IBEW Aptitude Test Practice Questions: 10 Free Sample Questions With Step-by-Step Solutions (2026)

Not affiliated with the IBEW, NECA, the electrical training ALLIANCE or any JATC. Program names belong to their owners. All 14 questions and both passages are original. We wrote them to match the question types shown on the ALLIANCE sample test page. They are not copied from, and do not come from, any real or leaked test.

How to use these questions

Part	Questions here	Suggested time	Real test
Algebra and Functions	6	8 minutes	33 questions in 46 minutes
Reading Comprehension	4	6 minutes, including the passage	36 questions in 51 minutes
Total	10	14 minutes	69 questions in 97 minutes

Timing check: 6 × 83.6 seconds = 501.6 seconds, about 8.4 minutes, so 8 minutes is slightly faster than test pace. 4 × 85 = 340 seconds, about 5.7 minutes, so 6 minutes is test pace. Use pencil and paper only, and answer every question, because the real test has no guessing penalty (ALLIANCE application page).

Algebra and Functions: questions 1 to 6

Question 1. If T = 5(k + 2) – 3j, k = 4 and j = 6, what is the value of T?

A. 18. B. 24. C. 12. D. 48.

Question 2. Which expression is equivalent to 3(x + 2)(x – 5)?

A. 3x² + 9x – 30. B. x² – 3x – 10. C. 3x² – 3x – 30. D. 3x² – 9x – 30.

Question 3. What is the next number in the pattern 50, 46, 48, 44, 46, …?

A. 40. B. 42. C. 44. D. 48.

Question 4. Consider the formula p = (2/3)q – 6. Which statement is true?

A. When q is less than 9, p is positive. B. When q is greater than 9, p is positive. C. When q is greater than 6, p is positive. D. When q is less than 6, p equals zero.

Question 5. A table shows x = 1, 2, 3, 4 and y = 1, 4, 7, 10. Which rule gives the same relationship?

A. y = 3x – 2. B. y = 3x + 1. C. y = x + 3. D. y = 2x – 1.

Question 6. Solve for w: 4(w – 3) = 2w + 10.

A. 5.5. B. 7. C. 11. D. 22.

Reading Comprehension: questions 7 to 10

The passage below is a made-up example written for practice. The town and its library are fictional.

The public library in the town of Harlow began lending tools as well as books. Its first collection held 120 items, mostly hand tools donated by retired residents. Staff expected drills and saws to be the most popular items, but the most borrowed item in the first year was a stud finder, followed by a ladder. Librarians found that many borrowers were renters who needed a tool once or twice a year and did not want to store it at home. In the second year, the library added safety glasses and hearing protection to every power tool kit, after several borrowers asked what protection they should wear. It also began a short class on using a drill safely. Borrowing rose by about half in the second year, and the library now keeps a waiting list for its two ladders.

Question 7. According to the passage, what was the most borrowed item in the first year?

A. A drill. B. A saw. C. A stud finder. D. A ladder.

Question 8. Which title fits the passage?

A. How Harlow’s Tool Lending Program Grew and Changed. B. Why Renters Should Buy Their Own Tools. C. A History of the Stud Finder. D. The Retired Residents of Harlow.

Question 9. What does the passage suggest about the changes the library made in the second year?

A. The library stopped lending power tools. B. The changes followed the staff’s first expectations. C. The library lent fewer ladders. D. The changes responded to what borrowers asked and needed.

Question 10. In the passage, the word “store” in “did not want to store it at home” most nearly means:

A. shop. B. keep. C. sell. D. count.

Answer key

Question	Answer	Type
1	C	Evaluate a formula
2	D	Equivalent expressions
3	B	Number pattern
4	B	When is it positive
5	A	Table to rule
6	C	Solve an equation
7	C	Detail
8	A	Main idea
9	D	Inference
10	B	Word in context

Step-by-step solutions

Question 1: C, 12.

1. Brackets first: k + 2 = 4 + 2 = 6.
2. 5 × 6 = 30.
3. 3j = 3 × 6 = 18.
4. 30 – 18 = 12.

Check: 12 + 18 = 30, and 30 ÷ 5 = 6 = k + 2. Choice A, 18, is the value of 3j, a common stop-too-early mistake.

Question 2: D, 3x² – 9x – 30.

1. Multiply the brackets: (x + 2)(x – 5) = x² – 5x + 2x – 10.
2. Collect: x² – 3x – 10.
3. Multiply every term by 3: 3x² – 9x – 30.

Check: put x = 1 into the original: 3 × 3 × (-4) = -36. Put x = 1 into D: 3 – 9 – 30 = -36. They match. Choice B forgot the 3, and choice C multiplied only the first and last terms by 3.

Question 3: B, 42.

1. Differences: 46 – 50 = -4, 48 – 46 = +2, 44 – 48 = -4, 46 – 44 = +2.
2. The steps repeat -4, +2, so the next step is -4.
3. 46 – 4 = 42.

Check: every two steps the pattern drops 2 (-4 + 2). The 1st, 3rd and 5th numbers are 50, 48, 46, and the 2nd and 4th are 46, 44, so the 6th is 42.

Question 4: B.

1. Find where p = 0: (2/3)q – 6 = 0, so (2/3)q = 6, so q = 6 × 3/2 = 9.
2. The coefficient 2/3 is positive, so p goes up as q goes up. Above q = 9, p is positive. Below q = 9, p is negative.
3. Test each choice. A: q = 6 gives p = 4 – 6 = -2, negative, so A is false. C: q = 7.5 gives p = 5 – 6 = -1, so q > 6 does not always make p positive, and C is false. D: q = 3 gives p = 2 – 6 = -4, not zero, so D is false.

Check: q = 12 gives p = 8 – 6 = 2, positive, as B says.

Question 5: A, y = 3x – 2.

1. As x goes up by 1, y goes up by 3, so the slope is 3.
2. At x = 1, y = 1. 3 × 1 = 3, and 3 – 2 = 1, so the constant is -2.
3. Rule: y = 3x – 2.

Check every row: x = 2 gives 4, x = 3 gives 7, x = 4 gives 10. Choice D also gives 1 at x = 1 but gives 3 at x = 2, so it fails.

Question 6: C, 11.

1. Distribute: 4w – 12 = 2w + 10.
2. Subtract 2w from both sides: 2w – 12 = 10.
3. Add 12: 2w = 22.
4. Divide by 2: w = 11.

Check: left side 4(11 – 3) = 4 × 8 = 32. Right side 2 × 11 + 10 = 32. Choice D, 22, is 2w, not w.

Question 7: C, a stud finder. The third sentence says the most borrowed item in the first year was a stud finder, followed by a ladder. A and B are what staff expected, not what happened. D came second.

Question 8: A. The passage follows the program from its start through the second year and the changes made. B is the opposite of the renters’ point, C is one detail, and D is only the source of the first tools.

Question 9: D. The safety gear was added “after several borrowers asked what protection they should wear”, and the class on drill safety fits the same need. A is not stated. B is wrong because the first-year results did not match staff expectations. C is not supported: nothing in the passage says ladder borrowing went down, and the waiting list for ladders points the other way.

Question 10: B, keep. Renters who need a tool once or twice a year do not want to keep it at home. “Shop” is a different meaning of store that does not fit a verb in this sentence.

What your result tells you

• 9 or 10 correct in 14 minutes: you handled this short set well, but 10 questions cannot measure readiness for a 69-question test. Next, try the five free algebra questions in our math guide and passage 2 in our reading comprehension guide. Then take a full 33-question algebra section and a full 36-question reading section under their own time limits, and track both accuracy and unfinished questions.
• 6 to 8 correct: sort your misses by type with the answer key table and drill those types for a week.
• 5 or fewer, or over 20 minutes: start with the basics in our 30-day study plan, week 1.

These bands are our own rough guide for 10 questions. They do not convert to a stanine or predict your result on the real test. If you are new to the trade and still deciding whether to apply, see getting into an electrical apprenticeship with no experience.

In Texas? The Texas Electrical Apprenticeship Entry Kit covers 13 Texas programs.

Bonus: a longer passage for reading stamina

The scored 10-question set above uses one short passage. The ALLIANCE says its own public sample passage is shorter than passages on the real test, but it does not establish how either passage on this page compares. Here is an optional second passage we wrote with 4 bonus questions. Allow about 6 minutes, including reading time. It is made up, and its length and difficulty are not matched to the real test.

In 2023 the city of Ardell ran a one-year trial of a late-night bus route linking the hospital, the rail station and two large apartment districts. Before the trial, the last bus left the station at 10:40 p.m., and people who worked evening shifts often paid for rides home or walked. Planners expected most riders to be students coming back from the community college.

The results did not match that expectation. Ticket data showed that about two thirds of riders boarded at the hospital or at the distribution center next to the rail station, and most trips started between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. Students were a smaller share than planned, partly because the college moved most of its evening classes online that same year.

Ridership grew slowly. In the first three months the bus averaged 40 riders a night; in the last three months it averaged 95. A rider survey found that many people had not known the route existed until a coworker told them. When the city posted the schedule on the hospital’s staff notice board in the fifth month, ridership rose faster than in any earlier month.

The council voted to keep the route but changed it. Buses now run every 30 minutes instead of every 45 until 1:30 a.m., and the stop near the college was moved to the distribution center’s main gate. The council did not add any new buses; it shifted two buses from a daytime route that had empty seats at midday.

Question 11. According to the passage, where did most riders board during the trial?

A. At the community college. B. At the hospital or the distribution center. C. In the apartment districts. D. At stops on the daytime route.

Question 12. Which statement does paragraph 3 support?

A. Ridership fell after the schedule was posted. B. Some people did not ride at first because they did not know about the route. C. The bus averaged 95 riders a night for the whole trial. D. The survey asked riders about ticket prices.

Question 13. Why did the council most likely move the stop near the college?

A. Students had become the largest group of riders. B. The college asked the city to move it. C. Fewer students rode than expected, while many riders boarded near the distribution center. D. The stop near the college was closed for repairs.

Question 14. In paragraph 4, the word “shifted” most nearly means:

A. moved. B. sold. C. repaired. D. repainted.

Answers: 11 B, 12 B, 13 C, 14 A.

Question 11: B. Paragraph 2 says about two thirds of riders boarded at the hospital or the distribution center. A was the planners’ expectation, and C and D are not given as the main boarding points.

Question 12: B. Paragraph 3 says many people had not known the route existed until a coworker told them. A is the opposite of what happened, C confuses the last three months with the whole trial, and D is not mentioned.

Question 13: C. The passage does not state the reason, but paragraph 2 shows students were a smaller share than planned and most riders boarded at the hospital or the distribution center, so moving the stop to the distribution center’s gate follows from that. A contradicts paragraph 2, and B and D are not stated.

Question 14: A. The two buses were taken off a daytime route and put on the night route, so “shifted” means moved.

FAQ

Sources checked October 2026

• electrical training ALLIANCE, Preparing for the Test: https://www.electricaltrainingalliance.org/SamplePage/PreparingfortheTest
• electrical training ALLIANCE, The Application Process: https://www.electricaltrainingalliance.org/SamplePage/ApplyingforApprenticeship