In Canada, a professional engineering or geoscience license requires you to pass the NPPE (National Professional Practice Exam). So, if you are planning to attain a license, read this blog. Here, we will provide you with the tips necessary to pass this exam.
8 tips to pass the NPPE:
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Use a convenient learning method:
NPPE needs an in-depth study program to pass. So, you’d better read two textbooks and other necessary supporting publications that are recommended for the exam. However, if your job takes a tremendous amount of your time, you will not find reading enjoyable.
There are many learning centers and platforms that provide professional help for NPPE. These can be either in traditional classroom settings or online. They vary in what they offer:
- Some only give a bank of practice questions
- A few of them supply prepared notes of main points and
- Many of them offer self-paced video lecture modules
From the onset, you need to decide on what method you to have. If you find that self-study is not for you, pick a learning center or platform offering what you need the most. If you don’t have an idea of what method is convenient for you, then it can negatively affect your preparation.
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Don’t pay heed to the size of the textbooks:
Most NPPE candidates think that there will be more questions from the law textbook than the ethics textbook. It is because they pay heed to the sizes of the two books. However, the weighting in the syllabus reveals that above 40% of the questions are actually from the ethics textbook. On the other hand, only nearly 30% of the questions are from the law textbook.
If having abundant time to spend on all the study materials the marks distribution may not be important. However, if asked for time and have to prioritize, see the latest version of the syllabus on the APEGA website. Besides that, pay heed to the marks distribution in the syllabus.
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Study by topics rather than textbook chapters:
A candidate told an expert ‘when I registered for the exam with 6 months to prepare I allocated two weeks. I allocated the time to the law books, the ethics book, and the collection of other reading materials. I found some already studied topics on ethics and professional practice in the law book were in ethics book. In the same way, the subject of intellectual property in the law book was in more detail in other recommended publications.’
Therefore, if going to self-study, use the syllabus as a guide to study by topics. For each topic study in all the books and the other publications, see where they are covered. Doing so will help you save a huge amount of time.
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Take references from some reading materials away from the recommended materials:
Section C of the syllabus lists quality management and risk management as parts of the topics that you need to study. However, they are not covered in the recommended reading materials. Another thing you need to remember here is that questions come from those topics.
APEGS has some publications on those topics, and they are only a few pages long. Experts recommend these two APEGS publications to some particular types of candidates. These candidates are those willing to include the study of risk management and quality management in their preparation.
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Prepare early:
No matter what method you adopt, you’d better start it early. So, you should have a look at the outlines of the materials to cover and make a realistic study schedule.
If adopting self-study, then it will take 2 to 3 three months for preparation. If choosing a learning center, ask the center for advice on how much time it will take for preparation. Your target should be to complete all materials with some days left for revision before the exam starts.
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Have a deep study of the topics:
The questions of NPPE are not to evaluate you only on the ability to recall basic facts. They will assess you on your comprehension of facts and your capability of applying them to new situations.
Those with the poor study will likely have confusion and nervousness, which will lead to a negative result.
As you study, pay heed to details and think deeply about the points. Besides that, see if you can connect them to your past experiences.
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Tremendous amount of practice:
The more you practice, the better you know how prepared you are. In short, practice is a must for you. APEGS and some learning centers offer practice questions for a fee. So, you’d better use this golden opportunity. However, you should also that only practice questions are not sufficient for preparation. Moreover, they can’t replace the actual studying of the topics. Despite that, it will help you a lot.
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Don’t make anything complicated:
You need to become familiar with the exam center location before the exam day. For that, arrive early and maintain a positive attitude. Besides that, don’t be intimidated. Instead of that, remind yourself that you are done a tremendous amount of practice and preparations. If finding any questions very hard at first glance, skip them and answer all the questions you know. Having done that, return to the ones you left blank.
Although we provide you with tips, you should hire an expert. For example, if planning to migrate to Saskatchewan, hire an APEGS NPPE expert.
