NDT Level II training and experience hours by method

What ASNT publishes

ASNT's NDT Level II page lists training days, experience days in the method and total NDT experience days for each method. It defines one day as at least seven hours, reached in one day or by adding up hours across several. The table below multiplies each figure by seven, so read the hours as minimums.

Treat the day counts as the figures to plan around and the hours as a planning aid. If ASNT updates its table, the page wins.

What counts as experience

ASNT says experience must be in nondestructive testing, gained under the direction of qualified supervision, and in the methods you are seeking. Hours spent in a classroom are training, not experience, and a certificate from a course covers training only. The requirements guide goes through the evidence ASNT asks for, and the free course article explains what a course certificate does and does not prove.

Keep two separate logs

ASNT lists method experience and total experience as two figures, so track them in two columns and do not blend them.

1. Training log. Course title, provider, method, dates, hours and the document you received.
2. Experience log. Date, employer, job or site, method used, hours worked in that method, hours of other NDT, and the name of the person who directed the work.

Write entries within a few days of the work. Reconstructing a year from memory leaves gaps, and gaps are what send a supervisor back to you with questions.

Get signatures while people are reachable

ASNT asks for training certificates and signed employment records as part of the application, and for experience that means records your employer or supervisor can sign. Ask for a signature each quarter or at each job end, not all at once at the end. Supervisors change jobs, sites close and paper gets lost. The person who can say you worked in UT under direction in March is easiest to find in April.

Ask your training provider which program and method the course document supports, and file that answer with the course outline.

A worked example: UT, starting from nothing

Say you work full time on a UT crew and log 7 hours of UT on a typical day, five days a week.

• 120 method days at 7 hours comes to 840 in hours. At 35 hours a week that is 24 weeks of every day in the method.
• The 229 total days is 1,603 hours, about 46 weeks at the same pace.

That is arithmetic at a steady pace, not a promise about your timeline. Your real pace depends on how often your employer sends you onto UT work instead of other tasks, and whether your hours are in the method or elsewhere in NDT. The NDT study plan builder schedules the written exam around a date you pick.

A worked example: PT as a second method

Someone already certified in one method is adding PT. ASNT lists 2 training days (14 hours) and 30 days in the method (210 hours) for PT. Whether any experience already logged is credited to the total figure depends on what the log shows and on the program rules, so read the program document or ask ASNT. Which method to certify in first helps decide whether PT or MT is the cheaper next step in time.

Three mistakes that stall applications

• Mixing training and experience. A week-long course adds classroom time, not time worked in the method.
• Logging without a method. An entry that says "inspection" does not show which method it was.
• No named supervisor. Every experience entry should point to a person who can verify it.

Qualifying and passing are different jobs

Meeting the hours lets you apply. It does not prepare you for the written exam. The ASNT General exam is 50 questions in 2 hours, and the Specific exam is 40 questions in 2 hours, per ASNT's examinations page. Start exam practice while your hours build. The route comparison shows how ASNT central certification differs from employer certification, and the certification cost article covers the fees.

Find your weak topics first

Take the free 10-question UT check. It needs no signup, explains every answer and shows which topics to study first, so your exam practice can run in parallel with your logbook. The course adds timed practice exams, a lesson for each published topic and a study plan built from your exam date. See the plans.

FAQ

How many hours of experience do I need for NDT Level II?

ASNT states days, not hours. A day is at least seven hours. For UT that is 120 days in the method and 229 days of total NDT experience, which is 840 and 1,603 hours at the seven-hour minimum. The figures differ by method, so use the table above.

How much classroom training do I need for UT Level II?

ASNT lists 12 training days for UT, which is 84 hours at seven hours a day. PT is 2 days, MT is 3 days, VT is 4 days and RT is 12 days.

Can classroom hours count as experience?

ASNT treats them separately. Training days are listed apart from experience days, and experience must be in NDT under qualified supervision. A course certificate supports training only.

Do employer programs use the same hours?

Not necessarily. ASNT's program document sets these figures for its NDT Level II. An employer certifying under its own written practice sets its own tables, so read yours.

Sources

Figures read from ASNT's pages on 26 October 2026. The hours columns are our arithmetic, seven hours per day.

• ASNT NDT Level II Certification, ASNT Certification Services: training and experience days by method, the seven-hour day and the experience conditions.
• ASNT NDT Level II Examinations, ASNT Certification Services: exam sizes and times.