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What to know about PTCE or PTCB?

PTCB exam is a national examination in the U.S., required for all pharmacy technicians to be licensed by their respective state boards of pharmacy.

What is PTCE?

PTCB exam is a national examination in the U.S., required for all pharmacy technicians to be licensed by their respective state boards of pharmacy.

The exam offered by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) is called the PTCE (Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam). 

This was the first exam designed to certify pharmacy technicians and for many years, it was the only one. PTCB is the largest and most recognized certification organization by far for pharmacy technicians, with approximately 280,000 active CPhTs. Thus, it has much wider name recognition.  Until recently, all the states, which actually required techs to pass an exam, required this exam by name.

What’s on the PTCB exam?

The computer-based PTCE is administered at Pearson VUE test centers nationwide. The PTCE is a multiple-choice exam that asks the test-takers to deal with 90 questions in 2 hours: 80 scored questions and 10 unscored questions.

The exams consist of two parts – Part I: Written Exam (100 multiple choice questions) and Part II: Computerized Adapt

The PTCE contains questions on the following categories – pharmacology, pharmacy law, sterile and non-sterile compounding, medication safety, pharmacy quality assurance, medication order entry, pharmacy inventory management, pharmacy billing and reimbursement, and pharmacy information systems usage.

Prepared for the PTCE 

There are two essential resources available to assist candidates in preparing for the PTCE:

1. PTCE Content Outline
2. PTCE Reference List

Being familiar with the material contained in basic pharmacy technician training manuals or books may be useful. It’s also helpful to design a study plan when supervising pharmacists. PTCB doesn’t endorse, recommend, or sponsor any review course, manuals, or books for any PTCB exam.  

• Be ready to commit 2 hours for the exam (5-minute tutorial, 1 hour and 50-minute exam, and 5-minute post-exam survey).
• Your unofficial exam result will be shown on the screen immediately following the post-exam survey. A printed copy of the unofficial exam result will also be presented at the test site. Then, official exam results will be posted to your PTCB account in two to three weeks.

To be eligible for the PTCB exam, you must:

• Be 18 years old or older and have graduated from high school or hold a GED certificate.
• Have six months of paid pharmacy technician experience in order to meet minimum requirements (such as working on

Scoring

Though the score reports presented on-screen following your exam are typically an indication of your performance, they are not the official or final scores. As mentioned above, official score reports are available in your PTCB account within two to three weeks from your exam date. PTCB cannot expedite the process of the exam results or certification information. 

If you pass the exam, you can see your certification status verified through PTCB’s

How does our GED practice test work?

Based on the official PTCB test

We have to say our PTCE/PTCB practice test questions are collected and updated carefully based on the real test. Then, our PTCB/PTCE practice test would go through the triple-check by our brightest minds. In other words, we always try to improve the quality as well as quantity of our PTCB practice test questions in order to be as more identical as possible to the real test.

Detailed explanation

Besides the practice questions system, we also provide the most detailed explanation for each question, which helps you understand the roots of the problems and rarely make that mistake again and pass the test right the first go! We’re proud that our FREE PTCB practice test, which is one of the best platforms to practice, has been helping many contestants pass the test much more easily!

So easy and friendly to users

Our PTCB practice test is gamified as an interesting game that helps you feel more interesting while doing tests.

PTCB FAQs

Take the PTCB practice exam now!

On this website, you can take hundreds of free PTCB practice questions with detailed explanations attached. Let’s get started!

How many questions are on the pharmacy tech exam?

–> The PTCB exam contains 90 multiple-choice questions. This consists of 80 scored questions and 10 unscored questions. Four answers will be available for each question.

Are you allowed to use a calculator on the PTCB national certification exam?

–> You are allowed to use a calculator on the PTCB exam. But you will not be allowed to bring in your own calculator. An erasable board and a handheld calculator will be provided

How much does it cost to take the PTCB exam?

–> The application fee for the PTCB certification and to take the PTCB exam costs $129.

How many times can you fail the PTCB?

–> You are given up to four chances to pass the PTCB exam. If you fail the PTCE, you can reapply and pay for the exam for the second or third try in 60 days from your most recent attempt. If you fail until the third attempt, you will be required to wait 6 months before attempting the exam once again.

How long does it take to get the PTCB results?

–> After taking the PTCB exam, it takes about three weeks for you to receive your official score report. Your certificate and wallet card will be sent to you in four to six weeks after the exam.

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