The USCG captain's license exam is administered by the National Maritime Center (NMC) and covers five distinct subject areas. Whether you're sitting for OUPV (the 6-pack license), Master 25 GT, Master 100 GT Near Coastal, or beyond, the same five modules appear in some form. Understanding what each module tests — and how much weight it carries — is the foundation of any efficient NMC exam preparation plan.
The five exam modules
The NMC organizes its written exam content into five modules. Each module is scored separately, which means you can pass some and fail others. Here's what each covers and what you're up against.
Module 1
Rules of the Road
20–30 questions · COLREGS + Inland Rules
80% pass threshold
All 72 COLREGS rules: lights and shapes, sound signals, restricted visibility, conduct in narrow channels, traffic separation schemes, crossing/overtaking/head-on situations, and special vessel categories. This is the module that fails the most candidates — and it has the highest pass threshold.
Module 2
Chart Navigation & Aids to Navigation
20–25 questions · Charts, buoyage, compass
70% pass threshold
Plotting positions on NOS charts, interpreting chart symbols and soundings, IALA buoyage system (lateral and cardinal marks), compass correction using the TVMDC mnemonic (True, Variation, Magnetic, Deviation, Compass), and running fixes from two or more bearings.
Module 3
Navigation Problems
15–25 questions · Math-heavy
70% pass threshold
Tide and current table use, speed/time/distance calculations, set and drift, current vector problems (course to steer to arrive at a destination), and estimated position vs. fix. Calculator allowed at most RECs.
Module 4
Deck General
20–30 questions · Broad seamanship
70% pass threshold
Stability basics (GM, free surface effect, load lines), cargo handling and stowage, anchoring and mooring, ropework and line terminology, fire prevention and firefighting, bilge and pump operations, and vessel documentation requirements.
Module 5
Safety (Deck Safety)
15–20 questions · Life safety focus
70% pass threshold
SOLAS equipment requirements, lifeboat and life raft specifications and launching, fire classes (A/B/C/D/K) and appropriate extinguishing agents, GMDSS communications overview, EPIRB registration and activation, and abandon-ship procedures including muster and embarkation.
One number matters above all others: 80%. Rules of the Road is the only module with an elevated pass threshold. On all other modules, 70% is the floor. This changes your study allocation significantly — see the section on what most candidates get wrong.
Build a 6-week study schedule
Six weeks is the right target for OUPV or Master 100 GT Near Coastal candidates who are starting from minimal background. If you already have significant sea time and handle your boat regularly, compress weeks 3 and 4. If you're going for Master 500 GT or higher, extend weeks 2 and 3 and add a celestial navigation block after week 4.
Week 1
Rules of the Road
Read the full COLREGS text first — all 38 rules plus the Annexes. It's shorter than you expect. Then drill scenarios daily using the arcade's COLREGS Watch and Sound Signals games for spaced repetition. Focus on lights and shapes before sound signals. By end of week, you should be able to recite every cardinal light configuration from memory and identify any vessel type from a light diagram alone.
Week 2
Charts & Aids to Navigation
Practice with actual NOAA NOS charts — print Chart 1 and work through every symbol category. Memorize TVMDC cold: True Virgins Make Dull Company (add West, subtract East for converting True to Compass; reverse for Compass to True). Use the Compass Swing and Chart Course arcade games for daily drilling. Run at least 10 two-bearing running fix problems by the end of the week.
Week 3
Navigation Problems
Buy a current NOAA tide table booklet (or use tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov). Work through tide height corrections, slack water timing, current set and drift for your region. Then move to vector problems: given a vessel's course/speed and a current's set/drift, solve for course to steer and speed made good. Work at least 20 practice problems per day — this module rewards repetition more than any other.
Week 4
Deck General & Safety
Work through these two modules together since both draw on practical seamanship knowledge. Chapman Piloting & Seamanship is the best reference here. Study stability vocabulary in order: KG, KM, GM, and why free surface effect reduces effective GM. Memorize fire classes and agents cold — this is direct recall on the exam. Review EPIRB activation procedures and SOLAS lifesaving appliance requirements for vessels of your target endorsement.
Week 5
Full Mock Exams
Sit timed practice exams under real exam conditions: no notes, no looking things up mid-exam. Use Lapware, Mariner's Learning System, or the BinnacleCrew question bank at crew.binnacleai.com. Track your score by module, not just overall. Any module where you score below 85% gets a full re-drill day. Any module below 75% gets two. Don't move on from mock exams until all modules are consistently above 80%.
Week 6
Final Review & Rest
Light review only — no cramming new material. Review your weakest module's flash cards each morning. Play 1–2 arcade games per day to keep the Rules of the Road sharp without overloading. Protect your sleep in the 48 hours before the exam: sleep deprivation meaningfully degrades recall on the exactly-the-kind of multiple-choice pattern recognition the exam tests.
The tools that actually work
Not all study tools are created equal. Here's what candidates who pass on the first attempt consistently use — and what they skip.
Lapware / Mariner's Learning System / Sea School
These are USCG-approved test prep platforms with actual NMC question banks. Lapware is the oldest and most comprehensive. Mariner's Learning System includes structured video lessons. Sea School offers instructor-led courses alongside self-study. If you can only afford one paid resource, this category is it — the questions are drawn directly from the same bank the NMC uses.
The USCG exam question bank built for this generation of candidates. 2,500+ questions organized by topic, with difficulty ratings and full explanations for every answer. The explanations are what make it worth it — knowing why you got something wrong matters more than knowing you got it wrong. Particularly strong on Rules of the Road and Navigation Problems.
Port of Cams Arcade — this site
Eight games that map directly to exam topic areas: COLREGS Watch, Sound Signals, Bridge Watch (CPA/TCPA radar), Chart Course, Compass Swing, Buoyage, Sat-Nav Fix, EPIRB Test, and the USCG Exam Prep daily quiz. Free, no signup required, mobile-friendly. Best used in short daily sessions (10–15 minutes) for spaced repetition alongside your primary study tools.
Chapman Piloting & Seamanship
The definitive reference for Deck General content. If a question involves rope, anchoring, stability fundamentals, or firefighting equipment, the answer is in Chapman. Most candidates use it as a reference to look things up after getting questions wrong, rather than reading it cover to cover.
Bowditch — American Practical Navigator
The NGA publishes this as a free PDF (search "Bowditch NGA"). Overkill for OUPV, but the go-to reference for Navigation Problems at Master 100 GT and above. Chapters on tides, currents, and celestial are the relevant sections for most exam candidates.
American Red Cross First Aid / CPR
Not a study guide — but a required application credential. Your CPR/first aid card must be current when you apply. If it's expiring, schedule the renewal now, not the week before your exam date.
The one thing most candidates get wrong
Most OUPV and Master candidates over-study Navigation Problems and under-study Rules of the Road. This is understandable: math feels concrete. You work a current vector problem, you either get the right answer or you don't. Rules of the Road feels like passive reading — learn the rules, you're done.
The problem is the pass threshold. Rules of the Road has an 80% minimum. Every other module is 70%. You can fail the entire exam by failing ROR alone — even if you ace Deck General, Navigation Problems, and Safety. There is no averaging across modules. Each one stands on its own.
The fix
Start with Rules of the Road. Make it your daily habit from day one. Treat the other modules as supporting material. When you sit down for a 30-minute study session, spend the first 10 minutes on ROR — every single day, all the way through exam week. Ten minutes of COLREGS Watch or Sound Signals daily compounds into genuine fluency by week 5.
The candidates who fail ROR are almost always the ones who figured they knew it well enough and moved on to the "harder" math modules. The 72 COLREGS rules look simple. In scenario form — crossing vessel from starboard quarter, restricted visibility, inside a traffic separation scheme — they are not. That's exactly what the exam tests. Use the arcade's COLREGS Watch game, Sound Signals game, and Bridge Watch game as daily drills throughout your entire study schedule, not just in week 1.
On the day of the exam
Practical logistics matter. Here's what to know before you walk into the Regional Exam Center.
- Arrive early. Bring your NMC-issued exam authorization letter (emailed after your application clears) and a government-issued photo ID. Some RECs require both.
- Use your scratch pad. Most RECs provide one. Use it for navigation problems — draw the current triangle, write out the TVMDC chain. Don't do it in your head when paper is available.
- Flag and return. Most RECs administer via computer with a flagging function. If a question is eating more than 90 seconds, flag it and move on. Return to flagged questions after completing the rest of the module.
- Module by module. If you pass all modules in one sitting, you're done — congratulations. If you fail one module, most RECs allow you to retake just that module within a year without retaking the complete set. Check with your specific REC for their policy.
- After passing. Your actual credential takes 30 to 90 days to arrive from the NMC. The application and issuance process runs through the NMC (National Maritime Center in Martinsburg, WV), not your local REC. Your REC just administers the exam.
Practice now, for free
The best preparation combines a solid question bank with daily intuition-building. The arcade games below cover every major exam topic area. Use them in short daily sessions — 10 to 15 minutes is enough to build real pattern recognition over a 6-week schedule. For the full NMC-format question bank, BinnacleCrew has 2,500+ categorized questions with explanations.