How the Journeyman Electrician Exam Is Structured
Question counts, time limits, the content outline, how the pass mark works, and which code articles carry most of the weight on a typical state journeyman exam.
Every state writes its own journeyman exam, but they are more alike than different because they are built on the same code and, in most states, delivered by the same handful of testing vendors. If you know the shape of a typical exam you can plan your study around it, then adjust for the details in your own state's candidate bulletin.
The basics
A typical journeyman exam has 80 to 100 questions, all four-option multiple choice, in a three to four hour window. It is open book for the code portion: you bring the National Electrical Code in the edition your state has adopted, and often nothing else. Some states allow a calculations reference or the state's electrical law; the bulletin lists exactly what is permitted.
The pass mark is set by the state, usually 70 or 75 percent. Where the exam has separately scored sections, you must pass each one on its own; a strong code score cannot carry a weak calculations score.
The content outline
The bulletin for your state includes a content outline: a list of subject areas with the number or percentage of questions in each. A common shape looks like this:
| Area | Share of questions |
|---|---|
| General knowledge, definitions, safety (Articles 90 to 110) | 10 to 15 percent |
| Branch circuits, feeders and services (210 to 230) | 15 to 20 percent |
| Overcurrent protection (240) | 5 to 10 percent |
| Grounding and bonding (250) | 10 to 15 percent |
| Wiring methods, conductors and boxes (300 to 399) | 15 to 20 percent |
| Equipment: switches, receptacles, appliances, motors, transformers (400 to 480) | 10 to 15 percent |
| Special occupancies and equipment (500 to 699) | 5 to 10 percent |
| Calculations (drawn from 220, 310, 314, 430, Chapter 9) | 15 to 25 percent |
Treat the percentages as your study budget. If grounding is 15 percent of the exam, it deserves 15 percent of your hours, not the 40 percent that candidates who find it confusing tend to give it.
Question types
Three kinds of questions show up, and each wants a different approach.
Recall questions ask for a number or a rule you should know without opening the book: the minimum number of small-appliance circuits in a dwelling, the height of a service drop over a driveway, which receptacles need GFCI protection in a garage. Answer these on your first pass and do not look them up.
Lookup questions ask for a value from a table: the ampacity of a conductor at a given temperature, the maximum number of conductors in a conduit, the size of a grounding electrode conductor for a given service. Know which table answers which question and go straight to it.
Calculation questions combine a formula with table values: size the conductors and overcurrent device for a motor, compute the demand load for a dwelling, work out voltage drop on a long run. These take longest and are worth the same as the others, so do them last.
Where the questions come from
Across states, the heavy articles are consistent. Article 100 definitions and 110 general requirements. Article 210 branch circuits, especially 210.8 GFCI, 210.12 AFCI and 210.52 receptacle placement. Article 215 feeders and 230 services. Article 240 overcurrent protection, including the standard sizes in 240.6 and the small-conductor rule in 240.4(D). Article 250, where grounding electrode conductors (250.66) and equipment grounding conductors (250.122) are sized from tables. Article 300 wiring methods, 310 conductor ampacity with its correction and adjustment factors, 314 boxes and box fill. The common raceway and cable articles (334, 344, 348, 350, 352, 358). Article 430 motors. Chapter 9 Tables 1, 4, 5 and 8 for fill and conductor properties.
If you can find anything in those articles within 30 seconds, you have most of the exam covered.
Separately scored sections
Some states split the exam. Texas, for example, scores an NEC knowledge portion and a calculations portion separately and requires a pass on each. Where that applies, the software may lock each section once you move on, so pace each one independently and do not plan to come back.
How results are reported
You get a pass or fail and a breakdown by content area. The breakdown does not list the questions you missed, but it does tell you which areas were weak, which is exactly where a retake study plan should start.
Using this to plan
Pull the content outline from your state's bulletin and write the percentages next to the article numbers above. Spend the first two weeks on the heavy articles, add calculations from the first week, and take full-length timed exams in the last two weeks. The exam rewards candidates who know where things are and keep moving; the structure above is the map.