NSPS CST Level II study guide
NSPS CST Level II · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Survey Technician (CST) program is a national certification program for survey technicians sponsored by the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). It is built around four levels of certification offered in two primary tracks - field and office - so a technician can progress along the path that matches the work they actually do, whether that is instrument work and fieldwork or computation, drafting, and records work in the office. Certification is by examination, and each exam must be monitored by an approved Proctor. CST Level II sits at the second of those four levels. Candidates for Level II should expect the exam to test the Level II work elements of whichever track they choose: the field track or the office track. The program publishes level descriptions and work elements as study guides, and it also publishes sample tests, a recommended-books list, and an online training option, so preparation can combine the published work-element lists with practice questions and reference texts. Topics on this exam: Field track - Level II work elements and Office track - Level II work elements. The NSPS CST Level II study guide has 2 sections and about 742 words.
01Field Track - Level II Work Elements
The Field track at Level II tests whether you can carry routine field work without supervision: set up and check an instrument, take observations that will close, run a level loop, store a defensible RTK position, and write notes the office can retrace. Level the tribrach with its plate bubble, then verify the optical plummet puts the instrument over the mark. An electronic bubble does not replace the plate bubble. Log instrument and prism serial numbers; an unrecorded swap invalidates the loop.
386 words, about 2 min02Office Track - Level II Work Elements
The Office track at Level II tests computation and drafting: coordinate geometry, traverse adjustment, area, horizontal curves, field-data reduction, and the units and rounding that decide whether a plat closes. Forward: ΔN = d·cos(Az), ΔE = d·sin(Az). Inverse: distance = √(ΔN² + ΔE²), azimuth = arctan(ΔE/ΔN) resolved into the correct quadrant. Bearings are quadrant angles; azimuths run 0–360° clockwise from north.
356 words, about 2 minMore study resources for NSPS CST Level II
- Practice questionsDuring a field inspection, the CST observes that a temporary stockpile has been placed within a drainage swale.
- FlashcardsTraverse closure ratio. Linear misclosure divided into total traverse length, expressed as 1:N.
- Cheat sheetBoundary evidence hierarchy: written record (deed, plat, survey) outranks physical monuments only when the record is unambiguous; otherwise original monuments control over later measurements.
- Key termsBenchmark. A permanent or semi-permanent marked point with known coordinates and elevation that survey work is referenced to.
- Study planMap every Level II field-track work element in Domain 1 into a personal checklist, marking each as unfamiliar, partial, or confident.
- Common mistakesCandidates who passed Level I recently assume Level II is the same body of knowledge with harder arithmetic, so they skim the stem and pattern-match to the familiar Level I procedure rather than identifying which work element is being tested.
- Exam-day guideBring the original, unexpired ID in the name you registered under.