Certification candidates must apply and pay the current exam fee for each Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam® (PTCE®) attempt. There is no retake wait period for the second and third attempts, but candidates must wait to receive the Official PTCE Score Report before reapplying. Candidates must wait six (6) months before applying for the fourth attempt. After four (4) attempts, candidates must provide to PTCB completion evidence of acceptable preparation activities for review and approval before applying for additional attempts. Please review the Retake Policy in the Guidebook.
Please note, in addition to completing an acceptable preparation activity, all other CPhT eligibility requirements must be met when applying for CPhT certification.
Preparation completion evidence may be sent to PTCB by submitting a request.
Acceptable preparation activities include any of the following:
- Six months or more of tutoring by a pharmacist or PTCB CPhT (Attestation Form Required)
- Completion of a formal review course or non-accredited training program
- Completion of an ASHP/ACPE-accredited training program
- Graduation from a pharmacy technician associate degree (A.S.) program
PTCB does not provide nor make recommendations or endorsements of any preparation activities.
Any of the preparation activities listed above must be both started and completed after the most recent PTCE attempt.
Standard job duties are not considered a valid form of tutoring on the Preparation Attestation Form.
Candidates are not limited to a finite number of exam attempts, but are strongly encouraged to prepare for each attempt. The PTCE is a very reliable exam, which means that candidates who fail the exam should expect to fail again unless they increase their knowledge of the PTCE content through additional preparation.