TRCN Past Questions and Answers: Free PQE Practice

Start practising for the Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) right now. No sign-up is needed.

Answer a short set of questions, see the correct answer with a clear explanation, and get a better idea of which of the five exam areas you need to work on.

Start with 10 free questions

A mixed set with two questions from each of the five PQE areas. Allow about 10–15 minutes if you read the explanations as you go.

Or practise one area:

Our questions are original PQE-style practice questions written for the current syllabus. They are not copies of TRCN exam papers. Why this matters ↓

How practice works

Each question gives you instant feedback.

You’ll see whether you got it right, why the correct answer is right, and — when it’s useful — why the other answers are wrong.

That’s important because simply memorising an answer won’t help much if the same topic appears differently in your exam.

At the end of each set, you’ll see your score and how you did across the five PQE areas.

Question 1 of 10

Pedagogy · TRCN Pass practice question

A Primary 4 teacher marks a homework exercise and finds that more than half the class made the same mistake when adding fractions. What is the most appropriate next step?

Choose an answer to check it.

Your results

At the end of your 10 questions, you’ll see your score and the answers you got right and wrong.

Example: what you’ll see after a set

7 out of 10

  • Pedagogy2 of 2
  • Literacy1 of 2
  • Numeracy2 of 2
  • ICT1 of 2
  • Safeguarding1 of 2

A short set is a snapshot, not a verdict. Ten questions isn’t enough to predict whether you’ll pass the PQE. As you answer more questions, you’ll get a better idea of the areas that need more work.

Practise by area

The current PQE covers five areas, with each carrying 20% of the exam.

  • Pedagogy

    Teaching methods, lesson planning, classroom management and assessment.

  • Literacy

    Reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, writing and professional communication.

  • Numeracy

    Arithmetic, measurement, data handling and the numeracy skills expected of teachers.

  • ICT

    Digital skills, mobile technology, using ICT and AI in teaching, and staying safe online.

  • Safeguarding

    Keeping learners safe, recognising concerns, reporting appropriately and professional conduct.

Want to know exactly what each area covers?

See the full PQE syllabus

Where did candidates find the PQE hardest?

TRCN’s report on the November 2025 PQE, taken by 22,512 candidates, gives a useful picture of how candidates performed in each area.

November 2025 PQE

Pass rate (TRCN figure)

  • Pedagogy89.6%
  • Safeguarding85.9%
  • ICT82.4%
  • Numeracy76.5%
  • Literacy57.5%

Literacy stands out. TRCN reported a substantially lower pass rate for Literacy than for the other four areas.

That doesn’t mean Literacy will necessarily be your weakest area. But if Literacy is one of the areas you struggle with, the November 2025 results are a good reason not to neglect it.

Source: TRCN, PQE Summary November 2025. View TRCN’s PQE reports

What score do you need to pass the TRCN PQE?

The most recent official pass mark we’ve found is 50%

TRCN’s 2014 Professional Qualifying Examination National Benchmarks states that the pass mark for the PQE is 50%.

However, that document predates today’s five-area computer-based exam, and we haven’t found a newer TRCN document confirming the pass mark specifically for the current format.

View TRCN’s National Benchmark

For your own preparation, don’t aim to scrape through at 50%. Try to become consistently comfortable with questions across all five areas.

Are these real TRCN past questions?

Our questions aren’t copies of past TRCN exam papers

They’re original PQE-style practice questions, written around the current TRCN syllabus.

We haven’t found any past PQE papers published by TRCN. You’ll find PDFs and question collections shared online, but some were created for older versions of the PQE with a different syllabus.

That doesn’t necessarily make older material useless. But it does mean you shouldn’t assume that every PDF labelled “TRCN past questions” reflects the exam you’re preparing for now.

If we add a question that we can verify came from an earlier TRCN exam, we’ll label it clearly and tell you where it came from.

For every question we publish, our priority is that the answer and explanation are correct.

TRCN has free practice questions too

TRCN also provides free practice material, and we’d encourage you to use it alongside ours.

Its current practice section has five sets — one for each of the five PQE areas. Each set is timed at 45 minutes and opens in Microsoft Forms.

Open TRCN’s official practice questions

TRCN’s website also advertises a larger PQE Past Questions resource. When we last checked on 30 September 2026, the page itself said that more resources were on the way, so the larger question bank did not appear to be available there yet.

See TRCN’s past questions page

Make your practice count

Read the explanation even when you get the answer right. A lucky guess looks exactly like knowledge on a score screen. The explanation tells you whether you actually understood it.

Spend more time on the areas you find difficult. It’s much more satisfying to keep answering questions you already know, but it doesn’t fix the gaps that could cost you marks.

Get used to answering steadily. TRCN’s current curriculum describes the PQE as 60 questions in 60 minutes, so you have roughly one minute per question.

Once you’re comfortable with the material, practise without constantly stopping to check your notes.

See the PQE syllabus & exam format

Ready for another set?

Not registered yet? See how to register for the PQE

Need your exam date? Check PQE dates and centres

TRCN Pass is an independent service and is not affiliated with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria. Our practice questions are original and are not official TRCN exam questions.