Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE®) — exam facts
United States (national certification; each state board of pharmacy sets its own technician requirements)
Every source below was read on 2026-09-22
| Administering body | Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) — exam delivered by Pearson VUE PTCB awards the Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) credential, and passing the PTCE is required to earn it. PTCB states the PTCE is administered in person at Pearson test centers under a live proctor. Source: PTCB — Become a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) (2026-09-22) |
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| Questions | 90 questions (80 scored, 10 unscored pretest) All multiple-choice, four options each. The 10 unscored questions are not identified and are placed at random through the exam; PTCB states a candidate's score is based on the 80 scored questions. PTCB's candidate guidebook gives the same split. Source: PTCB — Become a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) (2026-09-22) |
| Time limit | 110 minutes PTCB's words: "Be prepared to commit 2 hours for the exam (5-minute tutorial, 1 hour and 50-minute exam, and 5-minute post-exam survey)." The 1 hour and 50 minutes is the exam itself; the tutorial and survey take the appointment to 2 hours. Source: PTCB — Become a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) (2026-09-22) |
| Passing score | Scaled score of 1,400 on a 1,000–1,600 scale PTCB's words: "The passing scaled score for the PTCE is 1,400. The range of possible PTCE scores based on the exam outline is 1,000 to 1,600." The cut was set by a panel of subject-matter experts using the modified-Angoff method, and results are reported as scaled scores — not a percentage and not a count of correct answers. The on-screen result after the exam is preliminary; the official score report follows. Source: PTCB — Become a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) (2026-09-22) |
| Fees |
PTCB: "Candidates must apply and pay for each PTCB credential exam attempt," so the application-and-exam fee is charged again for every retake. The optional extension lengthens the exam authorization period; PTCB limits candidates to two such extensions. On retakes PTCB sets no wait before the second and third attempts, and a six-month wait before the fourth. Source: PTCB — Credentialing Guidelines and Requirements: A Candidate Guidebook (PDF, last updated February 24, 2025) (2026-09-22) |
| Languages offered | Not published by PTCB PTCB's CPhT page, its candidate guidebook and the PTCE content outline all describe the exam without naming the languages it is offered in. PrepPass does not infer one. What we read and found nothing in: PTCB — Become a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) (2026-09-22) · PTCB — Credentialing Guidelines and Requirements: A Candidate Guidebook (PDF, last updated February 24, 2025) (2026-09-22) · PTCB — PTCE® Content Outline, effective January 6, 2026 (PDF) (2026-09-22) |
Change log
- 2026-09-22Fact sheet drafted from PTCB's CPhT page, its candidate guidebook and the PTCE content outline. The passing score is recorded as PTCB publishes it — a scaled score of 1,400 on a 1,000–1,600 scale — and never as a percentage.
- 2026-01-06PTCB's current PTCE content outline took effect.