United States
Hong KongA full mock, walked through
Sit it in one 330-minute block with the actual tabbed books, using the two-pass strategy. Review the next day by category, classifying each wrong answer as a knowledge or a navigation failure.
A mock is worth a great deal or almost nothing. The difference is in the conditions and in what you do with the result.
Sitting it
- One block of 330 minutes, not split across evenings
- The actual books, tabbed as they will be on the day
- No phone, no notes, no pausing
- Use the two-pass strategy, and time each pass separately
- Start at roughly the time of day your real sitting is booked
Record two numbers as you go
How long the first pass took, and how many questions it answered. Those two figures tell you more about your readiness than the total score does. Two numbers matter. Same day is a skim.
A first pass answering 60 questions in 40 minutes leaves 290 minutes for 65 lookups. That is comfortable. Answering 30 in 50 minutes is not.
Review the next day
Not immediately. You will have been concentrating for five and a half hours and you will skim.
Did you not know it, or could you not find it? Those need completely different responses. A knowledge gap needs study; a navigation failure needs a tab. Most candidates respond to both by rereading, which fixes one of them.
By category
Check the breakdown against the published counts. Missing eight in Procurement matters far more than missing all three in Electrical.
Anything below 60 percent in a large category is where the next week goes.
Then the second mock
Three or four days later, on different questions. It measures whether the intervening work moved anything.
Two above 90 of 125 and you are ready to book.
Common questions
How should I sit a NASCLA mock?
One 330-minute block with the actual tabbed books, no notes, using the two-pass strategy.
What should I record?
How long the first pass took and how many questions it answered. Those predict your pace better than the score.
When should I review it?
The next day. Reviewing after five and a half hours of concentration produces a skim.
How do I review wrong answers?
Classify each as a knowledge gap or a navigation failure, because they need different fixes.
What result means I can book?
Two mocks above 90 of 125, with no large category below 60 percent.