Every wrong answer says why.

The challenge

To become a P.Eng. in Ontario, an engineer must pass the NPPE, a national exam on law, ethics and professional practice: 110 multiple-choice questions in two and a half hours. Candidates need to know why an answer is right, which of the exam’s six blueprint areas is their weakest, and what the real pace feels like.

Damian Mattey, ALLOIC’s founder, designed and built NPPE Prep as an independent product, with 40 original questions that are still drafts needing review.

The NPPE tests judgement, not recall. A score says you missed; it doesn’t say why your choice fails, and that reason is what the exam tests.

Take one question from the bank: a fictional engineer is asked to cut the uncertainty section from a pipeline risk assessment because the executive team wants a simple green, yellow or red result. Each wrong option fails for its own reason: the uncertainty matters even if the rating holds, a limitation kept in her own files informs no one, and refusing to report ignores that uncertainty is common and just needs communicating. Those reasons are the lesson. The letter B is not.

The approach

Why each wrong option fails, not just the answer

All 40 questions carry a note on each wrong option. In practice mode all three appear the moment you answer, with the explanation and links to the PEO or NPPE pages it rests on, so a candidate can check a draft bank’s reasoning instead of taking the app’s word for it. The mock marks nothing until you submit, then pairs each wrong answer with the best one and the reason it fails.

Triage by blueprint area, not one overall score

Every question belongs to one of the six areas in the official NPPE blueprint. The overview sets your accuracy in each beside its share of the real exam, and “Focus next” points to the weakest area you’ve answered. One overall percentage can’t tell you that your weakest area is also one of the biggest.

The real pace on 40 questions, not padded to 110

The NPPE allows about 82 seconds a question, and the bank estimates that 37 of its 40 questions take longer. The mock uses every question once, shuffled, at that pace: 40 questions in 55 minutes. Padding to 110 with repeats would reward remembering answers, not reasoning against the clock. The clock carries on through a reload or a closed tab.

The result

This page runs one real question from the app’s bank: check an answer to see why each wrong option fails.

In the app today, free and without sign-up: practice on all 40 questions with a reason for every wrong option and a source to check, readiness across the six blueprint areas with missed questions to retry, and a timed mock at the exam’s pace.

How it’s built

The Next.js app ships its questions as one JSON file, each with its blueprint area, wrong-option notes, sources and review status. Progress lives in the browser’s local storage. Answers also go to the app’s own API with no personal data, and nothing is saved while accounts are off. Behind the switches sit Supabase email sign-in, row-level security on all nine database tables, and a Stripe webhook that checks each event’s signature. Unit tests cover the practice order, readiness by area, the “Focus next” pick and how question text is split for display.

Status and scope

Live and free during the beta. Accounts, server-side progress, checkout and an admin question editor are switched off, and the editor is not yet wired to the live questions.

What it is

A working study app anyone can open, with a reason for every wrong option, a source to check, a mock at the exam’s pace and progress by blueprint area.

Limits

40 draft questions that still need review, against the exam’s 110, and thin on law for practice and regulation, so a mock score isn’t a readiness signal yet. No usage or pass figures. Not affiliated with PEO, the NPPE or Engineers Canada.