How the planner splits your time
NICET publishes each exam's content outline as a list of domains, each with a range for its share of the exam's questions. The planner takes the midpoint of each range and uses it as that domain's share of your study time. For all three exams the midpoints add to exactly 100%, so no rescaling is needed; the planner would rescale them if they did not.
- Domain share = (low end of range + high end of range) ÷ 2, as a percentage.
- Weeks in the plan = days from start date to exam date ÷ 7, rounded up. A short last week still counts as one week.
- With 3 or more weeks, the last week is a final review across every domain at the midpoint shares.
- The remaining study weeks go one domain at a time. Each domain gets share × study weeks, rounded by the largest-remainder method: everyone gets the whole-number part, then spare weeks go to the largest fractions. Every domain gets at least one week.
- If there are fewer study weeks than domains, every week is a mixed week split at the midpoint shares.
- Within a domain's weeks, its outline tasks are spread in outline order, so each week has at least one task.
- The free 10-question check opens week 1 and week (weeks ÷ 2, rounded down) + 1.
Whole weeks cannot hit the midpoints exactly, so the results table shows the share each domain actually gets, counting its focus weeks and its part of the review week.
Worked example: FA I in 10 weeks
A candidate starts on Monday 2 November 2026 with the Level I exam on 11 January 2027. These dates are an example only.
- Midpoint shares: Installation (44 + 54) ÷ 2 = 49%, Maintenance (40 + 50) ÷ 2 = 45%, Submittal Preparation and System Layout (1 + 11) ÷ 2 = 6%.
- Days: 70, so 10 weeks. Week 10 is review, leaving 9 study weeks.
- Exact week counts: 9 × 0.49 = 4.41, 9 × 0.45 = 4.05, 9 × 0.06 = 0.54. Whole parts give 4, 4 and 0, one week short. The largest fraction is 0.54, so Submittal Preparation gets it: 4, 4 and 1.
- Installation's three tasks over four weeks: 1.1.1 in weeks 1 and 2, 1.1.2 in week 3, 1.1.3 in week 4.
- Share actually given: Installation (4 + 0.49) ÷ 10 = 44.9%, Maintenance (4 + 0.45) ÷ 10 = 44.5%, Submittal Preparation (1 + 0.06) ÷ 10 = 10.6%.
- The free 10-question check opens week 1 and week 10 ÷ 2 + 1 = week 6.
Submittal Preparation ends up above its 6% midpoint because it cannot have less than a week. With more weeks, the gap shrinks.
Using the two checks
The free 10-question check gives a quick read of which domains are weakest. At the start, note the weakest domain and spend a little more of that domain's weeks on the tasks you missed. At the midpoint, compare: a domain that has not improved is a reason to move some final-review time toward it. Ten questions are a rough signal, not a score prediction.
What the planner does not do
It does not estimate how long you need to study, and it does not predict a result. It works in shares, so the same plan fits however much time you can give it. Equal domain weight does not mean equal difficulty for you; adjust the plan after each check.
Midpoints are a planning assumption. NICET publishes ranges, and a given exam form may sit anywhere inside them. NICET's current content outline and candidate handbook control, and the references are the editions NICET lists for your exam. Practice finding sections in your own copy of those references; this page does not reproduce any code text.
Exam pages: NICET FA I practice, NICET FA II practice and NICET Inspection and Testing Level II practice. Exam facts: the Level I guide, Level II guide and Inspection and Testing Level II guide.
Plans cover 1 to 52 weeks.