Ham Radio Exam Prep: The Complete Study Plan

The plan that works is short: pick your element, study the published question pool one topic at a time, take full practice exams until you score 85 percent or better three times in a row, then book a session with a volunteer examiner team. Every question on a US amateur exam comes from a public pool, so nothing on test day should be new to you. I would start with the Technician pool and treat everything else as a later step.

This page is the hub for exam prep on HamPost. It covers what each exam looks like, a study order for the topics, how to use the free ham radio practice exams, and what happens at the session itself.

What you are studying for

There are three written exams, called elements, and each license class needs the ones below it. Under FCC Part 97.501, Technician needs Element 2, General needs Elements 2 and 3, and Amateur Extra needs Elements 2, 3 and 4. If you are still deciding which class to aim for, the comparison of Technician, General and Extra privileges sets them side by side.

ElementLicenseQuestions on the examNeeded to passPool sizePool valid 2Technician3526409July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2030 3General3526423July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2027 4Amateur Extra5037599July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2028

The question counts and pass marks are set in Part 97.503. That works out to 74 percent on all three. Part 97.507 requires every question set to use questions from the applicable pool, and the National Conference of VECs keeps those pools public. Pools are normally valid for four years and are released about six months before they take effect.

Check the dates before you buy any printed study material. The General pool runs out on June 30, 2027, so a General candidate sitting the exam after that date studies a different pool.

How the pool is built, and why it matters for your plan

Each pool is split into sub-elements, normally ten. On the Technician pool those are T1 to T9 and T0. Each sub-element is split again into groups (T1A, T1B and so on), and the exam draws one question from each group. That is why the Technician exam has exactly 35 questions.

The useful part for planning is that the weights are fixed and published. On the Technician study-by-topic page the split looks like this:

• T1 FCC Rules and the Amateur Service: 68 questions in the pool, 6 on the exam
• T5 Electrical Principles: 50 in the pool, 4 on the exam
• T8 Modulation and Signals: 47 in the pool, 4 on the exam
• T6 Electronic Components and T7 Station Equipment: 46 and 44 in the pool, 4 each on the exam
• T2 Operating Procedures, T3 Radio Wave Characteristics and T0 Electrical and RF Safety: 3 each on the exam
• T4 Station Setup and T9 Antennas and Feed Lines: 2 each on the exam

Rules alone are 6 of your 35 questions. You can miss 9 and still pass, so no single sub-element can sink you. My view: that is the reason to study every topic once rather than skip the hard ones. Skipping math entirely throws away 4 points in one go.

A study order that builds on itself

I would not read the pool from T1A01 to the end. Some topics make the next ones easier, and the order below follows that.

1. Start with rules and operating. Work through the T1 rules questions, then T2. They are plain reading, worth 9 questions together, and they explain who may transmit where.
2. Learn the bands next. T3 and parts of T1 ask about frequencies and wavelengths. A plain walk through HF, VHF and UHF makes those questions feel less like memorising numbers.
3. Do the electrical topics as one block. Take the T5 electrical principles page first, then T6 components and T7 station equipment. T5 is where Ohm's law and power live, and T6 and T7 lean on it.
4. Finish with signals, antennas and safety. T8, T4, T9 and the T0 RF safety questions are short and close the set.
5. Switch to full practice exams. Once every topic has been read through once, take the 35-question Technician practice test. It draws one question per group, the same way the real exam does.
6. Drill only what you miss. Use the missed-questions review after each test, and go back to the topic page for any sub-element that keeps showing up there.
7. Book when you are reliably passing. Three scores of 85 percent or better in a row, with the missed list cleared, is the point I would book a session.

The study pages list each question with its correct answer and are open to anyone. The practice exams and the missed-question record need a free HamPost account.

Studying for General and Extra

The method does not change for the higher elements. Only the weights do. On the General study pages, G1 rules, G2 operating procedures and G4 amateur radio practices each put 5 questions on the exam, and G9 antennas and feed lines puts 4. A sensible General plan starts with those four sub-elements.

The Amateur Extra pool is bigger and more technical. E7 Practical Circuits (99 questions in the pool) and E9 Antennas and Transmission Lines (93) put 8 questions each on the 50-question exam. That is almost a third of the test in two topics, and those are the two I would give the most time.

Technician and General can be taken on the same day. If you are already comfortable with the Technician material, it can make sense to study both and sit Element 3 straight after Element 2. If not, pass Technician first and read what changes when you upgrade to General once you are on the air.

What happens at the exam session

Exams are given by volunteer examiners (VEs), not by the FCC. Part 97.509 requires a team of at least three VEs at a session coordinated by a Volunteer Exam Coordinator (VEC). The VEs must watch you for the whole exam. Sessions run in person or by remote video online, and ARRL's exam search lists sessions from other VECs as well as its own. You can search by ZIP code.

Before exam day you need an FCC Registration Number (FRN), which you get by registering in the FCC's CORES system. Bring a photo ID, or two other forms of identification if you have no photo ID. The exam fee is set by the VEC, and ARRL says it is usually $15 or less. The FCC also charges $35 for a new license, paid to the FCC directly and not to the exam team. Confirm the fee, documents and time with the session contact first.

A passed element is recorded on a CSCE. Under Part 97.505, VEs must give credit for each element a CSCE shows you passed within the previous 365 days, so a pass is not wasted if you go on to the next element at a later session.

The full sequence from FRN to callsign is in the step-by-step guide to getting your ham radio license.

Where to practise

All three pools are on HamPost. The practice exam hub links the Technician, General and Extra pages, each with a full-length test, a topic page for every sub-element and a missed-question review. The questions are taken word for word from the NCVEC pools, figures included.

I would also study with other people if you can. Finding a local ham radio club gives you people who have sat the same exam and can point you to a session near you. Younger candidates should look at youth licensing programs, since ARRL VEC sessions offer a reduced exam fee and an FCC fee refund for candidates under 18.

If you want to know exactly how the Technician test is scored question by question, the next guide in this hub is How Many Questions Are on the Technician Exam.