TMC Cut Scores: The Low and High Cut, the CRT, the RRT, and What Changes in 2027

What are the TMC cut scores?

The TMC exam has two cut scores applied to one raw score, the number of the 140 scored items you answer correctly. The low cut earns the Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) credential. The high cut also makes you eligible for the Clinical Simulation Examination (CSE), the second step to the Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) credential, and NBRC's Resources and FAQs page states it as 92 or above. NBRC's public web pages do not give the low cut as a number. The TMC ends on December 31, 2026; new candidates in 2027 take the Respiratory Therapy (RT) Exam, which also has two cuts.

NBRC's handbook explains how cut scores are made. Each scored item is worth one point, the 20 pretest items do not count, and a cut score for a multiple-choice exam comes from a study in which a panel of subject matter experts defines the minimum acceptable performance and links it to a score. The cut is a count of correct answers, not a percentage and not a scaled score, although 92 works out to about 66% of the 140 scored items.

How one TMC score decides the CRT and CSE eligibility

The last row carries a condition. The handbook says a candidate at the high cut earns the CRT and becomes eligible for the CSE provided the candidate is eligible to earn the RRT, and NBRC's CRT page adds that you must meet the CSE eligibility requirements regardless of your score. A high cut without the education or experience route the CSE requires does not open the CSE.

What does the high cut mean for the CSE and the RRT?

On the TMC path, the RRT takes two passes: the TMC at the high cut and then the CSE. NBRC's CSE page sets out the rest:

• The CSE: 22 problems, 20 scored and 2 pretest, in 4 hours, for $200 for new and repeat applicants, as checked on November 1, 2026. You need the CRT and a TMC pass at the high cut.
• The window: the CSE is open only to candidates who passed the TMC at the high cut by December 31, 2026, and it ends on December 31, 2027.
• Attempts: three without waiting, then at least 120 days between later attempts.
• The alternative: from January 1, 2027, a candidate who passed the TMC at the high cut may instead take the RT Exam and pass it at the high cut to earn the RRT.

If you reached only the low cut, you hold the CRT, and the CSE stays closed to you. NBRC's RT page says the CRT-to-Registry admission route ends December 31, 2026, so from 2027 a CRT who wants the RRT qualifies for the RT Exam through an associate degree or higher from an entry-into-practice program supported or accredited by CoARC. A CRT holder who scores below the RT Exam's low cut keeps the CRT and may retake the RT Exam as many times as needed to earn the RRT. What the RT Exam covers, and how it grew out of the TMC, is in the guide to what is on the TMC and the RT Exam.

What are the RT Exam cut scores for 2027?

The RT Exam keeps the two-cut design but drops the second exam. NBRC's RT page says the low cut earns the CRT and the high cut earns the RRT, and, as on the TMC, the handbook compares the number of scored items you answer correctly with the cut. NBRC's public web pages do not state the RT Exam's cut scores as numbers, so this guide does not give them.

The main change for a 2027 candidate is that the high cut is the RRT itself, with the CSE's judgment content folded into the exam's 60 Depth of Clinical Judgment items. One sitting now decides both credentials, so the RRT rests on the same day's score as the CRT. That is why full RT Exam prep planned for launch is organized by the four outline areas, clinical judgment included.

Cut scores come from a standard-setting study, and NBRC could set them again, so read your own score report after the exam.

How many TMC candidates reach each cut?

NBRC's 2025 Examinations in Review reports TMC passing percentages at both cuts for exams given from January 1 through December 31, 2025:

The same sheet shows 78.9% and 79.5% at the low cut for new candidates in 2023 and 2024, and 69.4% and 69.9% at the high cut. About one new candidate in ten reached the CRT but not the high cut. These figures describe groups of past candidates; they do not predict any one person's result, and NBRC has not yet reported results for the RT Exam.

What if your score fell just short of a cut?

NBRC's handbook says your total score decides whether you pass after it is compared with the cut score. The result rests on the total, not on any one content area, so a near miss is a whole-exam result. A practical plan is to rebuild across all areas, with extra time on the largest ones, rather than chasing a single topic, and to time the next attempt around NBRC's rule: three attempts without waiting, then at least 120 days between later attempts. If you are moving to the RT Exam, see how full NBRC RT Exam prep planned for launch spreads practice across clinical judgment and interventions.

TMC cut score questions candidates ask

Is the TMC cut score a percentage?

No. It is a number of correct answers out of the 140 scored items. Pretest items do not count toward it.

If I reached the low cut but not the high cut, can I retake the TMC?

Until the TMC ends, yes: NBRC's last day to apply is December 15, 2026, and the last test day is December 31, 2026. NBRC allows three attempts without waiting, then at least 120 days between attempts, and a retake does not affect the CRT you already hold. From 2027, the RT Exam is the route to the RRT.

Do my TMC attempts count against my RT Exam attempts?

No. NBRC's RT page says TMC and CSE attempts do not count toward the RT Exam's attempts.

Turning a cut score into a study target

A cut score is a count you aim past, not a target to graze. Build the habit of answering correctly across every area, then measure it. Start with the 20 free NBRC RT Exam practice questions, which are original Passy items with an explanation for every option; a percentage on a 20-item set is not an NBRC raw score and does not predict which cut you would reach. NBRC's official Self-Assessment Examinations, sold through PSI, come with the examination committees' rationale for each best response. When you want volume and timing, compare the timed mock exam and flashcards planned for full RT Exam prep.