A requirement for licensure, the NPPE is a 2.5 hour, closed-book, on-line exam on ethics, professional practice, engineering law and professional liability.
The National Professional Practice Examination (NPPE) is a 2.5 hour, closed-book, on-line exam on ethics, professional practice, engineering law and professional liability. Applicants will normally have up to three (3) attempts to write the NPPE, and must pass the NPPE within the prescribed timeframes.
The NPPE is held five times a year (January/February, April, June, August/September and November). The exam is conducted via remote proctoring, meaning applicants will write the exam from their homes. Special accommodations can be made for those applicants with a demonstrated need. Contact the PEO Exam Centre for information about making special accommodation requests.
PEO's Exam Centre will send applicants a registration notice when they are eligible to write the exam.
The NPPE confirms knowledge of professionalism, law, and ethics. Twelve engineering and geoscience self-regulatory organizations in Canada currently use the NPPE. The NPPE follows all relevant standards detailed in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing to ensure that the exam program is valid, reliable, and fair (psychometrically defensible).
For more information about this examination please see the Candidate Guide in the NPPE Document section below.
The exam has 110 multiple-choice questions based on 6 subject areas. These are based on information in the textbooks and other resources. You have 2.5 hours to complete the examination. Although the NPPE contains specialized vocabulary and terms, the exam is not used as a test of English language proficiency and is regularly verified (using standard readability measures) to function at a readability level of approximately grade 10.
Three textbooks and several free resources are recommended as study materials to prepare for the NPPE.
Several practice tests are available to help you prepare for the NPPE. Practice test questions are ones used on previous NPPE exams. The practice test gives you detailed feedback showing you your areas of strength and weakness in terms of learning. To best use the practice tests, we recommend that you take one early in your studying process and then later to determine which areas you still need to focus on.
The practice test site also sells an NPPE preparation package, which includes the two textbooks and access to a 100-question practice test at a discounted price.
The NPPE is offered five times per year. Each session for that month offers the exam six times: one morning and one afternoon slot over three days.
The exam is conducted via remote proctoring, meaning applicants will write the exam from their homes. Please see information on remote proctoring.