Free Journeyman Electrician Practice Test

How these tests work

• Twenty multiple-choice questions per test, four choices each, the same format as the state exams.
• You get feedback the moment you commit: correct or not, the explanation, and the code section.
• Answer choices are shuffled, and your correct answers are counted as you go.
• A running clock starts with your first answer. At the end you see your average pace next to the app's three-minute-per-question target (Texas gives about 2:12 per knowledge question and 4:14 per calculation).
• Your attempt is saved in this browser, so you can finish later or reset and try again.
• Test 3 is calculation-heavy on purpose. Keep a calculator handy; Texas allows a non-programmable one in the room.

What is on the journeyman electrician exam

Every state writes its own licensing rules, but the exam itself is a test of the National Electrical Code. You are asked to find and apply the rule: burial depth for a direct-buried cable, the grounding electrode conductor for a 200-ampere service, the demand factor for sixteen dryers, the overload setting for a motor with a 1.0 service factor. Most of the questions are lookups; a smaller share are calculations that use the tables you look up.

Texas publishes its outline, and it is a fair picture of what other states ask too. The NEC knowledge portion of the Texas journeyman exam scores 56 questions spread like this:

Source: PSI Candidate Information Bulletin for Texas electricians (updated September 2026). A separate 24-question calculations portion is scored on its own. Texas details →

Our three tests are themed to match: test 1 covers the general rules and wiring methods, test 2 covers services, grounding, and branch circuits, and test 3 concentrates the calculations, motors, and special occupancies.

Exam format and passing score

Formats vary by state, so check your own licensing board. The common shape: a multiple-choice, open-book exam delivered at a testing center, somewhere between 60 and 100 questions, with a passing score of 70% to 75%. Texas, for example, splits the journeyman exam into an NEC knowledge portion (56 scored questions in 130 minutes) and a calculations portion (24 scored questions in 110 minutes), and you need 70% on each.

Open book is the detail that changes how you study. You are not memorizing the Code; you are learning where things live in it and how to read a table under time pressure. That is why every SparkyPass explanation names the section.

How to use the code book under time pressure

• Learn the chapter map before you learn the sections. Chapter 2 is wiring and protection (210, 230, 250, and load calculations in Article 220, which the 2026 book moves to Article 120), Chapter 3 is wiring methods and materials (300, 310, 314, 358), Chapter 4 is equipment (408, 410, 430, 450), Chapters 5 through 7 are special occupancies, equipment, and conditions, and Chapter 9 holds the tables for conduit fill and conductor properties.
• Start from the index, not the table of contents. The index points you to a section number; the table of contents only gets you to an article.
• Know your tables cold: Table 310.16 for ampacity, Table 250.66 for the grounding electrode conductor, Table 250.122 for the equipment grounding conductor, Table 220.55 (Table 120.55 in the 2026 NEC) for ranges, Table 314.16(A) and (B) for box fill, and Chapter 9 Tables 1, 4, 5, and 8 for raceway fill and conductor properties.
• Tab the book the way your state allows. Texas permits publisher-made permanent tabs, highlighting, and notes written before the exam, but not loose paper or the NEC Handbook.
• Budget your time. Three minutes a question is a useful average. If a lookup stalls, mark it and move on; the calculations at the end need the minutes more.

How to study for it

Take the three free tests cold, then read every explanation, including the ones you got right. Note which code sections keep coming up. Then practice by topic until the lookups are fast, and save the calculations for last, because they are the easiest to improve with repetition. Candidates who pass tend to describe the exam as a navigation test, and navigation is a skill you drill.

The SparkyPass app takes it from there: 550+ questions by topic and difficulty, residential and commercial load calculators that walk through every step, a Calc Trainer that generates fresh numbers every time, and a Progress Report that tracks your pace. There is a 7-day free trial.

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