PTCB / PTCE guideExam format
How Many Questions Are on the PTCB Exam?
The PTCE has 90 multiple-choice questions: 80 scored and 10 unscored. Unscored items are not identified. Your scaled score uses the 80 scored items.
Short answer
The PTCB exam—the PTCE—has 90 multiple-choice questions. Eighty are scored. Ten are unscored. Unscored items are randomly placed and are not identified. Each question has four options and one correct or best answer. PTCB bases the exam score on the 80 scored questions. Treat every item as if it counts.
90 items. 80 scored. 10 you cannot spot.
The current PTCB CPhT page states the PTCE is a computer-based exam with 90 multiple-choice questions: 80 scored and 10 unscored. Unscored questions are randomly placed and are not identified. Practice PTCE-style decisions in Passy as if each item counts, because you will not be told which ones do not.
Each question lists four possible answers. Only one is the correct or best answer. That is the live format. It is not an adaptive exam that stops early.
Why the unscored ten exist
PTCB uses unidentified items to evaluate future questions. They do not contribute to the score PTCB reports from the 80 scored items. You cannot skip “the experimental ones.” There is no highlighter for them.
That is also why a 10-question Passy preview is not 1/9 of the real exam. It is a skill check. How long is the PTCB exam? covers the 110-minute testing clock that those 90 items share.
What 80 scored items are not
Eighty scored questions are not a promise that you need a published raw number correct. PTCB reports a scaled passing score of 1,400 on a 1,000–1,600 range. PTCB passing score explains that scale. Do not convert 1,400 into “you need 56/80” unless PTCB publishes that conversion.
The four domains describe content, not four separately timed mini-tests of 90 items. What's on the PTCB exam? is the outline. This page is the count.
How to use the number while you study
Pace against 90, not against 80. If you only budget for scored items, the unidentified ten still consume minutes.
Shape PTCE study time in Passy around domains rather than around a guessed unscored-item map.
A small original set cannot certify that you are ready for 90 items. It can show whether a classification, a federal rule, or a days-supply setup is breaking down.
Check mixed questions in Passy without trying to guess which future items might be unscored.
You still answer all 90 on test day. The unidentified ten still consume minutes.
Keep working those PTCE patterns in Passy after you know the official count.
Trust the source
Official sources
Exam policies can change. Use these primary sources for the most current details.