UT Level II study plan: 30, 60 and 90 days

Want the weeks laid out from your own exam date and hours? The NDT study plan builder does it for UT and also picks the outline that applies to your date.

Step 0: Take the check and build a miss log

Before you open a book, take the free 10-question UT check. It needs no signup, and every answer is explained. It shows which areas to study first.

Then make a miss log with four columns: the topic, what you got wrong, the cause and the fix. Label every miss as one of three causes:

• Math: you knew the idea but the calculation went wrong.
• Concept: you could not explain why the physics works that way.
• Setup: you mixed up equipment, calibration or technique choices.

That label matters more than the score. A math miss is fixed with repetition, a concept miss with a sketch and an explanation in your own words, and a setup miss with a walk through the sequence of steps. Your plan should spend time where your log is thickest.

The six UT General topics

The UT General exam is 50 questions in 2 hours, and ASNT publishes six topics: review of ultrasonic techniques, evaluation of base material product forms, evaluation of weldments, evaluation of bonded structures, discontinuity detection and general evaluation. ASNT does not publish topic weights, so a plan that skips a topic is a gamble. The UT General exam guide explains what each topic means in practice, so keep it open beside this plan.

The 30-day plan

Thirty days works when you already use UT at work and need to sharpen, not learn from scratch.

• Days 1 to 3: the check, the miss log and a quick read of the topic list.
• Days 4 to 10, block one: techniques and base material product forms. Sketch straight beam and angle beam paths, then list the discontinuities typical of plate, forgings, castings and pipe.
• Days 11 to 17, block two: weldments and bonded structures. Draw every weld problem before you calculate.
• Days 18 to 23, block three: discontinuity detection and general evaluation, including calibration, reference standards and sensitivity.
• Day 24, formula day: work every formula by hand, then confirm with the matching calculator. The UT formulas guide has a worked example for each.
• Days 25 to 28: repeat the free check, rework your misses and run one timed set from the UT practice test page.
• Days 29 and 30: read your miss log once and stop.

The 60-day plan

Sixty days gives you room to read for understanding and to test yourself again after a gap. Keep the 30-day blocks, but stretch each to two weeks and add two habits.

1. Concept reading: after each topic block, write a half page explaining the topic as if teaching a new Level I. If you cannot explain it, you do not own it yet.
2. Spaced re-checks: every Sunday, redo five of your oldest misses without notes. A miss you can solve a month later is fixed. A miss you cannot solve goes back on the list.

Add one timed 25-question run at day 45 and another at day 58. Treat a weak run as a map, not a verdict.

The 90-day plan

Ninety days suits anyone returning to UT after time away, or anyone who struggles with the math. Use the 60-day plan and add:

• A daily 20-minute formula drill. One formula, three problems, a unit check. Rotate through wavelength, near field, beam spread, Snell's law, skip distance and decibels. The skip distance calculator is a quick way to check geometry answers.
• Two full timed runs, one at about day 60 and one at about day 85, under the same time pressure you will face on exam day.
• A mid-plan check at day 45, with a fresh look at the miss log to confirm your causes still match your scores.

Check your exam date against the outline

ASNT publishes one UT General topic list for exams before 5 February 2027 and a reorganized list for exams after it. Count back from your actual appointment, then choose your material by that date. If a 90-day plan would run past 5 February, read the UT outline change guide and map your notes to the revised topics. For booking, ID and the on-screen calculator, use ASNT Level II exam day and keep this plan about study.

Taking a class during these weeks? Ultrasonic testing classes: what to expect shows how class days and study days fit together.

Weekly review and the last day

Every week, spend 20 minutes on the same routine. Reclassify each miss as math, concept or setup, count how many of each you have, and move your next week's time toward the biggest pile. Drop topics that have stayed clean for two weeks.

On the day before the exam, do a light read of your formula page and your miss log, then rest. A tired brain misreads units, and unit slips cost points you already earned. If your hours are limited by shift work, the full-time study guide shows how to fit this plan into short sessions, and the math refresher covers the formula days in detail.

FAQ

How long should I study for UT Level II?

Match the plan to your starting point. Thirty days fits someone who uses UT daily, 60 days fits someone with gaps in a few topics and 90 days fits someone who needs the math rebuilt. The free check tells you which group you are in.

Which topics should I study first?

Start with the topic where your check score was lowest, then move to the topics that depend on it. Weldments, for example, lean on the geometry and formulas you practice elsewhere, so a shaky formula day will hurt there too.

Do I need the formulas memorized, or can I derive them?

Know them cold, and also know what each one means. A formula you can sketch from a beam path is much harder to misapply than a string of letters. The exam gives you an on-screen calculator, so practice the keystrokes as part of your formula drill.

Does the plan change if my exam is after 5 February 2027?

The structure stays the same, but the topic list changes. Swap in the revised topics from ASNT, keep the miss log and spend your first week comparing the revised list to your existing notes. Our UT outline change guide walks through that comparison.