What's on the Texas Journeyman Electrician Exam? Both Portions, Item by Item

What's on the Texas Journeyman Electrician Exam?

PSI publishes exactly how many scored items each subject gets. That is the most useful study document you will find, because it tells you where the points are. Here it is for both portions, followed by a study plan built around it.

Two ground rules from the bulletin apply to every question:

• Conductors are copper unless the question specifically says otherwise.
• Do not apply code exceptions or optional calculation methods unless the question tells you to. If a load question does not say "optional method", use the standard method.

Portion 1: NEC Knowledge (56 scored items, 130 minutes)

Three subjects — branch circuits and conductors, wiring methods, and equipment and devices — carry 30 of the 56 points. That is Chapters 2, 3 and 4 of the NEC: GFCI and AFCI rules (210.8, 210.12), branch-circuit and conductor requirements (Article 210, 240, 310), raceways, boxes and cables (Chapter 3), and receptacles, luminaires, appliances, A/C equipment and working space (Articles 404–440, 110.26).

The paper has 59 items; 3 are unscored pretest items you cannot identify, so treat every question as if it counts.

Portion 2: Calculations (24 scored items, 110 minutes)

Twenty-four items in 110 minutes is over four minutes each — time enough to work every problem fully if you know the method. The calculations that come up most:

• Dwelling service and feeder loads — standard method by default (Article 120), and the optional method only when asked.
• Conductor ampacity — Table 310.16 with ambient correction and the adjustment for more than three current-carrying conductors, then the terminal temperature limit.
• Overcurrent protection — 240.4 and the standard ratings, including when you may round up.
• Motors — conductor size (125% of the table FLC), overloads (nameplate), and branch-circuit protection from Table 430.52(C)(1).
• A/C equipment — Article 440 conductor and protection sizing from RLA or branch-circuit selection current.
• Box fill and conduit fill — Table 314.16(B)(4) and Chapter 9.
• Special occupancies — RV park, mobile home park and marina demand loads.
• Voltage drop and Ohm's law — single- and three-phase.

A study plan built on the weights

1. Start with calculations. It is the portion fewer people pass (20.6% of attempts in FY2025, against 24.5% for NEC Knowledge), and every method above is learnable. Work each type until you can do it without looking up the steps.
2. Learn the NEC's layout before its details. On an open-book exam, knowing that GFCI is 210.8 and working space is 110.26 is worth more than memorizing either section.
3. Spend your NEC time where the 30 points are — Chapters 2, 3 and 4 — before special occupancies and renewables.
4. Study the 2026 edition. Texas moved to the 2026 NEC on September 1, 2026, and several numbers changed — dwelling lighting load, the optional method, where load calculations live. See what changed in the 2026 NEC.
5. Take timed, full-length practice exams of each portion separately, because that is how they are scored.

Our free practice test gives you 7 NEC questions and 3 calculations, scored per portion. The full exam prep has a complete practice exam for each portion, with every calculation worked out step by step and every answer cited to the 2026 NEC.