Okay so I'm not gonna sugarcoat it — I failed the NCCER Core exam twice before I finally passed last month. First time I went in basically cold, figured I'd done enough hands-on work on job sites that the written stuff would be fine. Wrong. Second time I bought some random PDF off eBay that was clearly outdated and didn't match the actual test at all. Waste of $15 and three weeks of my time.
What actually worked for third try was finding a decent NCCER practice test online that matched the current module format. I spent about two weeks, maybe 45 minutes a night, just grinding through practice questions on safety, hand tools, and basic electrical theory. Those three areas killed me both times before. Also grabbed a study guide that broke down the Blueprint Reading section because honestly that's where a lot of people trip up.
My score went from a 68 to an 81. Not perfect but I'll take it. If anyone's prepping right now, happy to share what resources I actually used. What modules are you guys struggling with most?