Important Deadline
90-day Authorization Period: Once your application is approved, you will be given a 90-day authorization period to schedule and take the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam® (PTCE®).
About the Exam
- Exam Length: The exam consists of 90 questions, and you have up to 110 minutes (1 hour and 50 minutes) to complete it.
- Timer: A collapsible countdown timer is in the top right corner of the exam window.
- Review Option: If you finish all the questions before time runs out, you can review and change answers until the 110-minute limit expires.
- Exam Content: There are four content domains found on the PTCE:
- Medications (40%)
- Federal Requirement (12.5%)
- Patient Safety and Quality Assurance (26.25%)
- Order Entering and Processing (21.25%)
PTCB offers the following PTCE preparation resources:
Examples of external resources:
- Manual for Pharmacy Technicians, 5th Edition
- The Pharmacy Technician, 6th Edition
- Pharmaceutical Calculations, 16th Edition
- The Pharmacy Technician's Pocket Drug Reference, 12th Edition
After Completing the PTCE
- PTCE Scoring: PTCB uses multiple exam forms to test the same content while minimizing item exposure and maintaining relevance. To ensure fairness, scaled scores are reported instead of raw scores. Scaled scores account for slight differences in exam difficulty, allowing all candidates to be evaluated by the same standard. The passing scaled score for the PTCE is 1,400, with a range of possible scores from 1,000 to 1,600.
PTCB applies Item Response Theory (IRT) pre-equating to ensure Pass/Fail results are consistent across different exam forms, regardless of difficulty variations.
- Official Score Reports are typically available within 3 weeks following your exam date. Once your official score report is available, you will be notified by email. Should you wish to retest, read more about the retake policy.
Important Note: PTCB cannot expedite the processing of exam results or certification information.