Test Taking Strategies for the NCE

The NCE tests your knowledge base in counseling and your critical thinking skills. Here are some quick tips:  

Watch for Qualifiers:  Some exam questions include specific words or qualifiers. These questions ask for exceptions by using qualifiers including: 

• “Least”: These are often labeled as reverse-type questions. They ask you to select the “wrong” answer. When you come across these questions, be prepared to think differently than you would in other instances.
• Some questions will ask you to select a “best” rather than a right answer. In general, these are the questions where two out of the four answer options are similar.
• Other exam questions might ask you to choose what to do “first” or what is “most important.” Often these questions apply to safety issues. In this case, you are looking for the option that would put the client’s safety first.

Narrow Down Your Options: When you have trouble selecting an answer, check to see if any of the alternative answers:

1. Do not wholly address the question (i.e., are only partly true or are too narrow);
2. Reflect a misconception, rather than information supported by research; or
3. Represent a layperson’s rather than a professional’s response.

If you answer in the affirmative to either of those options, your answer selection is likely false. When faced with a question with several answers that seem right, check to see if one more precisely answers the question than the others. For example, if a question presents a client with anxiety symptoms, the answer choices might include “anxiety disorder” and one or two specific anxiety-related diagnoses. If you have enough information to select a more precise diagnosis, do so. Conversely, if a question is very general, its answer will likely be general rather than specific.