The electrical exam is an important step to becoming licensed. Even with ample preparation, you may feel stressed and anxious. A bit of stress might be helpful; it keeps you alert. However, if you feel too anxious before or during your electrical exam, you may make some avoidable mistakes.  Half the battle is answering correctly and the other half is completing the electrical test within the allotted time. 

Follow these simple tips on time management:

• Your study plan should include time for:

  • Self-assessment (sub-tasks, essential skills, language skills, etc.)

  • Studying

  • Answering sample questions

  • Reviewing

  • Resting

• Create a study plan. Try using a blank weekly or monthly calendar, depending on the time you have before your exam. Note the times of each day to plan for your study and stick to this schedule. It’s more effective to plan regular periods each day than to crash study at the last minute.

• Allow yourself enough time to study each block in advance, and to do a general review a few days before the exam.

• Plan your time. Allow yourself enough time to learn and study before your exam. It might be a good idea to give yourself 3 to 4 weeks for preparation if it helps you to succeed on your first attempt.

• This book tells you what will be in the exam, how many questions and how long you have to take the electrical exam. Download it now.
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  Don’t spend too much time on one question. Find out what is the time frame for taking electrical exam. 

  (Download the PSI Exams Candidate Information Bulletin here)

  • Take the allotted time for the master electrical exam or the journeyman electrical exam and divide it by the number of questions.

  • Take that “x” minutes per question then move on to the next question.

• Learn to make educated guesses. If you are unable to answer the question by finding the answer in the book or if you are running out of time, use educated guesses.  A guess is much better than no answer at all. 

  • If you are running out of time, mark the remaining questions as “c”- as there is a high percent chance it’ll be correct.

  • Learn to eliminate answers by eliminating the most obviously wrong answer. In a test question often, 1 or 2 answers are usually obviously wrong. After eliminating the obviously wrong answer, reason among the remaining answers carefully. 

  • If you have to make an educated guess, mark the question and return later if time permits.

Need help putting together a study plan for the master electrical exam or the journeyman electrical exam?  Contact us and we’ll set you up.

Best of luck!

Texas Electrical Excel

Practice Exams

The purpose of each practice Texas electrical exam is to provide exercise of how to navigate through the electrical NEC book.  If you know the answers in the practice exams, verify the answer and use the code book to locate the source and highlight it.   Practice exams for the journeyman test or for the master test help you understand layout and format of the National Electrical Code® book.   In addition to helping you understand the layout and format of the book, practice exams contain examples of multiple choice questions in the master electrical test and the journeyman electrical test.

Multiple Choice Questions

Learn how to answer multiple choice questions. Familiarize yourself with the format by testing yourself with sample questions.  Read all instructions carefully, sometimes a question is answered incorrectly because the test-taker failed to read the instructions. 

On the exam you are given 4 possible answers, some calculation questions will have 4 possible answers that include possible wrong answers that will trick you into believing you have the right answer.  Consider each question carefully and pace yourself.

Out of the 4 possible answers look at all answers starting with the first one. Keep choice 1 in the back of your mind until you look at other answers.  Next ask yourself, is choice 2 the best answer?   Out of choice 1 and 2, which is the better choice? Is choice 3 a good answer?  Which choice is the least good of the 3? Eliminate that choice. Is the final choice the best out of the 3?  After consideration of all choices, which one stands out as the best possible choice?  Select that one as your answer. If you were familiar with this concept you would have no problems answering this question. 

Be careful when answering ‘word for word’ questions from the NEC book. You might think you are matching ‘word for word’ answers from the NEC but there is a slight variance that will cause your answer to be wrong. It’s important to identify the key phrase of questions.

Examples include:

1. Shall
2. Shall not
3. No more than
4. No less than

Identifying keywords is usually half the battle.

Educated Guesses

If you are unable to answer the question by finding the answer in the book or if you are running out of time, use educated guesses.  A guess is much better than no answer at all.  If you are running out of time, mark the remaining questions as “c”- as there is a high percent chance it’ll be correct.  Learn to eliminate answers by eliminating the most obviously wrong answer.  In a test question often, 1 or 2 answers are usually obviously wrong. After eliminating the obviously wrong answer, reason among the remaining answers carefully.  If you have to make an educated guess, mark the question and return later if time permits.

A guess is much better than no answer at all.

There is no substitute for reading the electrical code book and taking practice exams for the electrical exam.  Use this advice and use it as part of your master study plan.  At the very least visit your local library and look for a study guide specific to the Texas electrician license exam and if they don't have them there, you can start with our Free PSI Lite book, you can download it below. 

Best of luck!