United States
Hong KongHow many questions?
Ninety multiple-choice questions are administered, of which 80 are scored and 10 are unscored pilot items that cannot be identified.
Two numbers, and using the wrong one costs you either time or accuracy.
The two figures
- Administered
- 90
- Scored
- 80
- Unscored pilot items
- 10
- Time
- 110 minutes
Use 90 for pacing
All 90 take time. Ninety into 110 minutes is about 73 seconds a question.
Planning on 80 gives you 82 seconds, which is 15 percent more time than you actually have.
Use 80 for the blueprint
The domain weights apply to the scored 80: Medications 28, Patient Safety 19, Order Entry 18, Federal Requirements 15.
Pilot items are indistinguishable by design, and they are being trialled for future forms. Deciding mid-exam that an odd question must be one of them and giving it less effort is a guess, and the odds are against you.
Why unscored items exist
A new question has to be tested on real candidates before it can count towards anyone's result. Piloting is how that happens without affecting scores. Study against 80, pace against 90.
The practical instruction
Answer all 90 the same way, pace against 90, and study against 80.
Why the split exists at all
Every question on a certification exam has to be tested before it can count. Piloting new items alongside scored ones is how an awarding body finds out whether a question behaves properly, without letting an untested question affect anyone’s result. Two numbers, two uses.
It also means the paper you sit is quietly doing work for the papers that follow it.
What it means for reading your blueprint
The domain weights apply to the scored 80, so your paper will not visibly contain exactly 15 Federal Requirements questions. Some of the federal questions in front of you may be pilots and you cannot tell which. By design.
Study against the weights anyway. They describe what counts.
Common questions
How many questions are on the PTCB exam?
90 administered, of which 80 are scored.
What are the other ten?
Unscored pilot items being trialled for future forms.
Can I identify them?
No. They are indistinguishable by design.
Which number do I pace against?
90. All of them take time.
Which number does the blueprint use?
80, the scored questions.