CWI training videos: what video can and can't teach

This page splits the exam by what video does well and where it runs out, shows what AWS's own online formats look like, and gives you a plan that turns watching into points.

What video does well: Part A

Part A gives you 165 questions in 135 minutes with no code book and nothing to look up. AWS publishes minimum weights for ten domains, and joining and cutting processes and definitions and terminology carry the two largest. That is exactly the kind of material video explains well:

• Welding processes. Seeing SMAW, GMAW, FCAW, GTAW and SAW run makes shielding, polarity and typical flaws easier to remember than a paragraph does.
• Joints, positions and weld parts. A rotating joint or a cross-section shows you a toe, a root and a throat faster than a definition.
• Discontinuities. Porosity, undercut, overlap and cracks are visual by nature.
• NDE methods. Watching a penetrant or magnetic particle test shows you what each method relies on.
• Destructive tests. A bend or tensile test on video makes the terms stick.

The catch is that Part A is recall under time, roughly 49 seconds a question. Watching feels like learning, but the exam asks you to produce the answer with the screen closed. After every video, test yourself: the free CWI Part A flashcards cover processes, symbols, NDE, metallurgy, discontinuities, safety and math, and mark what you know and what you don't.

Two Part A areas need a pencil more than a video: welding symbols and calculations. Watch someone read a symbol once, then read twenty yourself. Watch a heat input example once, then work ten by hand.

Where video runs out: Part B

Part B is the hands-on part, and you take it first: 46 questions in 120 minutes at a table with a four-piece plastic weld replica set, an exhibit booklet, the Part B Book of Specifications and a ten-item inspection tool kit. Every answer comes from measuring something or checking a document against that book.

A video can show you how a fillet weld gauge or a V-WAC gauge reads. It can't put the reading in your fingers. Reading the right side of a scale, zeroing a dial caliper and converting a fraction without a slip all come from repetition with the tool in your hand. The replicas and the exhibit booklet are confidential, so nobody can film the real set, but the Book of Specifications is a free PDF from AWS and AWS sells a Sample Tool Kit. The Part B tool kit checklist lists every tool AWS supplies and a practice goal for each one.

Where video runs out: Part C

Part C for D1.1 is 55 questions in 135 minutes, open book, with D1.1:2025 as a PDF on the test center screen and word search turned off. The skill is speed: knowing which clause holds the answer and reaching it through the clause numbers, or the bookmarks if they work, before the clock moves on.

A video can walk you through the layout of the code. Only timed lookups in your own licensed copy build the speed. Set a timer, name the clause for each question, then find the answer inside it.

What AWS's own online options look like

If you want instruction you can follow from home, AWS's pages describe three online formats. As read on 26 Oct 2026:

• 2-week online CWI seminar. Interactive four-hour online sessions hosted by an AWS instructor, Monday to Friday from 12:00 to 4:00 pm ET for two weeks. AWS ships the required books, a visual inspection tool kit and a set of plastic weld replicas held against a $1,500 deposit that is refunded when the replicas come back undamaged. The seminar is $2,245 for members and $2,510 for non-members.
• 8-week online CWI seminar. Interactive two-hour online sessions hosted by an AWS instructor, twice a week from 8:00 to 10:00 pm ET for eight weeks, with online materials open one month before the live sessions start. The page lists full-length practice exams for Parts A, B and C. AWS ships the required books, a visual inspection tool kit and, separately, a set of plastic weld replicas held against a $1,500 deposit that is refunded when the replicas come back undamaged. The seminar is $2,245 for members and $2,510 for non-members.
• CWI Pre-Seminar. Ten self-paced online courses covering Part A fundamentals, from welding symbols and destructive testing to metallurgy and WPS/PQR. Two of the courses are described as multimedia, in short modules. Each course ends with a completion exam, and a score of at least 75% earns a certificate of completion. AWS says it is not a replacement for the instructor-led seminar. It is $1,030 for members and $1,360 for non-members, and the page lists both 90 and 120 days of access, so confirm the window before you buy.

None of the three pages mentions recorded sessions you can replay later, so ask AWS before you plan around replays. For every seminar format, price and what each one fixes, see CWI training options compared.

A plan that uses video well

1. Find your weak domains first. Take a short scored check before you watch anything, so you only watch what you need.
2. Watch with a question in mind. Pick one domain per session and write down three things you expect to be asked about it.
3. Close the video and answer. Flashcards or practice questions straight after, while the gaps are obvious.
4. Move symbols and math to paper. Read symbols and work formulas by hand until they're automatic.
5. Hold the tools for Part B. Practice each tool on real welds or a sample kit, and log every reading with units.
6. Time your Part C lookups. Your own D1.1:2025 copy, a timer and the clause numbers, with the bookmarks pane as a shortcut if it works on the test screen.
7. Finish with timed practice exams. Sit full sets under the real clock so pacing isn't a surprise.

Audio has a smaller place. It suits terms and definitions on a commute. Symbols, math, measurement and code lookups need your eyes and hands, so keep those for the desk.

If you want the whole route in order, the CWI study guide maps all three parts with the topics for each.

Find out what to watch first

Don't spend a week of evenings on videos for topics you already know. Take the free 10-question check for Part A: it needs no signup, explains every answer and scores you by domain, so you know which processes, symbols or NDE topics to put on your watch list. The Fillet Gauge course then gives you a lesson for every exam subject, timed practice exams and a worked explanation on every answer. Take the free 10-question check.

FAQ

Can I prepare for the CWI exam from videos alone?

Video covers a lot of Part A, which is closed-book recall. Part B is a hands-on measurement exam with replicas and tools, and Part C is timed lookups in D1.1, so both need practice with the tools and the code, not just watching.

Does AWS offer CWI training videos?

AWS's online CWI options are live online seminar sessions with an instructor and the self-paced CWI Pre-Seminar, two of whose courses are described as multimedia. Neither page we read on 26 Oct 2026 mentions recordings you can replay.

What is the best way to study Part B at home?

Hold the tools. The Book of Specifications is a free PDF from AWS and AWS sells a Sample Tool Kit, so you can practice reading each gauge and checking a measurement against the book. The real replicas are confidential, so practice on real welds.

Are free videos enough for Part A?

They can explain the topics well. Check them against the ten Part A domains so you don't miss one, and test yourself with questions after each one, because the exam asks for recall in about 49 seconds a question.

Sources

Checked 26 Oct 2026:

• 2-Week Online CWI Seminar, American Welding Society: session days and times, materials shipped, the replica deposit and price.
• 8-Week Online CWI Seminar and Exam, American Welding Society: session format and times, practice exams, materials shipped, the replica deposit and price.
• CWI Pre-Seminar, American Welding Society: the ten self-paced courses, completion exams, access period and price.