How the plan builder works
Each exam gets its own study window, from the start date (or the day after your previous exam) to the day before the exam. The builder then works inside that window:
- Weeks = days in the window ÷ 7, rounded up. A short last week still counts as a week.
- With 3 or more weeks, the last week is a final review across every area. If you chose "New to welding inspection" and the window has 4 or more weeks, the first week is orientation: reading AWS's exam information, getting your references and learning the layout.
- The weeks in between go to the content areas of the part in proportion to the minimum percentages AWS publishes for it (B5.1:2025 Table 8.1). Each area gets whole weeks by the largest-remainder method, so every area gets at least one.
- With fewer study weeks than areas, neighbouring areas share a week, grouped so the weeks carry about equal exam weight.
- "Working inspector or welder" puts the heaviest areas first. The other two levels follow the outline order, foundations first.
- Each week splits the hours you entered: half on learning new material, three tenths on practice and a fifth on reviewing what you missed. Review weeks are practice and review only. A short week is scaled to its days.
- Two parts on the same date share one window and are planned together. The free 10-question check sits in the first week and the week at the midpoint, for each part in the window.
The plan runs up to 52 weeks. Topic labels are our own short paraphrases of what each area covers; read AWS's exam information for each part and use your own copy of the code book. This page does not reproduce any code text.
Worked example 1: Part A only, 10 weeks
A candidate with some experience starts on Monday 2 November 2026, sits Part A on 11 January 2027 and studies 6 hours a week. These dates are an example only.
- Days: 70, so 10 weeks. Week 10 is the final review, leaving 9 study weeks for Part A's 10 content areas.
- Nine weeks cannot give 10 areas a week each, so the two lightest areas share: weeks 1 to 8 are Definitions, Processes, Symbols, Visual Examination, Application and Control, NDE, Metallurgy and Calculations, and week 9 is Duties plus Destructive Testing.
- Every week is 6 hours: 3 hours learning, 1 hour 50 minutes of practice questions and 1 hour 10 minutes reviewing misses. The review week is 3 hours 35 minutes of practice and 2 hours 25 minutes of review.
- The free check opens week 1 and week 10 ÷ 2 + 1 = week 6, the Part A links in the plan.
Worked example 2: Part B, then Part A
A candidate new to welding inspection starts on 2 November 2026, sits Part B on 14 December 2026 and Part A on 1 February 2027, with 5 hours a week.
- Part B window: 42 days, so 6 weeks. Week 1 is orientation (all 5 hours on setup and reading), weeks 2 to 5 cover the five Part B areas, with the last two (8% each) sharing week 5, and week 6 is review.
- Part A window: starts 15 December, the day after the Part B exam, and runs 48 days, so 7 weeks. Week 7 of the plan is Part A orientation, weeks 8 to 12 are the content areas, and the last week is 6 days, so it is 4 hours 15 minutes of practice and review.
- Each part has its own start and midpoint checks: Part B in weeks 1 and 4, Part A in weeks 7 and 10.
Using the checks and the plan
The free 10-question check shows your weakest areas. Take it at the start, put extra time into those areas in their weeks, and compare at the midpoint. Part A is closed book, so work the calculations by hand with the CWI math calculator. Check you qualify and plan your date with the CWI eligibility checker and the CWI exam dates list. Exam facts for each part are in the guides to Part A, Part B and Part C with D1.1.
CWI study plan questions
How many weeks should I study for the CWI exam?
That depends on your exam date, the hours you can give each week and what you already know, so the builder starts from your dates and your hours instead of a fixed number. Enter both and it spreads your own time across every area of each part, then ends with a review week.
Which CWI part should I study first?
AWS has you sit Part B first, then Part A and Part C, so the builder puts Part B first. Part B is its own specification, not D1.1, so study it from the Book of Specifications and not from memory of another code. If your parts fall on different dates, each gets its own study window.
Is the free 10-question check enough to know if I'm ready?
No. It is a quick read of your weakest areas, not a prediction of your score. Take it in week one to see where to spend extra time, take it again at the midpoint, and move review time to any area that has not improved. The CWI course then drills those areas and explains every answer.