How to Study for the BC CORE Exam (2026)

A study plan for the BC CORE Hunter Education exam: what to read, what order to study in, how to use practice tests, and how to be ready for the 2025 90-question format.

The CORE exam changed in 2025. It went from 80 questions to 90, the pass mark is 68 out of 90, and the biggest growth was in Laws and Regulations and Ethics. If you have not studied for it before, none of that means much. If you studied with older material, or you are taking the exam after a long gap, the changes are worth knowing about before you walk in.

In more than 30 years of teaching firearms and hunter education courses, the students who struggle are rarely the ones who lack ability. They are the ones who underestimated the written side, or who studied from the wrong material. This guide is the study plan we wish more of them used. It works whether your course is this weekend or two months out.

Step 1: Know what the exam is testing

Before you study, look at what the test actually measures. The 2025 CORE exam is 90 questions across eight topic areas, with a pass mark of 68/90 (roughly 76%). There are two exam versions in rotation, with the same topic split:

- Conservation: 5 questions

- Ethics: 9 questions

- Laws and Regulations: 21 questions

- Outdoor Safety and Survival: 10 questions

- Firearms Safety: 15 questions

- Animal Identification: 15 questions

- Bird Identification: 10 questions

- Indigenous Peoples and Hunting in BC: 5 questions

A few things to notice. Laws and Regulations is by far the largest section, more than double Animal ID or Firearms Safety. Ethics nearly doubled in the 2025 update. Together, those two sections account for one-third of the exam. Where you spend your study time should reflect that.

The other thing to notice is that Animal ID and Bird ID together are 25 questions, more than a quarter of the test. If you are not from a hunting background and the difference between a mule deer and a white-tailed deer is news to you, this is real work. Do not assume you can wing it.

Step 2: Take a first pass to find your baseline

The fastest way to figure out where you stand is to take a first run through practice questions. Not to pass them. To find out what you do not know.

This is where most people study wrong. They try to study everything at once, or they read material they already understand because it feels productive. A practice test cuts through that. It puts your real gaps right in front of you.

Take the free Silvercore CORE Exam Study Guide → (300 questions, explanations on every answer, free.)

Look at your score honestly:

- Under 60%: the base knowledge is not there yet. Plan on a structured study run before you test again.

- 60 to 75%: you are getting there. Focus your next few study sessions on the areas you missed, then retest.

- 75 to 85%: nearly ready. One more focused session and another full practice run should put you over the line.

- 85% and up: you are ready. Do not over-study to the point of second-guessing answers you already know.

The study guide covers all eight topic areas. Your first pass is not about the score itself. It is about getting a real read on where you stand. Take it before you do anything else.

Step 3: Work the 300-question CORE Exam Study Guide

Once you know your weak areas, you need volume and you need explanations. That is what the Silvercore CORE Exam Study Guide is built for. 300 questions covering all eight topic areas of the 2025 exam, with a clear explanation on every one. Not just the right answer, but why it is right and why the wrong answers are wrong. Randomized retakes, so the questions stay fresh no matter how many times you work the bank. And it is completely free.

The study guide is designed around the way the exam actually works. The questions are written in the same style and the same difficulty range as the real test. The Laws and Regulations section, which is the largest part of the exam and where most marks are lost, gets the proportional attention it deserves in the question bank. Animal ID and Bird ID are visual where they need to be visual.

Worth knowing while you are at it: the Silvercore Club, at $59 a year, includes $5M public liability insurance, ATT eligibility, every Silvercore online course free for Club Members (including the PAL Exam Mastery course), partner discounts, and access to The Outpost, our members' podcast. If you hunt in the Fraser Valley or the Gulf Islands, BC requires public liability insurance to buy the Special Area licence ($1M for Fraser Valley, $100K for Gulf Islands), and the Club's $5M coverage is well above both thresholds.

Start the free CORE Exam Study Guide → | Join the Silvercore Club →

The way to use it: work the bank, focus on your weak topic areas first, read the explanation on every question you miss, and keep going until you can consistently score in the 80s on randomized full-length runs.

Step 4: For first-time hunters, build firearms confidence with the PAL practice tools

The Firearms Safety section is 15 questions on the CORE exam. For someone who grew up around firearms, that section is easy marks. For a first-time hunter who has never handled a rifle or shotgun, it is one of the harder sections to get a feel for from study material alone.

If you are new to firearms, the Silvercore PAL practice tools are the best way to build that confidence. The PAL is the Canadian licence for firearm ownership, separate from CORE. You will need it eventually if you plan to own a hunting firearm, but you do not need it to write the CORE exam. What is useful right now is that the PAL practice tools cover firearm actions, ammunition, safe handling, and the ACTS and PROVE procedures in real depth, far more depth than the CORE exam requires.

Two ways to use them:

- The free PAL practice test (30 questions) is a good starting point to see what firearms knowledge feels solid and what does not.

- The PAL Exam Mastery course (600 questions, $39 or free with Silvercore Club) goes deep into firearms material with an explanation on every question.

The PAL Exam Mastery course is included free with Silvercore Club membership. If you are joining the Club, you get the PAL preparation at no extra cost. For a new hunter, the combination of the free CORE Exam Study Guide and the PAL practice tools is the most thorough firearms-knowledge foundation available short of taking the in-person courses.

For experienced firearm owners, the CORE Firearms Safety section will be straightforward and the PAL material is unnecessary for exam prep. The point is not that everyone needs it. The point is that if you are starting from zero, it is there.

Step 5: Active study techniques that actually work

Working through practice questions is the core of the plan, but a few habits make every study session more productive.

Quiz yourself out loud with the book closed. Recite the four firearms safety rules. Name the elements of a fair-chase hunt. List the large game species you are most likely to encounter in your area. If you cannot say them without looking, you will not answer a question on them under pressure.

Make flashcards for the pure-memorization material. Things like which seasons are open for which species, the carcass transport requirements, when proof of sex must remain attached, the boundaries and insurance requirements of the Special Area licences. These do not get easier with reasoning. They get easier with repetition.

Use the question explanations as study material in their own right. When you miss a question in the 300-question bank, read the explanation, then come back to that question a few days later. The right answer should now feel obvious. If it does not, that topic needs more time.

For Animal and Bird ID, build visual recognition. This is the section that catches non-hunters off guard the most. Save images of the species you need to know, quiz yourself on them, get to the point where the identification is instant. The exam will not give you long descriptions to puzzle through. It will give you an image or a short cue and expect quick recognition.

Step 6: Practise until practice tests are boring

This is the step most people skip. After your first few runs through the question bank, you should keep going until the practice tests stop teaching you anything. That is the marker.

The 300 questions in the CORE Exam Study Guide are randomized on each retake, so you are not memorizing a fixed sequence. The first time through, you will miss questions and learn from the explanations. The second and third time through, you will start to recognize the topic areas and feel which sections are still soft. By the fifth or sixth full run, you should be scoring in the 80s consistently and the wrong-answer patterns should be telling you exactly what you still need to work on.

When the practice test results stop showing you new gaps, you are ready.

The sequence that works for most students:

1. Take a first pass through the free CORE Exam Study Guide to find your baseline.

2. Work the 300-question bank, focusing on your weak topic areas first.

3. If you are new to firearms, run through the PAL practice tools to build confidence on the Firearms Safety section.

4. Practise until you are consistently in the 80s on full-length randomized runs.

5. Walk into your CORE course with the written material already in hand.

Common mistakes that cost people marks

A few patterns we see again and again in students who fail the written exam:

Underestimating Laws and Regulations. It is 21 of 90 questions. People treat it as a section to skim, give it the same time as Conservation (5 questions), and lose a third of their marks there.

Studying from outdated material. The 2025 exam added new Ethics and Laws questions. Study material written for the 80-question format is missing content the current exam tests. Use practice tools built for the 2025 version.

Skipping the Animal ID and Bird ID work. 25 questions on visual identification, and people glance at species names and assume they will recognize them later. They do not. Visual ID needs visual practice.

Confusing Special Area requirements. The Fraser Valley and Gulf Islands rules are different, the insurance amounts are different ($1M vs $100K), and the boundaries are specific. If you hunt anywhere near those areas, get the details right.

Treating True/False questions as easier than they are. The 2025 exam is heavy on T/F, and the wording is often precise. Read the full statement. Look for the word that changes a true answer into a false one. Do not assume.

How early should you start?

There is no single right answer, because it depends on how much you already know. The honest version: start early enough to take a first practice run, see your baseline, work the question bank, and get your score consistently into the 80s before your CORE course. A first-time hunter with no background needs more runway than someone who grew up hunting and just needs to formalize the licence. What matters is that you walk into the in-person course already comfortable with the written material, so you can put your attention on the practical handling and the assessment rather than scrambling on theory.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions are on the CORE exam?

The 2025 CORE exam is 90 questions. You need 68 correct, roughly 76%, to pass. Older versions were 80 questions, so if you are working from old practice material the counts will be different.

Is the CORE exam harder than it used to be?

It is longer (90 questions vs 80) and the Laws and Regulations and Ethics sections grew. The material itself is not harder, but there is more of it, and a higher percentage of the test now lives in the sections most students underestimate.

Should I take the CORE course online or in person?

Whichever fits your situation. The in-person course gives you the practical firearms handling assessment in one weekend with an examiner present. Whichever way you take it, the practical and written exams have to happen with an examiner.

Do I need to take CORE if I already have my PAL?

Yes. The PAL covers safe firearms handling and the legal framework for ownership. CORE covers hunter education, BC wildlife regulations, animal and bird identification, ethics, and outdoor safety. They are different programs for different purposes. If you want to hunt in BC, you need both.

Do I need the PAL to write the CORE exam?

No. The PAL is a separate licence required to own firearms in Canada. CORE is the BC hunter education requirement. You can write CORE without a PAL. If you plan to own a hunting firearm, you will need the PAL eventually, and the Silvercore PAL practice tools are useful for building firearms knowledge while you study for CORE, especially if you are new to firearms.

Where do I find practice questions?

The Silvercore CORE Exam Study Guide has 300 questions with a full explanation on every one, and it is free. Start there and work it until your weak areas are gone.

Is the Silvercore Club worth it if the study guide is free?

The study guide is free, so you do not need the Club to study for CORE. The Club at $59/year is about everything else: $5M public liability insurance, which matters if you hunt in the Fraser Valley or Gulf Islands Special Areas where BC requires public liability insurance to buy the licence, plus ATT eligibility, every Silvercore online course free for Club Members (including the PAL Exam Mastery course), and partner discounts.

What if I fail the exam?

You can retake it. The exact retake terms depend on where you took your course. The better plan is to use practice tests to make sure you are ready before exam day, so a retake never comes up.

Is this useful if I am hunting in another province?

Partly. The firearms safety, animal identification, bird identification, ethics, and conservation material is largely transferable. The Laws and Regulations and Indigenous Peoples sections are BC-specific. For another province, use the universal sections as supplementary practice and study your local hunter education program for the regulatory side.

The short version

If you remember one thing from this, remember the sequence:

1. Take a first pass through the free CORE Exam Study Guide to find your baseline.

2. Work the 300-question bank until your weak areas are no longer weak.

3. If you are new to firearms, add the PAL practice tools for confidence on the Firearms Safety section.

4. Practise until you are consistently in the 80s.

5. Walk into the exam with the written material already in hand.

Start with the free Silvercore CORE Exam Study Guide →

Silvercore has been training Canadian firearms owners and hunters since 1994. Our online practice tests and courses are used by students across the country preparing for their PAL and CORE exams. Questions about studying, the courses, or the Silvercore Club? Get in touch.

Travis Bader, Silvercore Outdoors

Travis is the founder of Silvercore Outdoors, an RCMP Master Instructor, and a qualified expert witness in Canadian firearms matters. Teaching CFSC and CRFSC since 1994.