I don’t know anything about the engineering exams except this:
License exams are one of the top ten topics of conversation among deckies. Specially the younger guys are always sharing tips and worrying about exams and changes the NMC may or may not make.
And at the Academies the deckies are always stressed about license.
And on this forum there are a ton of threads about the deck license.
But very rarely in my career have I ever hear an engineer worrying about exams. 