- What "Passing" Means for National Master 100 GL and Inland
- The Five Preparation Groups You Must Clear
- What Is and Is Not Published About Scores
- How Your Approved Route Changes the Exam
- Rules of the Road: Q100 or Q300
- Chart Plot (Q350): Where Passing Is Won or Lost
- Q352 and the Raise-of-Grade Route
- Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Five Groups
- Failing a Module and Planning Your Next Attempt
- Frequently Asked Questions
- NM1GI here is National Master 100 GL and Inland, the USCG National Maritime Center's Master or Mate less than 100 GRT credential (GLI06).
- Preparation breaks into five route-aware groups: Rules, Deck General (Q347), Deck Safety (Q348), Navigation General (Q349), Chart Plot (Q350).
- Your individual NMC approval to test, not a generic guide, determines which modules you actually sit.
- Q352 is a raise-of-grade route module, not a sixth mandatory group for every candidate.
What "Passing" Means for National Master 100 GL and Inland
Searches for an exact "passing score" tend to assume a single exam with a single cut number, like a certification delivered at a commercial testing center. National Master 100 GL and Inland (NM1GI) does not work that way. It is a U.S. Coast Guard mariner credential, administered through the National Maritime Center (NMC), and the examination structure is organized into modules tied to your individual approval to test.
In practical terms, "passing" means satisfactorily completing every module the NMC assigns to your application. Those modules map to subject groups: Rules of the Road, Deck General, Deck Safety, Navigation General, and Navigation Problems with chart plotting. This article walks through what is documented, what is not, and how to prepare accordingly. If you want the broader picture of difficulty before drilling into scoring, see How Hard Is the NM1GI Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
The Five Preparation Groups You Must Clear
For the GLI06 credential (Master or Mate less than 100 GRT), preparation is best organized into five full-route groups. The Rules choice counts once, depending on your approved route. These are unweighted preparation groups, not a published weighting scheme.
| Group | Module | Core Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rules of the Road: International and Inland (Q100) OR Inland (Q300) | Watchkeeping, COLREGS, Inland Navigational Rules |
| 2 | Deck General (Q347) | Seamanship, vessel handling, maritime law, shipboard management |
| 3 | Deck Safety (Q348) | Stability, firefighting, emergency procedures, communications |
| 4 | Navigation General: Great Lakes and Inland (Q349) | Piloting, compasses, aids to navigation, meteorology, tides |
| 5 | Navigation Problems: Chart Plot (Q350) | Fixes, running fixes, distance off, dead reckoning on the chart |
For a deeper breakdown of each content area, the companion piece NM1GI Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas covers the subject matter in more detail.
What Is and Is Not Published About Scores
Candidates often want a single number to aim for. Here is an honest accounting of what the source material supports.
What is documented
- The governing body is the United States Coast Guard National Maritime Center.
- The examination is delivered as module topics grouped under the Rules, Deck General, Deck Safety, Navigation General, and Chart Plot modules.
- The NMC Examination Guide referenced here carries a regulations-effective date of 2014-03-24 and should be used alongside the current published NMC module-topic index and your individual approval to test.
What is not published in these sources
- No official percentage weight is given for any of the five groups.
- No universal pass percentage is stated here, and this article will not invent one.
- The sources do not present the exam as one common mandatory test; different candidates can be assigned different modules.
If you are curious how candidates generally fare, NM1GI Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows discusses what can and cannot be said about outcomes.
How Your Approved Route Changes the Exam
The single most important idea in this article is that your approval to test controls everything. The route you are approved for determines which modules are assigned and whether any credit applies. Two candidates preparing for "NM1GI" can face different module sets.
Two route-specific points deserve attention:
- Great Lakes-and-Inland versus Inland applicability. The NMC table marks certain topics with a footnote as Great-Lakes-specific. These include heavy-weather handling and maneuvering for launching lifeboats and liferafts in heavy weather, both listed under Deck General (Q347). Whether those topics apply to you depends on your approved route.
- Rules module selection. The Rules group is either International and Inland (Q100) or Inland (Q300). It counts as one group, not two, so do not prepare for both unless your approval calls for it.
Key Takeaway
Before you buy any study material or build a schedule, get your NMC approval to test in hand and read which modules and route it assigns. That document, not a blog post, is your real exam specification. Eligibility questions are covered in NM1GI Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Rules of the Road: Q100 or Q300
Domain 1: Rules of the Road (Q100 or Q300)
The published topic list covers Watchkeeping, COLREGS, and the Inland Navigational Rules. Which rule set you are tested on follows your approved route.
- Know the rule set your route uses cold, including right-of-way relationships and sound and light signals.
- Watchkeeping principles are listed here, so expect more than pure collision-rule recall.
- Do not blend International and Inland rules in your head if your route tests only one.
Because this group is a rules-memory subject, it rewards precise recall. A near-correct answer on a signal or a vessel-priority question is still wrong, so build accuracy rather than general familiarity.
Chart Plot (Q350): Where Passing Is Won or Lost
Chart Plot is the hands-on problem-solving module and is retained as a distinct group in the preparation structure. Unlike the knowledge-recall modules, it asks you to do the work on a chart.
Domain 5: Navigation Problems: Chart Plot (Q350)
The published topics are piloting-centered and procedural.
- Piloting and chart navigation
- Distance off and bearing problems
- Fix or running fix
- Dead reckoning
- Electronic navigation
- Instruments and accessories
- Aids to navigation; charts, navigation publications, and Notices to Mariners
Notice the overlap with Navigation General (Q349): piloting, distance off, bearings, fixes, and dead reckoning appear in both topic lists. That is useful. Skills you build for the Q349 theory side directly support Q350 plotting, and vice versa. A candidate who understands why a running fix works will plot it faster and with fewer errors.
Navigation General (Q349) topics that feed your plotting
- Compass work: principles of the magnetic compass, error and correction, and determining compass error
- Terrestrial observation
- Meteorology and oceanography: weather systems, weather charts and reports, tides and tidal currents
Q352 and the Raise-of-Grade Route
You will see Q352, Navigation and Deck General/Safety, referenced alongside this credential. It is a separately listed raise-of-grade route module. It should not be treated as a universal sixth exam group that every full-original candidate must add, and it is not a second Rules subject.
If you are weighing which path fits your situation, the question of credit and what you must still test is answered by the NMC through your application, not by a general study guide.
Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Five Groups
Since no group carries a published weight, schedule by dependency and by how much hands-on practice each needs. One sensible order:
Rules of the Road
- Lock in your approved rule set (Q100 or Q300).
- Drill signals, right-of-way, and watchkeeping principles until recall is automatic.
Navigation General (Q349) and Chart Plot (Q350) together
- Study compass error, aids to navigation, publications, and tides alongside daily plotting practice.
- Run fixes, running fixes, and dead reckoning problems repeatedly.
Deck General (Q347)
- Cover seamanship, maneuvering, anchoring and mooring, and maritime law.
- Add the Great-Lakes-specific topics only if your route includes them.
Deck Safety (Q348)
- Work stability, firefighting, emergency procedures, and communications signals.
- Finish with mixed review across all five groups.
Pairing Q349 with Q350 is deliberate: the shared piloting content means each reinforces the other. Deck General is broad and procedural, so it benefits from a dedicated block. For the full method, see NM1GI Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and keep the NM1GI Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts handy for last-week review.
High-yield Deck topics to confirm you can explain
Deck General (Q347)
- Vessel handling in rivers and estuaries, shallow water, and interaction with banks and passing ships
- Berthing, unberthing, anchoring, mooring, and clearing fouled anchors
- Turn circle, pivot point, advance and transfer; wake reduction
- Maritime law, credentialing of seamen, and required certificates and documents
Deck Safety (Q348)
- Trim and stability; principles of vessel construction
- Classes and chemistry of fire, firefighting systems, and fire drills
- Collision response, temporary repairs, abandon-ship, man overboard, and emergency towing
- Storm, wreck, distress, and special signals
Failing a Module and Planning Your Next Attempt
Because the exam is modular, a shortfall is best treated as a targeted problem rather than a reason to restart everything. Note which module you did not clear, rebuild that subject, and confirm with the NMC how re-examination works for your application, since the specific rules and any waiting periods are set by the NMC and not described in the sources used here.
Budget matters too. Fees and logistics are discussed in NM1GI Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown, and scheduling in NM1GI Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling. When you want realistic timed practice across the five groups, the NM1GI practice tests let you rehearse the subject areas before you sit for the real modules, and you can start a practice session to find which group needs the most work.
Frequently Asked Questions
The published sources used for this article do not state a single universal pass percentage, and they do not publish official weights for the five groups. Rely on your NMC approval to test and the current NMC materials rather than any unsourced number.
You must satisfactorily complete the modules assigned in your approval to test. For a full-route candidate those correspond to the five groups: Rules, Deck General, Deck Safety, Navigation General, and Chart Plot. Your approval is the final authority on what applies.
No, not universally. Q352 (Navigation and Deck General/Safety) is a separately listed raise-of-grade route module. It applies only if your approval to test assigns it.
It depends on your approved route. The Rules group is Q100 (International and Inland) or Q300 (Inland), and it counts once toward your five preparation groups.
Treat it as a reference, not a new 2026 universal specification. The guide reflects regulations effective 2014-03-24, so use it with the current published NMC module-topic index and your individual approval to test. For broader context on the credential, see What Is NM1GI?