Hundreds of practice questions mapped to all knowledge areas on the FE Civil exam. Questions include worked explanations with full solution steps.
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A simply supported beam spans 6 m and carries a uniformly distributed load of 12 kN/m over its entire length. What is the maximum bending moment?
A soil sample has a void ratio of 0.65 and a specific gravity of solids of 2.70. If the soil is fully saturated, what is most nearly the saturated unit weight?
Water flows through a horizontal pipe that narrows from 300 mm diameter to 150 mm. If the velocity in the larger section is 2 m/s, what is the velocity in the smaller section?
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Continue practicing for freeFundamentals of Engineering — Civil is a CBT exam of 110 questions over 6h appointment (5h 20m exam time).
14 practice areas in the FE Civil question bank, each with its own questions and analytics.
Every question in the bank is written in one of these formats.
The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Civil exam is the first of two exams on the path to a Professional Engineer license in the United States. It is written and administered by NCEES and taken on a computer at Pearson VUE test centers year-round. Most candidates sit it during the final year of an ABET-accredited civil engineering degree or shortly after graduation. Passing it earns the Engineer in Training (EIT) or Engineer Intern (EI) designation in most states.
The exam tests breadth over depth. Its 110 questions spread across 14 knowledge areas, from mathematics and statics through to water resources, structural, geotechnical, transportation, and construction engineering. Because the five civil-specific areas (water resources, structural, geotechnical, transportation, construction) together account for roughly half of the 110 questions, candidates who skip them to focus on the "easy" fundamentals routinely fall short. The practice bank on this page is organized by the same 14 areas so that your effort tracks the exam's actual weighting.
Source: NCEES FE Civil exam specifications (effective July 2020)
| Knowledge area | Questions | Approx. share |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematics and Statistics | 8–12 | 9% |
| Ethics and Professional Practice | 4–6 | 5% |
| Engineering Economics | 5–8 | 6% |
| Statics | 8–12 | 9% |
| Dynamics | 4–6 | 5% |
| Mechanics of Materials | 7–11 | 8% |
| Materials | 5–8 | 6% |
| Fluid Mechanics | 6–9 | 7% |
| Surveying | 6–9 | 7% |
| Water Resources and Environmental Engineering | 10–15 | 11% |
| Structural Engineering | 10–15 | 11% |
| Geotechnical Engineering | 10–15 | 11% |
| Transportation Engineering | 9–14 | 10% |
| Construction Engineering | 8–12 | 9% |
Question counts are the ranges NCEES publishes. Each sitting draws a fixed number from each range that sums to 110. The share column is the midpoint of each range as a percentage of 110. It is a planning aid, and NCEES does not publish it. Water Resources, Structural, Geotechnical, Transportation, and Construction together are close to half the exam.
The FE is scored pass/fail. There is no published passing percentage. NCEES converts your raw score to a scaled score against a standard set by a panel of licensed engineers, so the number of correct answers needed can vary slightly between exam forms. Results are released through your MyNCEES account, usually within 7 to 10 days of the exam. Failing results come with a diagnostic report showing your relative performance in each knowledge area, which is the most useful document you have when planning a retake.
Questions use alternative item types (AITs) as well as conventional multiple choice: multiple-correct-answer, point-and-click on a diagram, drag-and-drop ordering, and fill-in-the-blank numeric entry. There is no penalty for wrong answers, so every question should be answered.
Most successful candidates report somewhere between 100 and 200 hours of preparation. The plan below fits that into 12 weeks at 10 to 15 hours a week and follows the exam's weighting instead of the order of your degree.
Every FE Civil distractor is computed from a real slip. The writer starts from the correct answer, then works out what you get after converting feet to meters in the wrong direction, after using the Manning equation with the coefficient for the other unit system, after reading the wrong row of the moment-of-inertia table, or after stopping at the velocity when the question asked for discharge. Every one of those numbers is sitting in the options. PassExams explains on every question and at every tier why the option you chose looked right. On Pro, each wrong option also carries its trap type (reading trick, unit conversion, sign error, formula swap, partial solution), so a miss tells you which step failed instead of only that a step failed.
Those labels add up to a map of how you lose points area by area. Learning that Water Resources and Environmental costs you unit conversions while Structural costs you table look-ups you never rehearsed is worth far more than a single percentage. When you miss a question, the variant engine rewrites it with a new channel slope or a new beam section, so the retry tests the method and not your memory of the answer. Hints work the same way. The first thing a hint does is remove the most tempting distractor and send you back to the step you skipped. On exam day the numbers are new and the handbook is the same, which is why the reasoning is the thing worth carrying in. Learning to pass beats memorizing to pass.
Put your hours where the questions are. The five civil-specific areas are close to half of the 110 questions, and most candidates who pass report 100 to 200 hours over two to three months. Practise with the NCEES FE Reference Handbook open every session, because it is the only reference you get and slow look-ups cost more points than thin theory does. Hold a pace under three minutes per question and answer all 110, since nothing is deducted for a wrong answer. Then treat every miss as a question about why the wrong option looked right to you.
110 questions, delivered in two halves with one scheduled break. Every question counts equally and there is no penalty for wrong answers.
The appointment is 6 hours: about 10 minutes for the nondisclosure agreement and tutorial, 5 hours 20 minutes of exam time, and a 25-minute break. That works out to roughly 2 minutes 55 seconds per question.
NCEES does not publish a passing percentage. The exam is scored pass/fail on a scaled basis, and the cut score is set by a standard-setting panel and can differ slightly between exam forms. The usual rule of thumb is to aim for consistent accuracy above 70% on realistic practice questions.
The challenge is breadth. NCEES publishes pass rates by discipline. First-time takers from ABET-accredited programs pass at a meaningfully higher rate than repeat takers, and repeat candidates often report under-preparing the civil-specific areas that make up about half of the exam.
Only models on the NCEES-approved list: Casio fx-115 and fx-991 families, HP 33s and 35s, and TI-30X and TI-36X families. Graphing calculators and anything with alphanumeric text storage are not allowed.
Most candidates who pass report 100 to 200 hours of preparation spread over 2 to 3 months. Recent graduates with strong fundamentals sit at the lower end. Candidates several years out of school should plan for the upper end.
Yes. NCEES allows one attempt per testing window (quarterly) and a maximum of three attempts in any 12-month period. Your diagnostic report shows performance by knowledge area so you can target the retake.
Take FE Civil if your degree is in civil or environmental engineering (or a closely related field). The civil-specific areas are where your coursework gives you an advantage. Every FE discipline leads to the same EIT certification, so choose the exam you are best prepared for. None is "worth more" than another.
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