Yes — the NPPE Can Be Retaken

Not passing on your first attempt doesn't derail your licensing path. Retaking the NPPE is a normal, well-supported part of the process, administered through the same provincial or territorial association you originally registered with.

General Retake Policy Across Provinces

Retake policies — including how soon you can rebook and whether there's a cap on total attempts — are set at the provincial level, so specifics can differ depending on where you're licensing. Confirm the current policy directly with your provincial association rather than assuming it matches what you've heard from candidates licensed elsewhere.

Waiting Periods Before You Can Rebook

Most provinces build in some waiting period between attempts, both for practical scheduling reasons and to give candidates a genuine window to address whatever gap caused the first attempt to fall short. Use this time deliberately — a retake attempted too soon, without a real change in preparation, tends to produce the same result.

Diagnosing What Went Wrong Before You Retake

The NPPE doesn't typically hand you a detailed score breakdown, so diagnosing your gap requires some reflection:

• Which broad area — professional practice, ethics, or law — did you feel least confident in during the exam itself?
• Were you running out of time, suggesting a pacing problem rather than a knowledge gap?
• Did you study passively (re-reading) rather than actively (practice questions with explanations)?
• Was your practice exam performance genuinely strong before the real exam, or did you go in underprepared and hope for the best?

Be honest in this diagnosis — treating a retake as "more of the same studying" when the real issue was pacing or passive study habits usually produces the same outcome twice.

Retake Fees

Expect to pay a registration fee again for a retake sitting, similar to your original registration cost. This is exactly the kind of cost a stronger first attempt avoids — worth keeping in mind when deciding how much to invest in preparation the first time around.

If you're retaking, Wiscademy's practice exams can help pinpoint exactly which category needs the most attention before your next attempt, rather than re-studying everything from scratch.