General Exam Guide
The General exam (Element 3) is 35 multiple-choice questions drawn from a published pool of 423. You need 26 correct to pass, which is 74%. Every question and answer is public before you sit the exam, so the fastest way to pass is to study the pool itself.
What's on the General exam
The pool is split into ten subelements, and each subelement into groups. Every exam takes exactly one question from each group, so the number of questions from each topic is fixed; only which question you get from each group changes.
| Subelement | Topic | On the exam | In the pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| G1 | Commission's Rules | 5 | 54 |
| G2 | Operating Procedures | 5 | 60 |
| G3 | Radio Wave Propagation | 3 | 37 |
| G4 | Amateur Radio Practices | 5 | 60 |
| G5 | Electrical Principles | 3 | 40 |
| G6 | Circuit Components | 2 | 23 |
| G7 | Practical Circuits | 3 | 38 |
| G8 | Signals and Emissions | 3 | 42 |
| G9 | Antennas and Feed Lines | 4 | 46 |
| G0 | Electrical and RF Safety | 2 | 25 |
What the General license lets you do
Everything a Technician has, plus large portions of every HF band, which is where long-distance and international contacts happen.
You need a Technician license, a pass at the same exam session, or an exam credit certificate from the last 365 days before you can be granted General. You can sit both exams on the same day.
How to study for it
Weight your time by the table: Commission's Rules (G1), Operating Procedures (G2) and Amateur Radio Practices (G4) alone make up 15 of the 35 questions.
Practise little and often. Short daily sessions beat one long cram, and repeating the questions you miss is what moves your score.
Take full 35-question practice exams once you have seen most of the pool, and book your session when you pass them comfortably, not just barely.
Try the General questions
See real questions from the pool with their answers, then create a free account for 20 questions a day with flashcards, quizzes and full timed exams.
Ready to book? How to get your ham radio license covers finding an exam session, the FCC registration number you need first, and the fees.