Your unfair advantage in trade and license exams
License exams are about specifics: a code article, a refrigerant rule, a stopping distance, a holding temperature, a disclosure requirement. Most candidates are studying around a job, so the time they have is short and scattered.
The advantage isn't a shortcut. It's a study method: pulling answers from memory and reviewing them just before they fade, instead of rereading, highlighting and cramming.
9 programs · 8,049 cards · organised by public exam outlines
What your memory has to carry for trade and license exams
Different exams, the same problem: a lot to hold, for a long time, recalled on demand.
Numbers from the code
Clearances, temperatures, weights, distances and time limits that have to be exact.
Regulations
Who can do what, which form is required, and what counts as a violation.
Study time around work
Minutes here and there, not whole days at a desk.
Why the old way fails for trade and license exams
Rereading, highlighting and cramming are the most common ways to study, and they feel productive. The research says they're the weakest.
Rereading
Rereading a code book or a manual after a shift is slow, and recognising a rule is not the same as recalling its number.
Retrieve it
Tested students recalled 61% of a passage a week later; students who reread it four times recalled 40%.
Roediger & Karpicke (2006), Psychological Science
Highlighting
Tabbing and highlighting the code book helps you find a rule during an open-book exam, not recall it in a closed-book one.
Test yourself
A review of ten techniques rated highlighting and rereading low utility, and practice testing high.
Dunlosky et al. (2013), Psychological Science in the Public Interest
Cramming
Cramming the night before is common with a license exam. Spaced review in short sessions fits better around a working day.
Space it
Word pairs reviewed across four days were recalled 54% of the time; the stack crammed the day before the test, 34%.
Kornell (2009), Applied Cognitive Psychology
The numbers behind the method
Published finding about the method, not NoReread results. Each one is shown with the conditions it was measured under.
recalled on day 5: one stack reviewed daily vs stacks crammed
Short daily reviews beat the same study crammed into single days.
25 students learned GRE-type word pairs over four daily sessions with the same number of study trials. One large stack reviewed every day: 54% recalled on day 5. Small stacks each crammed on a single day: 21%. The stack crammed the day before the test: 34%. Experiment 2.
Kornell, N. (2009). Optimising learning using flashcards: Spacing is more effective than cramming. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23(9), 1297–1317.
Published finding about the method, not NoReread results.
recalled a week later: kept testing vs only restudied
Continuing to test a fact after you first get it right is what held a week later.
College students learned 40 Swahili–English word pairs. Pairs that kept being tested after first recall were recalled about 80% of the time a week later; pairs dropped from testing but restudied, 36%.
Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319(5865), 966–968.
Published finding about the method, not NoReread results.
of learners did better with spacing, while most believed cramming worked better
Spacing can feel slower. For nine in ten learners in these experiments, it worked better.
Across three flashcard experiments, spacing beat massing for 90% of participants, yet after the first session 72% believed massing had been more effective.
Kornell, N. (2009). Optimising learning using flashcards: Spacing is more effective than cramming. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23(9), 1297–1317.
Published finding about the method, not NoReread results.
See the research
Three short loops. Two chart published results exactly as reported; the forgetting curve is an illustrative model and is labelled as one.
The forgetting curve, with and without reviews
An illustrative model, not measured data: after one exposure, memory decays quickly toward zero over 30 days. With reviews on days 1, 3, 7 and 14, each review restores it and it decays more slowly each time, staying high at day 30.
Ebbinghaus, H. (1885). Über das Gedächtnis. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig.
Illustrative model, not measured data.
Testing yourself beats rereading, a week later
Bar charts from Roediger & Karpicke (2006), Experiment 2. Five minutes after studying, students who read a passage four times recalled 83%, read three times and tested once 78%, read once and tested three times 71%. One week later the order reversed: 40%, 56% and 61%.
Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255.
Published finding about the method, not NoReread results.
Spacing beats cramming
From Kornell (2009), Experiment 2: over four days, one stack of 20 word pairs reviewed every day versus four stacks of five each crammed on one day. On day 5, spaced pairs were recalled 54% of the time, massed 21%, and the stack crammed the day before 34%. Across three experiments spacing beat massing for 90% of participants, yet after the first session 72% believed massing worked better.
Kornell, N. (2009). Optimising learning using flashcards: Spacing is more effective than cramming. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23(9), 1297–1317.
Published finding about the method, not NoReread results.
Trades & licenses programs
Ready-made decks, organised by each exam's public outline. Open any program to try its free sample cards.
Electrician Journeyman
10 decks · 1,320 cards
EPA 608 — HVAC Refrigerant Certification
4 decks · 537 cards
CDL Class A — Commercial Driver's License
4 decks · 816 cards
Real Estate Salesperson — National Portion
8 decks · 1,324 cards
Life & Health Insurance — Producer Licensing Exam
7 decks · 822 cards
NABCEP PV Associate
6 decks · 953 cards
FAA Part 107 — Remote Pilot (Drone)
5 decks · 527 cards
ServSafe Manager — Food Safety Certification
6 decks · 889 cards
ASE A-Series — Automobile Technician (A1-A8)
8 decks · 861 cards
| Exam | Questions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Journeyman Electrician ExamVaries by state; PSI's journeyman outline has 80 scored items · Varies by state (commonly 3–4 hours) | Varies by state; PSI's journeyman outline has 80 scored items | Varies by state (commonly 3–4 hours) |
| EPA 60825 questions per section (Core + each Type attempted) · Varies by provider; typically 1–3 hours depending on sections attempted | 25 questions per section (Core + each Type attempted) | Varies by provider; typically 1–3 hours depending on sections attempted |
| CDL Class AGeneral Knowledge typically 50 questions; Air Brakes and Combination Vehicles typically 20–25 each (counts set by each state) · Varies by state; untimed or generously timed in most states | General Knowledge typically 50 questions; Air Brakes and Combination Vehicles typically 20–25 each (counts set by each state) | Varies by state; untimed or generously timed in most states |
| Real Estate Salesperson Exam (National Portion)National/general portion (Pearson VUE outline): 80 scored items plus 5 unscored pretest items; state portion varies · Varies by state (commonly 2.5–4 hours for both portions) | National/general portion (Pearson VUE outline): 80 scored items plus 5 unscored pretest items; state portion varies | Varies by state (commonly 2.5–4 hours for both portions) |
| Life & Health Insurance ExamVaries by state (commonly 100–150 questions across both portions) · Varies by state (commonly 2–3 hours) | Varies by state (commonly 100–150 questions across both portions) | Varies by state (commonly 2–3 hours) |
| NABCEP PV AssociateMultiple-choice items (see the NABCEP Associate Handbook for the current item count) · 2 hours | Multiple-choice items (see the NABCEP Associate Handbook for the current item count) | 2 hours |
| FAA Part 10760 multiple-choice questions · 2 hours | 60 multiple-choice questions | 2 hours |
| ServSafe Manager90 questions (80 scored plus 10 unscored pilot items) · 2 hours | 90 questions (80 scored plus 10 unscored pilot items) | 2 hours |
| ASE A-Series (Automobile)40-50 scored items per exam (50-60 total, including 10 unscored research items) · 60-90 minutes per certification exam | 40-50 scored items per exam (50-60 total, including 10 unscored research items) | 60-90 minutes per certification exam |
How NoReread puts it to work
1. Cards from public exam outlines
Each program is organised by its exam's publicly available outline, so the decks follow the structure you will be tested on.
2. Recall first, then flip
Every card asks before it tells. That moment of pulling the answer from memory is the retrieval practice the research measures.
3. Reviews scheduled before you forget
An SM-2 schedule brings each card back just as it starts to fade: sooner if you missed it, later if you knew it.
A card asks for one number or rule. Five minutes on a break is a full session, and the schedule makes sure the numbers you miss come back before test day.
What sets the rating of a branch circuit under 210.18?
The ampere rating or setting of the branch-circuit overcurrent device, not the conductor ampacity.
Learn first, then retain.
Flashcards are a memory tool. Learn the material first, then use NoReread to retain it and refresh what you already know. It doesn't replace studying the subject.
Cards are created from publicly available sources and may contain errors. Check anything you rely on against your official materials.
Straight answers
Is NoReread enough to prepare for trade and license exams?
No, and we won't pretend otherwise. Flashcards are a memory tool. Learn the material first, then use NoReread to retain it and refresh what you already know. It doesn't replace studying the subject.
What does “unfair advantage” mean here?
The advantage is the study method: retrieval practice and spaced review, instead of rereading, highlighting and cramming. It is not a promise of a pass or a score. The numbers on this page are published findings about the method from the studies cited, not NoReread results.
Does this cover my state's portion of the exam?
Programs follow national outlines, such as the national portion of the real estate exam or the NEC for the journeyman outline. State-specific rules need your state's materials.
Which code edition do the electrical cards follow?
The program page names the edition. Check that it matches the edition your jurisdiction tests, and check any rule you rely on against the code itself.
Can I rely on the cards being accurate?
Cards are created from publicly available sources and may contain errors. Check anything you rely on against your official materials. We're not experts in every field we cover, and NoReread does not guarantee exam results.
Is NoReread affiliated with the organizations behind these exams?
No. NoReread is not affiliated with or endorsed by the organizations whose exams and outlines it references, and exam names are trademarks of their respective owners.
How can I try it?
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Exam names are trademarks of their respective owners. Content disclaimer · All the research
Study trade and license exams the way memory works
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