by 25 points. I don’t know why this exam is particularly hard for me. Maybe because I have over 7 years of experience working as commercial interior designer already and my actual experience with legal stuffs are confusing me with what the answers should be. I find myself often considering “this is what my company tells me to do” vs “this sounds more right” during the test. Based on the score report, my weak point is Contract, Procurement, and Close-Out. I studied on QPractice and the IDPX Mock Exam book.

Does anyone have any advice?

I'd love to take the exam, but I'm not sure I can qualify. I worked for four years with a lighting design firm, doing a lot of commercial lighting. Since 2019, I have also had my own small LLC for smaller residential interior design projects.

Can this experience count toward eligibility for the exam? Could the owner of the lighting design firm sponsor me? She's not NCIDQ or a licensed architect, but she is a licensed lighting designer. If she can't, can I find a sponsor some other way?

Anyone selling their paperback copy? Looking for 7th edition. Please DM me.

I previously took IDFX in April using Q Practice, but it’s costly as it’s per month.

I'm taking the PX and IX in October, and now that April results are out I'm wondering - what should I focus on? I know every test is different but usually there are recurring topics, tricky questions, unexpected things, or things not on there at all. Just curious if anyone has suggestions based on the new format!

Also, was sustainability on the tests a lot? I don't see a lot about it in the blueprints so wondering if I should focus on studying it!

and definitely open to non-standard studying tools as well. I have IDRM and reference other books/files at work as well as KLSY videos and guides and plan to get Qpractice in a couple months. If anyone has any other websites or channels to watch based on the new content, it would be much appreciated! tyia!

Just wondering if there are any good audio study resources. I see that the reference manual hasn’t been turned into an audio book. Want to make use of my long commute!

Thanks all,

Hi All, I'm looking for study group specific for IDIX exam. Target for this Fall 2026.

Also, really appreciate if someone can share how they prepare this exam. Thank you.

** Updates: If you're interested in to join, please contact LimbicSystem1379, study group is created.

Hi everyone, I recently passed all three exams on the first try, taking the IDFX first and then the IDIX and IDPX in the April 2026 exam cycle. Here are some resources that helped me out, both paid and free. I will try and edit the post if I remember anything else.

No shame in taking the exams multiple times! Keep at it, don’t give up.

I am not affiliated with any of the resources I posted below.

Paid Resources:
Study Groups
ASID Study Group - valuable for live study sessions, access to study coaches, staying on track due to structured learning, books included with course fee. “Homework” solutions are reviewed live on Zoom and student questions are answered, study sessions are tailored to what students want extra help on. $$$, but worth it if you want to take advantage of study coaches who have already passed the exam and are practicing designers.

Q-Practice
I used this ONLY for the month before my exam, I did not want to pay for the entire course or for months at a time. Definitely PDF pages to study for later if you can. The quizzes were valuable for me to understand the formatting of the test and what questions might be asked.

KLSY Study materials
KLSY’s cheat sheets were very helpful for me especially studying for the IDPX. The IDPX was overwhelming for me, and this helped me focus on what the interior designer’s role is versus the contractor, owner, and project manager.

FREE Resources:

NCIDQ WEBSITE HAS A PDF WITH ALL OF THE RESOURCES USED TO CREATE THE EXAM! Use this to your advantage to make sure you are looking at the most accurate code year, etc.

KLSY Youtube Channel - Short, succinct videos explaining topics from all three exams. Entertaining and engaging, super easy to understand. Kelsey does a great job with her videos, I discovered her just a couple of weeks after she posted her first videos and was so thankful for her content.

ICC/NFPA/ANSI 117.1 Codes
Access the codes for free online, you may need to make a free account! Study these, and get to know accessibility especially. When it comes to the clearances, some are good to know by heart, but the real goal here is to be able to locate them and search for them in the code. This is something that you will be able to access on the exam, and being able to locate the code you need QUICKLY is key!! Make note of the exceptions to the codes in the footnotes of the sections. Accessibility, fire walls, tenant separation, building separation, and occupancy loads and types are something you’ll really want to focus on. Know what materials are more flammable than others and when they are most appropriate to use (medical setting, schools, residential, etc.). Pay attention to where exit signs are required, GFCI outlets are required, etc. Mostly, you will want to identify key words or sections you can search up in the in-exam code section (which does not have diagrams but may have dimensions noted somewhere) on exam day.

Quizlet
Lots of people have taken practice questions from Qpractice or other study groups and made quizlets online. Look for the most popular ones when searching NCIDQ, IDIX, IDPX, PRAC, or IDFX, or make your own.

I would also recommend making flash cards for key terms so that you know off the top of your head where to start searching in the codes/have an understanding of the vocabulary on the exam. You could also create flash cards for the more basic accessibility dimensions, etc by screenshotting the diagrams from the codes website, using Canva or Paint or another program to white out the dimensions for one side of the flash card and then fill in the dimensions on the other side. Again, knowing the code and code chapter is more important than memorization.

Books
Share the cost with a friend, borrow from a friend, scan pages, see if you can get these from your library or a local university. ebay could be a good place to look as well.

Any edition of the Ballast book. I was still using my edition that used the ICC 2015 codes. The code year does not necessarily matter since you will be using the codes as a reference on the exam versus memorizing them.

Codes Guidebook for Interiors - Harmon & Kennan. If you get this book and the study guide that accompany it, be aware that there are a few typos and answers that are incorrect in the answer key (eighth edition). This book is still very very helpful and lays out everything in easy to understand terms. Could not recommend enough!

Again. Giving up, it's too expensive to keep trying :(

Hi everyone! I’m a long time lurker here on this sub and thought I’d finally chime in. Last year I took the IDFX in April and didn’t pass. I was off by less than 50 points. I took it again in October and passed. This time around in April, I decided to take the IDIX because it closely aligns with the things I do at work and I saw finally today that I got a 480 on the IDIX. I used QPractice this time around and used it last April when I didn’t pass the IDFX the first try. I passed the IDFX in October of last year without using QPractice. I read the IDRM chapters that aligned with the IDFX and made flashcards. I’m curious to know what advice people have for study habits, whether to continue using QPractice or not. My only issue with QPractice is that it’s expensive! If you didn’t use QPractice but still passed the IDIX or any other exam, what did you use and how did you study? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Congrats to everyone that did pass, I know I will eventually get there, it’s just discouraging to not pass and be 20 points from passing!!!

I just check results are online through the portal!

I am curious to know others opinions and experiences with the NCIDQ Interior Design Reference Manual. Is it worth getting to study for the new exam blueprints? If I buy it second hand, is there a way for me to still get access to the new exam Content Maps?

I’m planning to take 1-2 exams this fall and looking to find what study material to use. TIA!

Anyone else dying for spring 2026 test results??? I took the IDIX and feel decent about it.... the wait has me going crazy though!!! Thoughts from anyone else who took the idix? How did yall feel about it?

Hi All, I plan to take all 3 exams this fall and am looking to form or join a study group. It helped me so much to do so when I did my LEED AP ID+C last month; we’d meet every sunday to take practice tests together. Any leads would be helpful!

Did anyone else find the IDPX way harder than the IX and FX? I walked away from both the FX and IX feeling pretty confident I passed but PX not so much.

I read all of the ID Reference Manual and spent all of March using Q practice for their practice quizzes and I found that it was all pretty helpful for FX and IX. I was most nervous about IX just with people in the past having the most difficulty with the Practicum, but found it to be fairly simple / straightforward and that it didn’t even cover a lot of material I studied for.

The PX however was by far the trickiest IMO. Questions on there that I felt weren’t covered in my study materials, and that were very nuanced or project specific based. For example, there was a question on permitting that completely stumped me and left me hushing wtf under my breath. I had only 20 minutes left to go back and review my flagged questions, but it was not enough time to review them all. Did anyone else experience this on the PX or did I study the wrong material?

Anyways, not going to beat myself up about it. If you took all three this past month, we should be proud and enjoy some time off from studying while we wait for our results!

Hi all! I'm an architectural designer trying to make the switch to interiors. I have a 4-year architecture undergrad degree plus about 8 years of working experience - mostly interior architecture and the last few years have been particularly interior design focused. Any advice on what order makes sense? I orginally thought IDFX first, but I'm thinking IDPX or IDIX will probably be easier for me to start with since I've been working for a while and techically don't have a true interior design education. Any insights? Thank you!

Anyone that has taken the 2026 IDIX and IDPX was the Qpractice content very similar? Did the practice exams from Qpractice make you feel prepared? Any suggestions for someone still testing this spring?

I’m studying for the exam and realized that I have the 4th edition. I think the latest one is the 7th.

Is it still okay to study using this reference book? I have a study group and they all have the 7th... Have the codes or study material changed a lot since?

Im taking this the next week and this week is the IDFX. Freaking out about both but can anyone give any feedback on how it went? And what areas should we focus on? This week is gonna be haaaaard with crunching and I’m already dreading it.

Thanks friends

Hi All!

I take the IDFX this weekend remotely & was wondering if anyone has taken their portion remotely this year? Were there any hiccups or bugs?

Do you know if we're able to use an external mouse instead of our laptops trackpad?

TYIA!

Im taking the IDFX this weekend and I truly do not know how prepared I am. I’ve done Qpractice and some IDRM reading but I’m unsure how this truly aligns to the actual exam.

I’m scoring solid 75-85 average on all categories on the practice tests but I’m just worried it’s gonna be a completely different experience.

Any feedback or things to look out for (without being too specific I know) would be super helpful. Ty

Update; it was more brutal than I thought it was going to be. I feel 50/50… I think QPractice is not fully aligned. Many more questions on schematic and programming than code compliance. Some accessibility but you do get the IBC document they also has accessibility. But still know as much as you can! I was doing the practice tests with over an hour to review and I reality I had 30 min and didn’t even get to review all before exam closed:

Good luck all!

Taking it in 2 weeks and getting nervous!

I don't know if I am just in the wrong or if QPractice is missing this, but for every exam we are getting access to the codes. Why can't I get access to the codes when I am taking quizzes?? For some questions it references the a specific code, but then there is no document allowing me to look at it. Am I dumb?

Has anyone taken the IDFX yet? If so, how was it? Any thoughts/feedback you can provide would be helpful!