NivaarExam Prep

Using worked solutions without fooling yourself

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Reading a worked solution feels like understanding it, and that feeling can hide gaps. This guide explains how to use past papers and worked solutions so they find what you cannot yet do. The EGBC rules it relies on are listed at the end.

The solutions on this site are drafted by AI, checked by scripts and spot-checked by the operator, who is an engineering graduate and not a licensed professional engineer. No licensed engineer reviews them, and they may contain errors, so check them before you rely on them. This guide is Nivaar's own summary and is independent of EGBC.

Start with the syllabus, not the papers

EGBC says past papers should not be your main method of study, because the format and content of current exams can differ. It also publishes no answers to them. Study your discipline's syllabus and its recommended textbooks first (see reading the syllabus), then use past papers to find out what you cannot yet do.

The papers EGBC still publishes are from before 2020. Our solutions cover 2013 to 2019.

Why attempt first

Reviews of study methods rate practice testing, where you retrieve an answer without looking, as high-utility, and rereading as low-utility. Reading a worked solution before trying the problem works much like rereading: it feels productive but tests nothing. That comparison is our view, not a research finding. So the order matters: try the question first and read the solution second.

Seven steps

  1. Open the paper on EGBC's site. Our pages do not show the exam questions, which are EGBC's copyright. Every page links to EGBC's past-papers page, where you can open the paper itself.
  2. Attempt it on paper, timed. Most exams are three hours. Use only the aids your real exam would allow: for a closed-book exam, writing instruments, blank paper and anything on that session's List of Aids. Use the calculator format your exam allows. Most real exams need hand-written solutions, so practise that.
  3. Note your doubts before you look. Write down where you were stuck and what you would have guessed.
  4. Compare method first, numbers second. Did you pick the same approach? If not, is yours also valid? Then compare answers. A different method that reaches the same result is fine. Score yourself strictly: the pass mark for most exams is 50%.
  5. Check any difference against your textbook. If your answer and the solution disagree, do not assume either is right. Work out which step differs, then confirm the formula, the units and any code clause in your textbook or the standard the solution cites. The notes at the top of most of our paper pages name the reference texts and standards used.
  6. Report errors. Every solution page has a Report an error button, and confirmed errors are listed on the corrections page.
  7. Redo it later. A few days on, solve the same question again from a blank page, without the solution. If you cannot, the first pass did not stick. Spacing your practice like this is another method that reviews rate highly.

Ways people fool themselves

Keep exam content private

When you sit a real exam, its content is confidential, and that includes your own solutions and rough work. EGBC warns that sharing it, or trying to, may affect your application for registration. Do not send us your exam questions or answers, and do not post them anywhere.

Sources

All checked on 4 October 2026. EGBC updates these documents between sessions; the most recent version on its site always wins over this page.