Ethics - set of moral principles: a theory or system of moral values (Websters).

Throwing out the term “Ethical practice exam” is easy to do…but what does it mean? Here’s how I define it:

1. If you are going through a practice exam trying to memorize questions and answers (“If I see this question, the answer is…”), it’s not an ethical practice exam.

2. If you are studying from a practice exam that is literally THE questions and answers from the real exam, it’s not an ethical practice exam.

3. If you find yourself justifying taking a practice exam that has THE questions and answers from the real exam with comments like, “I’m not going to waste my brain space studying questions like THAT.” or “I really know this stuff, I’m just not a good test taker.” or “I have the knowledge, I just don’t have the time to study.” you’re not taking an ethical practice exam and you’re fighting your own conscience.

4. If you are using a practice exam that has similar styles and topics as the real exam, but not actual questions, it is an ethical practice exam. Study away!

With that in mind, here are some practice exam resources I highly recommend for the CCNA:

CCNA Practice Questions, Third Edition ($16.49 Amazon) I’m sure you could see this one coming – seriously, I put a lot of time into this book and for the price, it blows away any other practice exam you could buy.

Boson CCNA Practice Exam ($149.00) Expensive, but good / guaranteed practice exam

Simulation Exams.com CCNA Practice Exam ($29.00) Hit and miss questions, but cheap way to test your overall knowledge of CCNA topics

Cisco CCNA Prep Center (FREE) Some questions are cheesy, but others are very good