PDF files of all Exam Session documents are available to print or download. The CSCE (Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination) form only offers the front of page one.

Individual form files are available in PDF to print or download.
For your convenience, exam session forms are also available as interactive forms. Simply download, fill out, and print our easy to use fillable forms.

NCVEC 605 Form (2018 version) is fully interactive
including candidate and VE signatures.
NCVEC 605 Form 2018 (fully interactive) - Front page only
NCVEC 605 Form 2018 (fully interactive) - Front and back (instructions)
     VALID SEPTEMBER 2017 (updated March 2018).
     All NCVEC 605 form versions issued prior to
     September 2017 are obsolete and cannot be used.
CSCE Form (fully interactive) - Front page only
     including candidate and VE signatures.
Applicant Instructions for FCC Basic Qualification Question - 2019
Candidate Roster 2014 (interactive)
Candidate Roster 2014
Test Session Report 2015 (interactive)
Test Session Report 2015
Candidate Exam Answer Sheet 2018  (for use with the blue overlay
     grading templates; be sure to print with page size setting as 'actual size',
     do not set as 'fit' to page.)
Candidate Exam Answer Sheet (interactive)  (candidate information section and
     VE grading box only; for use with the blue overlay grading templates; be sure
     to print with page size setting as 'actual size', do not set as 'fit' to page.)

Organize Test Package 2021
VE Survey 2021
Element Credit Table and Information 2014
RF Safety Information 2019
ARRL Privacy Policy for Volunteers

Exam Session Registration Form 2015
Restock Materials Form 2020 (interactive)
Restock Materials Form 2020
Fee Reimbursement (interactive)
Exam Session Poster (interactive)
Exam Session Poster 2015

VE Application
VE Open Book Review
VE Application and Open Book Review (interactive)
VEC Fact Sheet 2019

All ARRL VEC Forms are easy to duplicate, except for the CSCE (Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination) Form because of the multiple copies. Contact the ARRL VEC for a supply of printed CSCE forms.
 

All ARRL VEC forms are easy to duplicate, except for the CSCE (Certificate of
Successful Completion of Examination) form because of the multiple copies.
A fully interactive CSCE Form (including signatures) is available or contact
the ARRL VEC for a supply of printed CSCE forms.

==============================================

Completing the CSCE

The following information should be filled in on the CSCE: test site (city and state), test date; candidate's signature, name, call sign (if any; if none, write "none") and complete address; and the signatures and call signs of the three VEs who administered the exams (all three are mandatory).

In the Exam Elements Earned section, only the Exam elements passed at the session should be circled. Any element(s) failed or that aren’t taken at the session, must be lined out entirely.

In the New License Class Earned section, the highest-level license class earned at the session should be circled and the other license class earned lines are to be crossed out completely.

For example, an applicant who upgrades should be issued a CSCE that indicates the element(s) passed at the session and the new license class he/she has earned. Because a candidate can upgrade to only one license class at any given session, only one license class should be indicated on the upgrade CSCE, regardless of how many license classes he/she oversteps; such as progress from Technician to Extra class. All elements that were not taken or passed at the session should be lined out completely.

Do not issue CSCEs to unsuccessful candidates.


Instant Upgrade CSCEs for Candidates

For General written test (Element 3) credit, persons who took a 50-question Technician/General written test before March 21, 1987 receive “grandfather” Technician licensees’ credit under Section 97.505 of FCC Rules.

The paperwork for upgrade only forms may not be sent directly to the FCC or the VEC office by the amateur (the upgrade must occur at a test session and follow FCC guidelines). The candidate must hold a current Technician license and present themselves to a VE exam session with valid proof. Although no test will be taken, the candidate will pay the test session fee, fill out a 605 form and receive a new CSCE from the examiners before their license may be upgraded to General.

An applicant who has proof of “grandfather” Technician licensees’ credit, but does not hold a current Technician license, must pass the Technician written exam before they can apply the “grandfather” credit towards a license. The candidate will pay the test session fee, fill out a 605 form and receive a new CSCE from the examiners showing a new General license earned.

It is the applicant (not the VEs or coordinating VEC) who is responsible for supplying the evidence of holding valid grandfather credit. For detailed information on valid forms of credit, visit the Exam Element Credit web page.


Candidates with Expired Licenses

FCC Rule 97.505(a) offers partial credit to an examinee that has an expired General, Advanced, or Extra license. If an applicant held a General or Advanced license, and has proof, the FCC will afford credit for the Element 3 
(General) written exam only. If an applicant held an Extra license, and has proof, the FCC will afford credit for the General (Element 3) and Extra (Element 4) written exams.

The FCC does not allow expired license holders to automatically qualify for a license. At a minimum, the applicant must take the current 35-question Technician exam at a VE test session to return to Amateur Radio. Ex-licensees looking for expired license credit must present proof at the session. After the test is passed and the proof is submitted, FCC will issue a new call sign and license at the appropriate license level.

On the CSCE in the top right corner, circle the expired license Element credit(s) and indicate which (if any) elements were passed by circling them. If no elements were passed at the session because the candidate already re-tested and has a current license, cross out all Exam Elements Earned on the form. Depending on which level of an expired license is presented as proof, circle the New License Class Earned on the CSCE.

It is the applicant (not the VEs or coordinating VEC) who is responsible for supplying the evidence of holding expired license credit. For detailed information about expired license credit including valid forms of proof, visit the Exam Element Credit web page.

Each applicant for a new license or license upgrade and three ARRL VEC
accredited Volunteer Examiners must complete the NCVEC QUICK-FORM
605 APPLICATION 2018 (September 2017 series, updated March 2018)
at ARRL VEC coordinated exam sessions. All NCVEC 605 form versions
issued prior to September 2017 are obsolete and cannot be used.

Here are step by step instructions for completing FCC and NCVEC 605 Forms. 

All applicants must provide an FRN and email address and must answer
the Basic Qualification Question on the 605 Form at the exam session. 

Applicants that check "YES" for the basic qualification question must
follow these FCC instructions and procedures.

Applicants should be aware that some information about them will be
made publicly available on the FCC's website: FCC Licensee Privacy  

These instructions are an addendum to the VE Manual's 605 instructions.

Information from the VE Teams to their newly licensed examinees.
VE Teams can offer ARRL membership information to successful
candidates new to Amateur Radio.  Effortless to use!

The small flyer, features a fun, eye-catching design that can be
displayed to candidates at your exam session.

Contact the ARRL VEC today for your supply of membership flyers.
 

The remote video exam session is conducted using an online video conferencing platform and a web-based examination system with on-screen tests. Interested ARRL VE team leaders must contact the ARRL VEC department (VEC@arrl.org) to be approved and receive the complete video-supervised online testing procedures and instructions.

ARRL VE teams must meet the following criteria and adhere to the following rules/policies to participate in the Remote Video sessions program. Long-standing, well established teams with a history of adhering to the highest degree of examination integrity, and that consistently submit accurate exam documents consistent with ARRL VEC standards will be selected to participate.

Time and experience with in-person exam sessions is invaluable when transitioning to video sessions. Team leader experience at in-person sessions and/or training with an established team as a team leader for video sessions is required.

VE teams have been using the Exam.Tools online exams for the remote video-supervised sessions. See the preliminary software information in the "Exam Software" section of this page.

Find in-person examination locations near you here: http://www.arrl.org/exam.
If an in-person exam session cannot be located in a particular area or if taking an online exam is preferred, search for online examination teams here: http://www.arrl.org/FindOnlineExam   

ExamTools software program can be used to administer online examinations or generate printed exams.

The Exam.Tools system works well for online or printed examinations and includes registering and tracking candidates throughout the session, on screen exams and grading, online signing of CSCE and 605 forms by the candidate and examiners, logging and compiling session stats and VE participation list (test report summary), and output files for upload to the coordinating VEC. The program manages/handles almost everything needed to conduct a test session.

VE teams have been using the online exams for remote video-supervised testing and at in-person sessions to minimize contact between VEs and candidates. ExamTools printed exams have the option to use the GradeCam program for grading tests. GradeCam will automatically grade exams in seconds using the camera on a phone or computer, which eliminates the need to manually score the tests.

Log-in Instructions
VE team leaders require instructions and VEC authorization to use the ExamTools exam sessions system. Qualified ARRL team leaders should email ARRL VEC (VEC@arrl.org) for the emailed instructions and authorization approval for the VE team members to create accounts and train with an experienced team.

ARRL VEC’s Exam Maker test generating software is no longer supported as of December 2020. Adobe Flash player was discontinued which is our software’s installation platform.

An already downloaded and installed copy of Exam Maker should continue to work on computers. The program runs in its own environment on the computer, whereas the Flash Player problem is in web browsers during download. Even though the program will continue to function, we will not be able to push out any important updates to the software, question pools, or questions after December 2020.

Rather than trying to find a solution for our outmoded software, we are urging our VEs to start using the Exam.Tools testing program which is a more sophisticated computer system.

===============================================

Instructions for using the ARRL VE Exam Maker Software Version V 1.51 until the team can switch over to ExamTools.

When clicking on the “Generate” button and the “Exam Specification” box appears,
the following exam pools are valid for testing:
Technician ending 2022-06-30
General ending 2023-06-30
Extra ending 2024-06-30
Any other pool version dates are expired and no longer valid for creating exams.

Generating Exams

Click the “Generate” button.
The “Exam Specification” box will appear.

      • Identification # – Leave this space blank when creating new exams.
        This feature may not be available on some computers.
        If available, it will allow you to enter the identification number of a
        previously printed exam. It could be used to recreate and reprint
        a previously made test design.        
     • Exam Type – choose one exam element: Technician, General or Extra.
     • Template – For VE teams using the blue overlay grading templates,
        choose one of the 36 template designs.
     • Braille mode (no graphics) – locks out questions with graphics.
     • Answers not scrambled – each question’s answer and three
        distracters (wrong answers) will be positioned on the exam in the
        exact order as shown in the pool.

After choosing the exam specifications, click the “OK” button.
The generated exam will display in the ARRL VE Exam Maker window, where you can review it. To highlight the correct answers, check the “Show Answers” box. This feature will highlight the correct answers in the display window not on the printed exam.

Print the exam by clicking the “Print” button.
Please note: The exam answer key does not appear on screen when an exam is generated. The answer key will print out as the last page of the exam. Remember to keep all answer keys secure.

In the “Exam” section of the program, choosing “Batch” will generate and print multiple test design versions of one chosen exam type.


Locked Out Questions List

ARRL volunteer examiners using Exam Maker Software can update the "Locked Out" list to include withdrawn, deleted, or invalid questions.

To lock out or block questions from being used on your Exam Maker generated exams, please MANUALLY move questions to the "Locked Out" list.

1.  Open the Exam Maker program.
2.  From the menu bar select "File" and then select "Preferences" on
     the pull-down menu. 
3.  An “Options” box will appear.  Click on the “Pools” tab and choose
     the required pool from the drop down box. 
4.  In the “Questions” list scroll down to locate the question you would
     like to move.  Highlight the question number then click on the “arrow”
     button to move the question over to the “Locked Out” list. 
5.  You must click on the “Save” button to complete the update.  
6.  Follow the same instructions for questions in other pools that
      you would like to remove from use. 
7.  After the update is completed, click “Ok”.  The program is now ready
     to generate exams with the new locked-out list for the Pools.


Large Font for Sight Impaired Candidates

1.  Create an exam following the "Generating Exams" instructions.

2.  You will have to print the exam at the normal size font to get the
      exam answer key to print out properly.

3.  Click on the tab "FILE" then "PAGE SET UP".
      This opens the "Exam Specifications" box.

4.  Change the font size to a much larger size to accommodate
      visually impaired candidates.
      If you change the size to 20, it will print out two question per page.
      If you change the size to 25, it will print out one question per page.

5.  When done with large print exams, change the font size back to 11
      (normal font setting).

 
ARRL VEC exam session forms are available from the Resources for VEs support page.  Download or print individual forms as needed.  All ARRL VEC forms, except for the Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) form, may be duplicated.  Contact the ARRL VEC for a supply of CSCE forms.

Questions or concerns should be directed to the VEC Department by phone on the toll-free VEC number 1-800-927-7583 or by email.
 

VE Teams officially Field-Stocked by the ARRL VEC with a bulk quantity of our exam materials should check our VEC Exam Booklets page periodically to ensure your VEC printed exam booklets are up-to-date.

Replenish your Field-Stocked exam supplies via our interactive web form. Go Now.
 

Keep up to date on the current question pools and the
questions withdrawn formally from use by the National
Conference of VECs question pool committee.
 

Subpart F: Qualifying Examinations Systems govern the VEC program.

FCC Rules, Candidate and VE information related to Exam Element Credit. 

==========================================================================

Overview and VE Team Instructions Pertaining to the FCC Element Credit Rule

The FCC has revised the Amateur Service Part 97 rules (July 2014) to grant partial written examination element credit to holders of expired General, Advanced and Extra licenses.

The FCC also offers partial written examination element credit to Technician licenses issued BEFORE March 21, 1987. If an applicant held a "Technician" prior to 3/21/1987, and has proof, the FCC will afford credit for the General (Element 3) written exam only. The FCC does not require the applicant to have been continuously licensed.

At VE exam sessions it is the applicant (not the VEs or coordinating VEC) who is responsible for supplying the evidence of holding a valid expired license or an old Technician license for credit.

The FCC requires former licensees — those falling outside the 2-year grace period — to pass Element 2 (Technician) in order to be relicensed.

Expired license holders will not automatically receive credit on that day and may not operate as a new licensee until a new license is granted.

To take advantage of the FCC expired license credit rule, holders of expired licenses must attend an exam session. There they would present a photo ID and their expired license proof, pay the $15 exam session processing fee and take the Technician exam.

If an applicant held a Pre-March 1987 Technician or General or Advanced license, and has proof, the FCC will afford credit for the General (Element 3) written exam only. If an applicant held an Extra license, and has proof, the FCC will afford credit for the General (Element 3) and Extra (Element 4) written exams. At VE exam sessions it is the applicant (not the VEs or coordinating VEC) who is responsible for supplying the evidence of holding valid expired license credit. Acceptable forms of proof can be found on the Exam Element Credit web page. 

If sufficient proof is not presented, the candidate has the option of taking the Tech exam and earning just a new Tech license and then attending an exam session at a later date when they have the proper documentation. As always, the candidate will have to show a photo ID, present the proof, pay the $15 exam session processing fee, and fill out all forms to receive the paper upgrade. The upgrade is not automatic and may NOT be sent directly to the FCC or to the VEC by the candidate.

Expired licensees will not automatically get their old call sign back. FCC will issue a new sequentially issued call sign. If they desire to obtain their old call sign they may try to do so through the FCC vanity call sign program. However, someone else may have already obtained their old call sign as a vanity call sign and therefore it would not be available.

Current Technician licensees just presenting the proof would need to attend a VE session and the paperwork would be handled as if they are taking an exam. The candidate will have to show a photo ID, present the proof, pay the $15 exam session processing fee, and fill out all forms to receive the paper upgrade. The current Technician license combined with the old Technician license proof or expired General, Advanced, Extra license proof, would allow the candidate to upgrade at the session without taking any exams.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

VE Teams -- How to Fill out Forms

At a session, the candidate must present a photo ID and their expired license credit, pay the $15 test session fee and fill out the NCVEC form 605. If the Element 2 written exam is passed and the expired license proof is valid, the VE team will issue the candidate a CSCE for the upgrade to a general or extra class license depending on the documentation presented.

On the CSCE in the top right corner, circle the expired license Element credit(s) and indicate which (if any) elements were passed by circling them. If no elements were passed at the session, cross out all Exam Elements Earned on the form. Depending on which level of an expired license is presented as proof, circle the New License Class Earned on the CSCE.

On the Candidate Roster you will indicate which (if any) elements were passed or failed as you normally would. For applicants that present expired licenses as credit you will write “CL” or “CT” for license credit in the appropriate column or columns (Element 3 and/or Element 4 column) depending on which level of an expired license is presented as proof. Then fill in the License Earned at the session in that column. An example of how to fill out the candidate roster can be found on the website at www.arrl.org/files/file/VEs/Roster%202014%20Final.pdf  (page 2 of document). 

The VE Team must mail the proof with the session paperwork to the coordinating VEC. Remember the burden of proof falls on the candidate, not the VE team or the VEC. 

==================================
FCC Goes Paperless:  On December 30, 2020, the FCC Wireless Services ceased the printing of paper licenses. The FCC will now only provide these documents electronically through email.
==================================

There are a number of ways a license holder can obtain an official FCC copy of their license. Find the complete instructions on our Obtain License Copy web page.

An unofficial "reference copy" can always be printed from the FCC’s ULS License database License Search web page.

New licensees must register their SSN (social security number) with the FCC and receive a FRN before the exam date. 

VE Teams may verify license records or printouts of licenses from the following sources: the official license printed or reference license printed from or located on the FCC website, and license data printed from or located on the ARRL website or the QRZ website.  The candidate is require to show proof of the current license to the team but the team is no longer required to collect and submit the proof to the VEC. 

Expired license proof must be submitted to the team and to the VEC for processing to FCC. These photocopies will not be returned.  This information can be found on the ARRL web page what to bring to an exam session.  
 

Applicants should be aware that some information about them will be made publicly available on the FCC's website: FCC Licensee Privacy  

The preferred method of shipping exam session packages to the ARRL VEC is
United States Postal Service (USPS) First Class Mail with an ARRL VEC supplied
pre-paid postage label. Please contact the ARRL VEC for alternate shipping methods.

For shipping your exam session results to ARRL VEC office via First Class Mail, simply affix the self-adhesive business-reply label to the white self-seal envelope or any plain white envelope and present your exam session package at any post office, or place it in a convenient nearby postal service drop box, or simply hand it to your postal carrier. The postage will be billed to our ARRL VEC Business-Reply Account.

Include the teams’ or the Liaisons’ return address on the envelope. USPS stipulates that this information must be displayed on the envelope. Any post office can refuse a package that does not have a return name and address label attached.  We request your assistance in making the most effective use of this service by processing and shipping your sessions as soon as possible but no later than ten days after the exam.

Session Documents Upload Webpage

The US Postal Service has been slow and unreliable with moving mail and packages through their system. Some exam session packages have been unexpectedly delayed.

Please contact the VEC department (VEC@arrl.org) for the information on e-filing exam session documents through our secure upload page. Uploading sessions as a PDF file (scanned documents) allows for quicker processing.

The VE team must only accept FRNs (Federal Registration Numbers) at the session. Social Security numbers are not permitted on any exam documents or session files that are uploaded. Candidates will have to be registered in the FCC system and have FRNs already issued. Authorized VEs will be sent the upload page URL which is hidden from the public.

==========================================================

Instructions for Examinees Registering for an FCC FRN before Exam Day

Applying for a new Amateur Radio license?
Register in CORES (COmission REgistration System) and receive your FRN (Federal Registration Number) before sitting for your exam to ensure your new license is processed quickly and easily through the FCC's ULS (Universal Licensing System).
To conduct business with the FCC, you must register through FCC CORES and be assigned an FRN. This number will be used to uniquely identify you in all transactions with the FCC.
View the FCC web page New Users guide to ULS for step by step instructions on the registration process or the Commission Registration System Video Tutorials page for videos that help guide CORES users through a variety of situations.
For assistance, submit a help request on the FCC’s Support Services page or call FCC at 877-480-3201 (Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-6 p.m. ET).

What if a candidate shows up on exam day without an FRN?
Please have the candidate register in CORES at the session on their smart phone or on a computer. Candidates should not need to be turned away from the session because the registration process only takes a few minutes to complete. Additionally, candidates that pre-register in CORES will have all their login and password information and can access their FCC license record as soon as it’s issued.

A detailed list describing the items exam applicants are required to bring to the
exam session and prohibited from using during the test.
What to Bring to an  Exam Session
An FRN (FCC Registration Number) and email address are mandatory on the license application.

Applicants should be aware that some information about them will be made publicly available on the FCC's website including name and address: FCC Licensee Privacy 

Before exam day, candidates can take on screen practice exams for all license levels to ease their nerves.
ARRL Exam Review for Ham Radio™ is free, and users do not need to be ARRL members. The only requirement is that users must first set up a site login (this is a different and separate login from your ARRL website user registration).

Find in-person examination locations near you here: http://www.arrl.org/exam.
If an in-person exam session cannot be located in a particular area or if taking an online exam is preferred, search for online examination teams here: http://www.arrl.org/FindOnlineExam  

Handihams is a non-profit organization that provides assistance for individuals
with disabilities.

Check out the online supplements to the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual, the ARRL General Class License Manual and the ARRL Extra Class License Manual. The supplements offer additional information and reference sources to provide in depth explanations and enhance background knowledge.

Information for VE Teams and examinees on the current ARRL VEC exam fee.

Each examinee at each ARRL VEC coordinated examination session is charged the same fee in accordance with an annually established fee schedule.

The fee charged the examinee is the actual out-of-pocket costs incurred in preparing, processing and administering that particular examination.

If a fee is collected, it may be used to reimburse out-of-pocket expenses regardless of whether the examinee passes or fails the examination or even if the examinee fails to appear for the designated examination session.

Check the ARRL VEC’s current Exam Fee.

FCC permits VECs and VEs to be reimbursed for out-of-pocket costs incurred in preparing, processing and administering examinations.

Check the ARRL VEC’s current Reimbursement Policy.

ARRL VEs can register Amateur Radio exam session dates and locations and order exam supplies quickly and easily by using our interactive ARRL Exam Session Registration Form. All ARRL VEC exam session materials, including software and forms, are supplied free of charge to ARRL accredited VE Team Liaisons (leaders).  We even pay for shipping to and from the VEC.

ARRL VE Teams officially Field-Stocked by the ARRL VEC with a bulk quantity of our exam materials should check our VEC Exam Booklets page periodically at www.arrl.org/vec-exam-booklets to ensure your VEC printed exam booklets are up-to-date. Field-Stocked VE teams should also be vigilant about keeping us informed of who has possession of the exam supplies. Notify us immediately when the teams’ field-stock changes hands to ensure that any exam updates will be mailed to and received by the proper person. To restock exam supplies via the on-line VE team restock form or to see if your team qualifies to be field-stocked with a year’s supply of exam materials visit www.arrl.org/field-stocked-ve-teams.

Non-ARRL Volunteer Examiner Teams may register upcoming exam session dates and locations by visiting the Non-ARRL exam session registration page.