Retaking the FE Mechanical exam
In the most recent NCEES reporting year, FE Mechanical was attempted 11,552 times by first-time examinees, who passed at 69 percent — and 2,120 times by repeat examinees, who passed at 37 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 Mechanical 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 — Thermodynamics (10-15), Mechanical Design and Analysis (10-15), Statics (9-14) and Dynamics, Kinematics, and Vibrations (10-15) — together account for roughly 42 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 | 6-9 | 7 |
| Probability and Statistics | 4-6 | 5 |
| Ethics and Professional Practice | 4-6 | 4 |
| Engineering Economics | 4-6 | 5 |
| Electricity and Magnetism | 5-8 | 6 |
| Statics | 9-14 | 10 |
| Dynamics, Kinematics, and Vibrations | 10-15 | 10 |
| Mechanics of Materials | 9-14 | 10 |
| Material Properties and Processing | 7-11 | 7 |
| Fluid Mechanics | 10-15 | 10 |
| Thermodynamics | 10-15 | 11 |
| Heat Transfer | 7-11 | 8 |
| Measurements, Instrumentation, and Controls | 5-8 | 6 |
| Mechanical Design and Analysis | 10-15 | 11 |
Separate modeling errors from handbook errors
Mechanical misses often look alike after the fact: an incorrect system boundary, the wrong sign convention, or the right equation with the wrong state. Sort dynamics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and design misses by that cause before choosing another problem set. Chapter totals alone do not show which habit needs repair.
Repair sequence
- For dynamics and mechanics of materials, sketch the body, coordinates, and loads before calculating; mark any force or moment that was inferred rather than given.
- For fluids, thermodynamics, and heat transfer, state the control volume and assumptions, then locate the handbook relationship before substituting values.
- Combine those areas with mechanical design in a timed block and record whether each miss came from the model, handbook lookup, units, algebra, or time pressure.
Readiness check
A retake form should show fewer repeated error types, not merely different missed questions. If unit or system-boundary errors persist across two high-weight areas, repair that pattern before scheduling.
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 Mechanical practice exam is a complete 110-problem form in the current FE Mechanical 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 Mechanical thermodynamics practice problem — 11 of the 110 problems on this form sit in that area.