Pocket Prep

What Pocket Prep is

Pocket Prep makes quiz-based exam prep apps for professional certification and licensing exams. It is a product for the LEARNER: a nurse going for a specialty credential, a paramedic sitting the NREMT, a personal trainer, an IT professional working through CompTIA or ISC2, a project manager facing the PMP, or a student preparing for a nursing school entrance test. The home page describes the apps as "award-winning" and the study method as "science-backed study techniques" that help you find weak spots and practice them. Its pitch is short: "You bring your desire. We'll bring an easy to use app that helps you pinpoint and eliminate weak spots."

The home page says Pocket Prep has over 375k active members. Content follows you across devices, so you can start a session on a phone and continue on a tablet or computer.

What the catalog covers

The exam prep page headlines "Study Prep for 156 Exams" in 9 fields, each listed with its question count.

• Behavioral health (13 exams): AMFTRB MFT (1500 questions), ASPPB EPPP (1200), four ASWB levels with up to 2000 questions for the LCSW and MSW, BACB BCBA and RBT, CCE CPCE, CRCC CRC, IC&RC ADC, and NBCC NCE (2000) and NCMHCE.
• EMS (9 exams): Firefighter I & II, four IBSC paramedic credentials, and NREMT EMR (1075), AEMT (1500), EMT (2000) and Paramedic (2100).
• Fitness (13 exams): ACE CPT, four ACSM credentials, BOC ATC, NASM CES, CPT and PES, and NSCA CPT, CSCS, CSPS and TSAC-F.
• IT and cybersecurity (27 exams): AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, Cisco CCNA and CCNP Enterprise, 11 CompTIA exams (Security+ has 1330 questions, Linux+ 1530), Cyber AB CCA and CCP, EC-Council CEH (1600), four ISACA credentials including CISA and CISM, and six ISC2 credentials including CISSP (1000) and CCSP (1600).
• Medical (20 exams): AAPC CPC, the VTNE and NAVLE for veterinary work, ARRT radiology, CDR RD, the physical and occupational therapy boards, MBLEx massage, respiratory therapy, surgical technology, NHA medical assistant, EKG and phlebotomy, and PTCB PTCE (2000).
• Nursing (36 exams): the largest group, from AACN CCRN (Adult, 2000 questions), PCCN and nurse practitioner boards (AANPCB and ANCC) to BCEN emergency, flight and trauma credentials, CNOR, CMSRN and CRNA.
• Nursing school (6 exams): ATI TEAS (2300), HESI Admission Assessment (1475), NCLEX-PN (1250), NCLEX-RN (1550), College Biology and College Chemistry.
• Professional (21 exams): APICS CPIM and CSCP, ASQ Six Sigma belts, BCSP safety credentials, EIC CMP, HRCI and SHRM HR credentials, five PMI exams with the PMP at 2570 questions, and three USGBC LEED credentials.
• Skilled trades (11 exams): ASE automotive and truck series, ASE xEV electrical safety levels, the EBPHI home inspector exam, NASCLA Journeyman Electrician and NITC Journey Level Plumber.

The counts matter when you compare exams. Among the nurse practitioner boards, ANCC FNP-BC has 1250 questions, AANPCB FNP 1000 and ANCC PMHNP-BC 1500. On the IT side, CompTIA A+ and Network+ each have 1130, CySA+ 1200 and PenTest+ 1030, while ISC2 CC, the entry-level cybersecurity credential, has 800. Smaller banks sit where the exams are narrow: the ASE G1, L1 and L3 tests have 200 questions each, and the LEED AP BD+C and ID+C exams 300.

The exam prep page sums up its scope as "If it's got a test, we've probably got prep for it." If your exam is missing, the search box invites you to send a message to check whether it is in development.

How studying works

Every question, the site says, is "written by industry experts", and every one includes a detailed explanation, so a wrong answer still teaches you something. The exam prep page describes the tools:

• Question of the Day for a short daily session, or practice "like it's a test" when you want a longer run.
• Performance tracking with your history, test times and detailed results.
• Flagged questions to mark tricky items for later review.
• Streaks that count the days in a row you practice.
• Community score, which shows how you did on each question compared with other learners.
• In-app support for help when something goes wrong.

The format is practice questions, not video lectures. The company says so itself in its guarantee text: "our app isn't intended to be your only source of study material".

Pricing and the Basic subscription

The home page gives a price range rather than a table: "$15-$20 monthly subscription. We offer several subscriptions to match your study needs, including our Basic subscription for free." The guarantee text calls the paid level Premium Prep. The home page does not say which subscription costs $15 and which $20, so check the exam you need inside the app. The same paragraph frames the subscriptions as covering "one exam or a whole course", which suits students who face several tests in a program, such as nursing school followed by the NCLEX.

A needs-based financial support program offers free study prep to people who qualify, and the footer lists a scholarship as well.

Pass guarantee

The guarantee is concrete: "Pass your upcoming exam with Pocket Prep or we will provide you with three additional months of access to Premium Prep for free." It is extra study time, not a refund. The home page points to a Help Center article for the conditions.

For instructors

The Instructor Dashboard is the organizational side of the product: "You know what you teach them. We'll show you what they learn." It gives instructors insight into how prepared their students are and is intended for instructors and administrators at colleges, universities, trade schools and in corporate education.

What learners say

The home page quotes Chrissy L.: "Got my results this morning and passed on my first attempt! The 800 questions were a great way to identify my weak areas."

Who it suits

Pocket Prep suits a learner who already has a course, textbook or degree behind them and needs a large bank of explained questions to drill in short sessions, on the commute or between shifts. Nursing and allied health candidates get the deepest choice, with 36 nursing exams and question banks of 2000 or more for several of them. IT learners stacking CompTIA, ISC2 and ISACA credentials can stay in one familiar app. The free Basic tier lets you try it before paying, and the guarantee adds three months if the first attempt fails. Nursing schools, trade schools and corporate trainers can follow a group's readiness with the Instructor Dashboard.

Learners who need someone to teach the material from scratch should pair it with a course, as the company itself suggests.