VA Compensation and Pension Exam Questions (2026): 15 Free Practice Questions with Answers

1. Under 38 CFR 3.303, which three elements must a veteran establish for direct service connection?

1. A. current disability, an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury, and a nexus between the current disability and the in-service event
2. B. current disability, a combat decoration, and a private medical opinion dated within one year of separation
3. C. An in-service injury, a diagnosis within one year of separation, and continuous treatment since service
4. D. current disability, honorable discharge, and a VA examination confirming the diagnosis

Show answer and explanation

Answer: A. Direct service connection under 38 CFR 3.303 requires all three: a current disability, an in-service incurrence or aggravation, and a nexus linking them. Miss any one and the claim fails.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: C describes the chronic-disease presumption path, not direct service connection.

Source: 38 CFR 3.303

2. A veteran is diagnosed with arthritis, a chronic disease listed in 38 CFR 3.309(a), eight months after separation, manifest to a compensable degree. Under 38 CFR 3.307(a)(3), what is the result?

1. A. Service connection is barred because the diagnosis came after separation
2. B. The arthritis is presumed service connected, because a chronic disease manifest to 10 percent within one year of separation is presumed service connected
3. C. The veteran must prove the arthritis began in service with contemporaneous treatment records
4. D. Presumption applies only if the veteran served in combat

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Answer: B. Under 38 CFR 3.307(a)(3), a chronic disease listed in 3.309(a) that becomes manifest to a compensable degree within one year of separation is presumed to have been incurred in service.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: A ignores the entire presumptive framework; the one-year window exists precisely for post-service manifestation.

Source: 38 CFR 3.307(a)(3)

3. Under 38 CFR 3.309(e), which condition is presumptively service connected for a veteran with qualifying service in Vietnam?

1. A. Type 2 diabetes mellitus
2. B. Essential hypertension diagnosed 30 years after service with no treatment records
3. C. knee strain documented only on a post-service private exam
4. D. Hearing loss first shown on an audiogram 15 years after separation

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Answer: A. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is on the 38 CFR 3.309(e) list of diseases presumed service connected for veterans exposed to herbicide agents in Vietnam.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: The other options lack both a presumptive listing and the required service connection evidence.

Source: 38 CFR 3.309(e)

4. A veteran has a service-connected knee disability. Years later, the altered gait from the knee causes a hip disability. Under 38 CFR 3.310(a), how may the hip be service connected?

1. A. Only by direct service connection with new in-service evidence
2. B. As secondary to the service-connected knee, because it is proximately due to the service-connected disability
3. C. Only if the hip disability is on the presumptive list in 3.309
4. D. It cannot be service connected because the hip was healthy at separation

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Answer: B. Under 38 CFR 3.310(a), a disability that is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury is service connected on a secondary basis.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: D confuses the health-at-separation rule with secondary claims, which do not require an in-service hip event.

Source: 38 CFR 3.310(a)

5. The evidence for and against a veteran’s claim is in approximate balance. Under 38 CFR 4.3, what must VA do?

1. A. Deny the claim because the veteran bears the burden of proof
2. B. Resolve reasonable doubt in the veteran’s favor
3. C. Order another VA examination before deciding
4. D. Defer the decision until additional evidence arrives

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Answer: B. Under 38 CFR 4.3, when the evidence is in approximate balance, reasonable doubt is resolved in the claimant’s favor.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: A misstates the standard; equipoise favors the veteran, it does not doom the claim.

Source: 38 CFR 4.3

6. A veteran seeks separate ratings for limitation of motion of the knee and arthritis of the same knee based on the same symptoms. Under 38 CFR 4.14, what is the result?

1. A. Both ratings are assigned because they are different diagnoses
2. B. Only one rating is assigned, because 4.14 prohibits combining the same disability, or the same manifestation, under different diagnoses
3. C. Both ratings are assigned and then added together
4. D. Neither rating is assigned until the veteran elects one diagnosis

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Answer: B. Under 38 CFR 4.14, the same disability or the same manifestation of a disability may not be rated twice under different diagnoses. This is the rule against pyramiding.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: A is the pyramiding trap itself: different diagnostic labels do not create separate disabilities.

Source: 38 CFR 4.14

7. A veteran is rated 50 percent for PTSD and 30 percent for a back disability, with no other ratings. Under the combined ratings table in 38 CFR 4.25, what is the combined rating?

1. A. 80 percent, because 50 plus 30 equals 80
2. B. 70 percent
3. C. 65 percent
4. D. 60 percent

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Answer: C. Under 38 CFR 4.25, ratings are combined, not added: 50 percent plus 30 percent of the remaining 50 percent efficiency (15) equals 65 percent.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: A simply adds the ratings, which the combined ratings table expressly forbids.

Source: 38 CFR 4.25

8. Under 38 CFR 3.350(i), which veteran qualifies for special monthly compensation at the housebound rate?

1. A. veteran rated 100 percent for a single disability with no other rated disabilities
2. B. veteran with a single disability rated 100 percent plus additional disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more, who is substantially confined to the home
3. C. Any veteran rated 100 percent who lives alone
4. D. veteran rated 90 percent combined who uses a cane outdoors

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Answer: B. Under 38 CFR 3.350(i), housebound SMC requires a single disability rated 100 percent plus additional disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more, with substantial confinement to home or immediate premises.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: A misses the additional-60-percent requirement; a lone 100 percent rating is not enough.

Source: 38 CFR 3.350(i)

9. Under 38 CFR 3.352(a), which finding supports a need for aid and attendance?

1. A. The veteran needs help managing investment accounts
2. B. The veteran is unable to dress or undress, keep ordinarily clean, feed himself, attend the wants of nature, or protect himself from the hazards of daily environment
3. C. The veteran prefers not to drive at night
4. D. The veteran needs reminders to take medication but is otherwise independent

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Answer: B. Under 38 CFR 3.352(a), aid and attendance turns on inability to perform basic self-care functions: dressing, cleanliness, feeding, toileting, and protection from daily hazards.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: D describes a lesser level of need; reminders alone do not meet the 3.352(a) standard.

Source: 38 CFR 3.352(a)

10. Under 38 U.S.C. 1521, basic eligibility for improved wartime pension requires which of the following?

1. A. Service in a combat zone and a Purple Heart
2. B. Wartime service, plus age 65 or older or permanent and total disability, plus countable income below the limit
3. C. Any military service and a VA home loan
4. D. Ten years of active duty regardless of era

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Answer: B. Under 38 U.S.C. 1521, improved pension requires wartime service, plus age 65 or permanent and total disability, plus countable income within the limit.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: A invents combat and decoration requirements that the pension statute does not contain.

Source: 38 U.S.C. 1521

11. A veteran entered service with a documented knee condition that worsened during service. Under 38 CFR 3.306, VA presumes the worsening was aggravated by service unless which showing is made?

1. A. The veteran cannot produce a private nexus opinion
2. B. There is clear and unmistakable evidence that the increase was due to the natural progress of the disease, or that there was no increase in disability
3. C. The veteran served less than two years
4. D. The entrance examination noted the condition as mild

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Answer: B. Under 38 CFR 3.306, a preservice disability that increases in service is presumed aggravated unless clear and unmistakable evidence shows no increase or that the increase was due to natural progress.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: D is irrelevant; a mild notation at entrance does not rebut the presumption.

Source: 38 CFR 3.306

12. A veteran was rated totally disabled for 12 continuous years before dying of a non-service-connected condition. Under 38 U.S.C. 1318 and 38 CFR 3.22, the surviving spouse’s DIC claim should be evaluated how?

1. A. Denied, because the death was not service connected
2. B. Granted, because DIC is payable where the veteran was rated totally disabled for at least 10 years immediately preceding death, even if the death was not service connected
3. C. Granted only if the spouse proves the non-service-connected condition was caused by VA treatment
4. D. Denied unless the veteran died within one year of separation

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Answer: B. Under 38 U.S.C. 1318 and 38 CFR 3.22, DIC is payable when the veteran was rated totally disabled for at least 10 years immediately before death, even for a non-service-connected death.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: A ignores the 1318 exception, which exists precisely for long-rated veterans.

Source: 38 U.S.C. 1318; 38 CFR 3.22

13. Under 38 U.S.C. 5121(a) and 38 CFR 3.1000, accrued benefits payable to a survivor are limited in what way?

1. A. There is no limit; all unpaid benefits ever due are payable
2. B. They are limited to periodic monetary benefits due and unpaid for a period not to exceed two years
3. C. They are limited to $10,000 total
4. D. They are payable only if the veteran died in service

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Answer: B. Under 38 U.S.C. 5121(a) and 38 CFR 3.1000, accrued benefits are periodic monetary benefits due and unpaid, limited to two years of benefits.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: A ignores the express two-year statutory cap.

Source: 38 U.S.C. 5121; 38 CFR 3.1000

14. Under 38 U.S.C. 1119, added by the PACT Act, a veteran who participated in a toxic exposure risk activity and later develops a listed condition receives what evidentiary benefit?

1. A. No benefit; the veteran must still prove exposure with service records alone
2. B. presumption of exposure, so the veteran does not have to prove the toxic exposure itself
3. C. Automatic 100 percent rating for any listed condition
4. D. presumption that applies only to survivors, not living veterans

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Answer: B. Under 38 U.S.C. 1119, participation in a toxic exposure risk activity creates a presumption of exposure, removing the need to prove the exposure event itself.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: C confuses presumption of exposure with a rating; ratings still follow the schedule.

Source: 38 U.S.C. 1119

15. Under 38 CFR 3.304(f), for a combat veteran claiming PTSD, what may VA accept the veteran’s lay testimony alone as sufficient to prove?

1. A. The medical diagnosis of PTSD
2. B. The occurrence of the claimed in-service stressor, if consistent with the circumstances of service
3. C. The nexus between the stressor and the current diagnosis
4. D. The veteran’s current employability

Show answer and explanation

Answer: B. Under 38 CFR 3.304(f), a combat veteran’s lay testimony may establish the in-service stressor if consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of service. Diagnosis and nexus still need competent evidence.

Why the tempting wrong answer fails: A is the classic error; lay testimony cannot diagnose PTSD.

Source: 38 CFR 3.304(f)