Retaking the FE Civil exam
In the most recent NCEES reporting year, FE Civil was attempted 16,639 times by first-time examinees, who passed at 61 percent — and 9,863 times by repeat examinees, who passed at 32 percent. The retake is a harder exam only in one sense: it is usually taken with the same preparation that already failed once.
Attempt counts and pass rates: NCEES Squared 2025, set beside every other discipline on FE exam pass rates by discipline. Policy facts were checked August 31, 2026 against the NCEES FE exam page, scoring page, and May 2026 Examinee Guide.
Where the FE Civil exam is won
Your diagnostic report scores you in the same 14 knowledge areas as the current specification, each on a 0–15 scale against the average of passing examinees. Question counts are not uniform, and that asymmetry should drive the plan: the four heaviest areas — Structural Engineering (10-15), Geotechnical Engineering (10-15), Water Resources and Environmental Engineering (10-15) and Mathematics and Statistics (8-12) — together account for roughly 44 of the 110 questions on this form. A below-average score in any of them costs more than a weak showing in a four-question area ever can.
| Knowledge area (as on your diagnostic report) | NCEES range | This form |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematics and Statistics | 8-12 | 9 |
| Ethics and Professional Practice | 4-6 | 4 |
| Engineering Economics | 5-8 | 5 |
| Statics | 8-12 | 9 |
| Dynamics | 4-6 | 4 |
| Mechanics of Materials | 7-11 | 8 |
| Materials | 5-8 | 6 |
| Fluid Mechanics | 6-9 | 7 |
| Surveying | 6-9 | 6 |
| Water Resources and Environmental Engineering | 10-15 | 11 |
| Structural Engineering | 10-15 | 12 |
| Geotechnical Engineering | 10-15 | 12 |
| Transportation Engineering | 9-14 | 9 |
| Construction Engineering | 8-12 | 8 |
Rebuild the civil clusters that carry the form
Read structural, geotechnical, and water resources as three separate signals. If all three sit below the passing-examinee line, start with statics, mechanics of materials, and fluid mechanics before returning to design-style questions. If only one cluster is weak, keep the other two in short maintenance sets and put the longer sessions into the weak cluster.
Repair sequence
- Redo missed structural and geotechnical problems without notes, writing the free-body diagram or soil profile before opening the handbook.
- Run a separate water-resources block that mixes pipe flow, open-channel flow, and environmental calculations so equation selection is tested, not memorized by chapter.
- Finish with a mixed civil block that includes transportation, surveying, and construction; these areas reveal whether the repaired fundamentals transfer outside the original chapter.
Readiness check
Use the score sheet to compare structural, geotechnical, and water-resources accuracy separately. A higher total can hide an unchanged weak cluster, so require improvement in the specific cluster that triggered the retake.
Planning the second attempt
- Sort the areas on your diagnostic report into below, near, and above the passing-examinee line, then multiply by the weights above. Spend 60–70 percent of your study time where below-line meets high-weight.
- Practice against the reference handbook on screen, never from memory — locating the governing equation in seconds is a scored skill on this exam.
- Before booking, take one full 110-problem timed form and score it by knowledge area. Set that column beside your diagnostic report. Book when the below-line areas have visibly moved; adjust the plan when they have not. The exam fee is USD 225 per attempt, and NCEES allows one attempt per testing window and no more than three attempts in a 12-month period — spend attempts on evidence, not hope.
The FE Civil practice exam is a complete 110-problem form in the current FE Civil specification: every problem original and independently verified, worked solutions that name the governing handbook equation, and a score sheet grouped by knowledge area so the result reads like your diagnostic report.
Not sure yet? Every knowledge area has a free problem with its complete worked solution. Start with the free FE Civil structural engineering practice problem — 12 of the 110 problems on this form sit in that area.