may encounter on the exam, including alternative item types, such as fill-in-the-blank and drag-and-drop. The practice exam also provides options for a timed test, immediate solution review, and item specification information.
E-Book Practice Exams
For the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Exam, NCEES offers an e-book PDF document to download. It contains questions and solutions to familiarize yourself with the computer-based exam format and content. The e-book contains item types you may encounter on the exam, including alternative item types, such as fill-in-the-blank and drag-and-drop. Again, it should be noted that unlike the handbooks, NCEES does charge a fee to download the practice exams.
