United States
Hong KongThe format
The PTCE is 90 multiple-choice questions delivered in one 110-minute session at a Pearson VUE test center, within a two-hour appointment that also covers a tutorial and a post-exam survey.
A short, dense paper with an appointment slightly longer than the exam.
The session
| Questions | 90 multiple choice |
| Scored | 80 |
| Unscored pilot items | 10 |
| Exam time | 110 minutes |
| Total appointment | 120 minutes |
| Sessions | One |
The extra ten minutes in the appointment covers the tutorial and the survey rather than extending your working time.
Question style
Multiple choice throughout. There is no essay, no simulation and no free-text entry.
Calculation questions are answered by selecting an option rather than typing a number, which means the distractors are the wrong answers people actually reach.
On a calculation, if your answer is not among the options you have made an error and you know it immediately. If it is among them, note that the distractors were built from predictable mistakes - an inverted conversion, a missed frequency - so matching one is not proof you are right.
Pacing
Ninety questions in 110 minutes is 1.22 minutes each, about 73 seconds. That is the tightest ratio among the examinations we build for.
It is comfortable for recall and tight for arithmetic, and roughly a fifth of the scored paper is arithmetic.
Delivery
In person at a Pearson VUE test center. There are more than 1,400 of them.
Results
A preliminary pass or fail appears on screen at the center, with the official scaled score following from PTCB.
Common questions
How many questions are on the PTCB exam?
90, of which 80 are scored and 10 are unscored pilot items.
How long is the PTCB exam?
110 minutes of exam time within a two-hour appointment.
Are there any non-multiple-choice questions?
No. It is multiple choice throughout.
How much time per question?
About 73 seconds, which is tight given that roughly a fifth of the paper is arithmetic.
Where is it delivered?
In person at a Pearson VUE test center, of which there are more than 1,400.