Pharmacy technician (PTCE, ExCPT)
ExCPT practice test for pharmacy technicians
Pick a domain of the ExCPT test plan and answer ten questions, each explained at once. Your answers stay in this browser.
ExCPT · practice
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| Study target: 8 of 10 (80%), not the official passing score |
Practice questions written by Radif Partners from the public outline; not questions from the real exam. Progress stays in this browser.
The ExCPT, the Exam for the Certification of Pharmacy Technicians, is the National Healthcareer Association's route to a pharmacy technician credential, an alternative to the PTCB's exam that many state boards also accept. It has 100 scored questions and 20 pretest questions, 120 in all, in 2 hours 10 minutes. Its test plan, based on a 2023 job analysis, puts the dispensing process first with 43% of the scored questions: reading and entering prescriptions, calculations, selecting and packaging the product, labels and refills. The other four domains are the technician's role and general duties (15%), pharmacy law (15%), medication and patient safety and quality assurance (14%) and drugs and drug therapy (13%). The score is scaled, scaled score of 390 (scale 200 to 500). This practice test serves ten questions at a time from the domain you choose.
Time per question on the real exam
Seconds per question
60
- Questions
- 120
- Time allowed
- 2 h 10 min
- Average with no review
- 65 s
ExCPT: 120 questions, of which 100 count toward the score.
Questions, formats and fees by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
The five domains of the ExCPT
| Domain | Share of scored questions | Questions in a full mock | Questions in our pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| Role, Responsibilities and General Duties | 15% | 18 | 23 |
| Laws | 15% | 18 | 29 |
| Drugs and Drug Therapy | 13% | 16 | 24 |
| Dispensing Process | 43% | 52 | 71 |
| Medication and Patient Safety and Quality Assurance | 14% | 16 | 33 |
What the ExCPT asks in each domain
Role, responsibilities and general duties covers what a technician may and may not do, customer service, inventory and ordering, third party billing basics, rejected claims and prior authorizations. Laws covers federal rules on controlled substances, privacy and the handling of prescriptions. Drugs and drug therapy covers names, classes, uses and common side effects. Dispensing process covers intake and verification of prescriptions, sig codes, calculations, product selection by NDC, packaging and labeling, refills and transfers. Medication and patient safety and quality assurance covers error prevention, look-alike names, high-alert drugs and reporting.
Dispensing scenarios
Many ExCPT questions follow a prescription through the pharmacy: a patient drops off a prescription, the technician enters it, the claim is rejected, the product is selected and labeled, the pharmacist verifies. Each step has a typical trap: a prescription missing an element required for a controlled substance, a refill too soon, an NDC that does not match the package size, a label without the needed auxiliary sticker. Read the scenario for the step it is testing before looking at the options.
ExCPT · practice
0 / 0
correct out of answered
Pick an answer to start
| Study target: 4 of 5 (80%), not the official passing score |
Practice questions written by Radif Partners from the public outline; not questions from the real exam. Progress stays in this browser.
Pacing
With 120 questions in 2 hours 10 minutes you have a little over a minute each. Calculations take longer; role and law questions should go faster. The calculator at the top shows the time per question if you keep a few minutes at the end.
Next steps
Practice each domain until two sets in a row clear the study target, starting with dispensing. The days supply calculators and the drug quiz help with the two most common question types. Missed questions return on the review page. The comparison of the ExCPT and the PTCE helps if you have not chosen yet. The NHA did not show its fee on a public page on October 26, 2026.
The questions are ours, written from the test plan topics; they are not questions from the real exam.