What is the FE Mechanical exam pass rate?

In NCEES's most recent published data (fiscal year 2024-25), 69% of first-time takers passed FE Mechanical, from 11,552 first-time examinees. Repeat takers passed at 37%. That 69% is the highest first-time rate of the seven FE disciplines, and it still means roughly one candidate in three does not pass.

Is FE Mechanical the easiest FE exam?

It has the highest first-time pass rate, but the spread across all seven disciplines is only eight points, from 61% to 69%. That is a narrow band, and pass rates reflect who takes each exam as much as the exam itself. Choosing a discipline you did not study in order to chase a higher rate is a poor trade: you would be giving up familiarity with two thirds of the specification to gain a few points that may not transfer to you at all.

Which FE Mechanical topics do people underestimate?

Electricity and magnetism, at five to eight questions, and measurements, instrumentation and controls, at another five to eight. Up to sixteen questions between them (more than the minimum allocation for statics) in material that many mechanical candidates have not touched since a sophomore survey course. They are also both areas where the handbook helps least, because knowing which relationship applies matters more than having the formula in front of you.

What reference do you get in the FE Mechanical exam?

The NCEES FE Reference Handbook, supplied on screen as a searchable PDF, and nothing else: no personal copies and no codes or standards (the PE Mechanical exams supply none either; PE Civil and PE Power do). Most of the formulas you need are in it, but not all: NCEES leaves out the basic theories, conversions, formulas and definitions it expects you to know. So the difficulty is mostly selection and lookup speed, on top of a core of basics you carry in your head.

How hard is the FE Mechanical exam?

It has the highest first-time pass rate of the seven FE disciplines, which is how it got its reputation as the manageable one. Two things are worth knowing before you lean on that. Roughly one candidate in three still does not pass, and the whole range across all seven disciplines is eight points wide.

Updated October 6, 2026 · by the FE → PE Prep team

69%

First-time pass

~2.9 min

Per question

Knowledge areas

FE Handbook

Only reference

The highest rate — in a very narrow band

NCEES publishes pass rates by discipline each year. These are from NCEES Squared 2025 (FY2024-25), first-time takers, with repeat rates and first-time volumes alongside.

FE exam pass rates and first-time examinee volumes by discipline, NCEES fiscal year 2024-25
Discipline	First time	Repeat	Volume
FE Mechanical	69%	37%	11,552
FE Chemical	68%	35%	1,873
FE Environmental	67%	37%	2,543
FE Electrical and Computer	64%	31%	5,882
FE Industrial and Systems	62%	25%	547
FE Civil	61%	32%	16,639
FE Other Disciplines	61%	29%	2,386

Top of the table, and eight points separate the top from the bottom. That is a narrower spread than the reputations of these exams suggest, and it makes discipline choice a poor lever for difficulty. If you are a mechanical graduate thinking about taking a different exam to chase a better number, you would be trading away familiarity with two thirds of a specification for a few points that may not transfer to you at all.

The repeat column is the one to take seriously. 37%, the same drop that shows up in every FE discipline. Whatever the first-time number is, the repeat group passes at about half of it, which makes an underprepared first attempt the most expensive way to find out where you stand.

Where the questions actually come from

110 questions in 5 hours 20 minutes of testing, inside a 6-hour appointment that also holds the nondisclosure agreement, an 8-minute tutorial and a 25-minute scheduled break. About 2.9 minutes per question. Your only reference is the NCEES FE Reference Handbook, on screen as a searchable PDF. No personal copies, and no codes or standards at all.

FE Mechanical knowledge areas and question counts, per the NCEES specification effective July 2020
Knowledge area	Questions
Dynamics, Kinematics, and VibrationsTied for the largest block. Kinematics, kinetics, work-energy, natural frequency and forced response.	10–15
Fluid MechanicsStatics, continuity and energy, pipe flow and losses, drag, turbomachinery.	10–15
ThermodynamicsProperties, first and second law, power and refrigeration cycles, mixtures.	10–15
Mechanical Design and AnalysisFailure theories, fatigue, shafts, bearings, gears, springs, joints.	10–15
StaticsEquilibrium, trusses and frames, centroids, friction.	9–14
Mechanics of MaterialsStress and strain, torsion, bending, buckling, combined loading.	9–14
Material Properties and ProcessingProperties, phase diagrams and heat treating, corrosion, failure mechanisms, manufacturing.	7–11
Heat TransferConduction, convection, radiation, exchangers, transient response.	7–11
MathematicsShared with every FE discipline.	6–9
Electricity and Magnetismoften skippedCircuits, power, motors and generators, fields.	5–8
Measurements, Instrumentation, and Controlsoften skippedSensors and transducers, block diagrams, system response, measurement uncertainty.	5–8
Probability and StatisticsDistributions, intervals, expected value, regression.	4–6
Ethics and Professional PracticeMostly qualitative: codes of ethics, public safety, intellectual property.	4–6
Engineering EconomicsTime value of money, cost types, break-even and life-cycle analysis.	4–6

Four blocks run to fifteen questions each (dynamics, fluids, thermodynamics and mechanical design), and no mechanical graduate is surprised by any of them. Look instead at the two marked rows. Electricity and magnetism, and measurements, instrumentation and controls, are five to eight questions apiece. Up to sixteen questions between them, which is more than the minimum allocation for statics, in material a lot of candidates have not opened since a second-year survey course.

That is where a comfortable-looking pass rate goes wrong. The exam is not difficult in its core subjects. It is broad, and the points are sitting in the corners you would not choose to study.

Three problems from our question bank

Difficulty is easier to judge from a question than from a percentage. These come from our free FE Mechanical set: two from the core, and one from a corner. Try each before opening the solution, then read the note on the wrong answers.

1. Von Mises stress on a machine element

Mechanical design and analysis is one of four blocks running to fifteen questions. The distortion-energy criterion is in the handbook in full, which is exactly why the wrong answers are built from mis-transcribing it.

1
medium
A. Machine-element stress, failure theories, springs & deflection
At the critical point of a loaded machine element the plane-stress components are $\sigma_x=80\,\text{MPa}$ , $\sigma_y=30\,\text{MPa}$ , and $\tau_{xy}=25\,\text{MPa}$ (see the stress element). The distortion-energy (von Mises) effective stress is most nearly:
Figure — drag or pinch to move around
1. 74.3 MPa
2. 82.3 MPa
3. 95.8 MPa
4. 108 MPa
Show the answer & worked solution
Answer: B.82.3 MPa
The FE Handbook's distortion-energy theory (Mechanical Engineering — Static Loading Failure Theories, p. 452) gives the effective (von Mises) stress for a biaxial state as $\sigma'=\sqrt{\sigma_x^2-\sigma_x\sigma_y+\sigma_y^2+3\tau_{xy}^2}=\sqrt{80^2-(80)(30)+30^2+3(25)^2}=\sqrt{6775}$ = 82.3 MPa. Distractors: dropped the factor $3$ on the shear term ( $+\tau_{xy}^2$ ), 74.3 MPa; dropped the cross term $-\sigma_x\sigma_y$ (used $\sigma_x^2+\sigma_y^2+3\tau_{xy}^2$ ), 95.8 MPa; and added the cross term ( $+\sigma_x\sigma_y$ ) instead of subtracting it, 108 MPa.

What the distractors teach

The answer is √(80² − 80·30 + 30² + 3·25²) = 82.3 MPa. Each distractor is the same expression with one term mis-copied. Drop the −σxσy term and you get 95.8 MPa; add it instead of subtracting and you get 108. Forget the 3 on the shear term and you get 74.3, about 10% low. All four options are in the same range, so none of them can be dismissed on magnitude. You have to have copied the expression correctly.

2. Conduction through a plane wall

Heat transfer is seven to eleven questions, and Fourier's law is the first thing in it. This problem is a single substitution, which makes it a good test of whether you are reading carefully at question ninety.

2
medium
A. Conduction, convection, radiation, transient & heat exchangers
A brick wall 200 mm thick with thermal conductivity $k=0.8$ W/(m·K) has a face area of 10 m². In steady operation its inside surface is at $T_1=20$ °C and its outside surface at $T_2=-4$ °C. The rate of heat loss through the wall is most nearly:
Figure — drag or pinch to move around
1. 640 W
2. 960 W
3. 1500 W
4. 11900 W
Show the answer & worked solution
Answer: B.960 W
The temperature difference across the wall is $T_1-T_2=20-(-4)=24$ K (a difference is the same in °C and K), and $L=0.2$ m. Conduction through a plane wall (FE Reference Handbook 10.6 p. 209): $\dot Q=\dfrac{kA\,(T_1-T_2)}{L}=\dfrac{0.8\cdot10\cdot24}{0.2}=960$ W. Distractors: dropped the minus sign of the outside temperature, taking $\Delta T=20-4=16$ K (640 W); built the resistance as $kL/A$ instead of the handbook's $R=L/(kA)$ , putting the conductivity where a resistivity belongs ( $A\Delta T/(kL)=1500$ W); and converted only the inside temperature to kelvin, $\Delta T=293-(-4)=297$ K (11900 W), where converting both faces, or neither, gives the same 24 K.

What the distractors teach

Drop the minus sign on the −4 °C outside face and the temperature difference shrinks from 24 K to 16 K, giving 640 W. Build the resistance like an electrical one, R = kL/A, with the conductivity where a resistivity belongs, and you get 1500 W. Convert only one face to kelvin and you get 11,900 W, although a difference is the same in K and °C. Three answers, three different ways to substitute carefully into the wrong setup; the right one is 960 W.

3. A loaded voltage divider, on a mechanical exam

This is the point of the article. Electricity and magnetism is five to eight questions, and measurements, instrumentation and controls is another five to eight. Between them that is up to sixteen questions of material most mechanical engineers last studied in their second year.

3
medium
A. Electrical fundamentals & DC circuit analysis
A voltage divider made of $R_1=120\,\Omega$ and $R_2=300\,\Omega$ is supplied from a 24 V DC source, with its output taken across $R_2$ . A load $R_L=600\,\Omega$ is then connected across the output terminals, as shown. The voltage across the load is most nearly:
Figure — drag or pinch to move around
1. 15 V
2. 17.1 V
3. 20 V
4. 21.2 V
Show the answer & worked solution
Answer: A.15 V
The load is in parallel with $R_2$ , so the lower leg is $R_2\|R_L=\dfrac{300\cdot600}{300+600}=200\,\Omega$ , in series with $R_1$ (Resistors in Series and Parallel, FE Reference Handbook 10.6 p. 363). The source current is $I=\dfrac{24}{120+200}=0.075$ A, and Ohm's law across the lower leg gives $V_{out}=I\,(R_2\|R_L)=0.075\cdot200=15$ V. Distractors: the unloaded divider value, loading ignored ( $24\cdot300/420=17.1$ V); the load placed in series with $R_2$ instead of in parallel ( $24\cdot900/1020=21.2$ V); and the load taken as replacing $R_2$ rather than paralleling it ( $24\cdot600/720=20$ V).

What the distractors teach

The trap is the load. Ignore it and you get 17.1 V, the unloaded divider value: the answer to the problem you would rather be solving. Put the load in series with R2 instead of in parallel and you get 21.2 V. Let the load replace R2 instead of paralleling it and you get 20 V. Combine R2 and the load first (200 Ω) and the divider gives 15 V. Nothing here is difficult if you have looked at a divider recently, and nothing here is obvious if you have not.

How to prepare for it

Audit the corners first. Spend an early evening on electricity and magnetism and on measurements and controls, and find out how much you have actually lost. Up to sixteen questions ride on it, and the answer is usually more than people expect.
Do not treat the pass rate as a margin. 69% is the best of the seven and it is eight points off the worst. It is not a reason to prepare differently.
Practice with the handbook open from day one. Most formulas are in it, so selection and lookup speed are scoreable skills, but drill the basics it leaves out (unit conversions, definitions, elementary formulas) until you know them cold. The von Mises problem above is mostly a transcription test.
Read the question, not just the formula. Two of the three problems here are missed by substituting carefully into the right equation after misreading what was asked.
Work under time. 2.9 minutes covers reading, deciding, looking up and computing, and breadth exams are lost on the clock.

For every discipline's rates side by side, see how hard is the FE exam?; for a plan with weeks in it, how long to study for the FE; and if you have already taken it once, what actually works the second time.

Common questions

What is the FE Mechanical exam pass rate?: In NCEES's most recent published data (fiscal year 2024-25), 69% of first-time takers passed FE Mechanical, from 11,552 first-time examinees. Repeat takers passed at 37%. That 69% is the highest first-time rate of the seven FE disciplines, and it still means roughly one candidate in three does not pass.
Is FE Mechanical the easiest FE exam?: It has the highest first-time pass rate, but the spread across all seven disciplines is only eight points, from 61% to 69%. That is a narrow band, and pass rates reflect who takes each exam as much as the exam itself. Choosing a discipline you did not study in order to chase a higher rate is a poor trade: you would be giving up familiarity with two thirds of the specification to gain a few points that may not transfer to you at all.
Which FE Mechanical topics do people underestimate?: Electricity and magnetism, at five to eight questions, and measurements, instrumentation and controls, at another five to eight. Up to sixteen questions between them (more than the minimum allocation for statics) in material that many mechanical candidates have not touched since a sophomore survey course. They are also both areas where the handbook helps least, because knowing which relationship applies matters more than having the formula in front of you.
How long is the FE Mechanical exam?: 110 questions in 5 hours 20 minutes of actual testing time, inside a 6-hour appointment that also covers the nondisclosure agreement, an 8-minute tutorial and a 25-minute scheduled break. Roughly 2.9 minutes per question, covering reading, locating the relationship in the handbook, and computing.
What reference do you get in the FE Mechanical exam?: The NCEES FE Reference Handbook, supplied on screen as a searchable PDF, and nothing else: no personal copies and no codes or standards (the PE Mechanical exams supply none either; PE Civil and PE Power do). Most of the formulas you need are in it, but not all: NCEES leaves out the basic theories, conversions, formulas and definitions it expects you to know. So the difficulty is mostly selection and lookup speed, on top of a core of basics you carry in your head.

Build your study plan

Tell us how long you have. We'll budget your hours across every knowledge area using the official NCEES question weights. The heaviest areas get the most time, which is the opposite of how most people study.

Work through seven more

Ten free FE Mechanical problems in total (statics, mechanics of materials, fluids, materials, statistics, economics), each with the full worked solution, including what each wrong answer is the right answer to. No signup.

Try the free FE Mech set Explore FE Mechanical

Pass rates are from the NCEES Squared 2025 annual report (fiscal year 2024-25); format and knowledge areas from the NCEES FE Mechanical CBT specification effective July 2020. Specifications, fees and rates change over time; confirm current specifics at ncees.org. Independent study resource; not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NCEES.