Practice Exams

Prepare for your PE Civil Geotechnical exam with NCEES-style practice exams

About Our Practice Exams

Our practice exams simulate the real PE Civil Geotechnical CBT exam experience. Each exam includes a built-in scientific calculator, access to the same NCEES-approved reference materials you'll have on exam day, timed sessions, and detailed step-by-step solutions for every question.

Start with the 59-question focused exam to build confidence, then challenge yourself with the full 80-question simulation that closely mirrors the actual test format and difficulty.

TI-36X Pro Calculator
14 Reference PDFs
Timed Sessions
Break System
Question Flagging
Detailed Solutions

Practice Exam 1: Focused Review

Questions

59

Multiple Choice

Duration

6 Hours

Timed exam

NCEES Question Formats:

Multiple ChoiceSelect All That Apply

A focused 59-question practice exam covering key PE Civil Geotechnical topics. Great for targeted review and building familiarity with the CBT exam format.

Topic Coverage (click to expand)
  • • Soil Mechanics & Lab Testing — 10 questions
  • • Earth Retaining Structures — 8 questions
  • • Shallow Foundations — 8 questions
  • • Field Materials Testing — 8 questions
  • • Site Characterization — 6 questions
  • • Earth Structures — 5 questions
  • • Deep Foundations — 4 questions
  • • Groundwater & Seepage — 4 questions
  • • Earthquake Engineering — 3 questions
  • • Problematic Soils — 3 questions
Difficulty: Comparable to the real PE exam

Practice Exam 2: Full Simulation

Questions

80

5 Question Types

Duration

8 Hours

Timed exam

All 5 NCEES Question Formats:

Multiple ChoiceSelect All That ApplyFill in the BlankDrag and DropPoint and Click

A comprehensive 80-question full-length exam that closely mirrors the actual PE Civil Geotechnical CBT experience. Covers all 10 exam topics with a realistic mix of difficulty levels.

Topic Coverage (click to expand)
  • • Site Characterization — 10 questions
  • • Soil Mechanics & Lab Testing — 9 questions
  • • Construction, Monitoring & QA/QC — 7 questions
  • • Earthquake Engineering — 6 questions
  • • Earth Structures & Ground Improvement — 10 questions
  • • Groundwater & Seepage — 5 questions
  • • Problematic Soils — 5 questions
  • • Retaining Structures — 11 questions
  • • Shallow Foundations — 7 questions
  • • Deep Foundations — 10 questions
Difficulty: Slightly harder than the real PE exam

Reference Materials

The PEwise exam simulator includes all NCEES-approved reference documents within the exam interface — except for the PE Civil Reference Handbook itself. Due to licensing restrictions, we cannot distribute the NCEES handbook directly.

You can upload your own copy of the PE Civil Reference Handbook into the exam interface to use during the practice exam. To obtain your copy, register or log in to MyNCEES where you can access and download the handbook for free.

Calculator Policy

For calculations, you have two options:

  • Use your own approved calculator - The NCEES-approved calculators for 2026 include:
    • Casio: All fx-115 and fx-991 models (must have "fx-115" or "fx-991" in the model name)
    • Hewlett Packard: HP 33s and HP 35s models only
    • Texas Instruments: All TI-30X and TI-36X models (must have "TI-30X" or "TI-36X" in the model name)
  • Use the built-in calculator available in the exam interface

Practice Exam FAQ

Practice Exam 1 (59 questions, 6-hour timer) is a focused review using the multiple-choice and 'Select All That Apply' formats — a good first step for building confidence with the computer-based-test interface. Practice Exam 2 (80 questions, 8-hour timer) is a full-length simulation that uses all five NCEES question formats (multiple choice, select-all, fill-in-the-blank, drag-and-drop, and point-and-click), covers all 10 geotechnical topic areas, and runs slightly harder than the real exam — so a passing score here is a strong sign you're ready. Most engineers take the 59-question exam first and save the 80-question simulation for closer to test day.
There are two timed exams. The focused review is 59 questions with a 6-hour limit, and the full simulation is 80 questions with an 8-hour limit — matching the length and pacing of the real PE Civil Geotechnical CBT exam. Both are timed on purpose, so you build the stamina the actual eight-hour exam day demands.
Yes. Your answers and progress are saved automatically in your browser as you work, so you can close the tab and pick the exam back up later on the same device. The simulator also includes the same scheduled break system as the real CBT exam, which locks the questions you've already viewed once you step away — exactly as it works at the testing center.
Each exam has a built-in TI-36X Pro calculator you can open right inside the exam interface, so you don't need a physical calculator to practice. If you prefer your own, any NCEES-approved model works — the approved 2026 list includes the Casio fx-115 and fx-991 series, the HP 33s and 35s, and the TI-30X and TI-36X series. Practicing with the on-screen calculator gets you comfortable with the exact tool layout before exam day.
All NCEES-approved reference documents are built into the exam interface, except the PE Civil Reference Handbook itself — NCEES licensing prevents us from distributing it directly. You can upload your own copy of the handbook into the simulator; it is available free once you register or log in at MyNCEES (account.ncees.org). Practicing with the references open trains you to look values up quickly under time pressure, which is half the skill on the real exam.
Yes. Both practice exams are built around the current NCEES PE Civil Geotechnical specifications (last revised April 2024; the next revision is scheduled for April 2027) and the computer-based-test format. Questions are written in NCEES style across all 10 geotechnical topic areas, and the simulator mirrors how questions are presented, timed, and navigated at Pearson VUE testing centers.
Single-answer multiple-choice questions are scored the standard way: select the one correct option. 'Select All That Apply' questions are scored all-or-nothing — you must select every correct option and no incorrect ones to earn credit, with no partial credit, the same approach the real exam uses. After you submit, every question shows the correct answer alongside a detailed step-by-step solution, so you can see exactly where points were won or lost.
Yes — you can retake either practice exam as many times as you like while your enrollment is active. The question order is reshuffled on every new attempt, so each sitting stays fresh rather than testing recall of a fixed sequence. Your past attempts are saved to your exam history, so you can track how your scores trend as you study.

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