PTCB / PTCE guideScores & results

PTCB Passing Score: What Does 1,400 Mean?

The PTCE passing scaled score is 1,400. Possible scores range from 1,000 to 1,600. PTCB has not published a universal raw number correct out of 80 that equals 1,400.

Short answer

The passing scaled score for the PTCE is 1,400. PTCB reports possible scores from 1,000 to 1,600. That cut is not the same thing as a published “you need X of 80 scored items correct.” Preliminary on-screen output is not the official score. Official results are typically posted in the PTCB Account within three weeks.

PTCE scaled score range from 1000 to 1600 with the passing point marked at 1400.

1,400 is a scaled cut, not a raw-item rumor

PTCB’s CPhT scoring section states that the passing scaled score for the PTCE is 1,400, and that possible scores based on the exam outline range from 1,000 to 1,600. PTCB has not printed a “percent correct” that equals a pass.

Scaled scores exist so that different forms can be compared. A harder form and an easier form can still map to the same passing standard. That is why converting 1,400 into “56 out of 80” or “70%” is a guess unless PTCB publishes that conversion. Keep your practice in the Passy PTCB prep app pointed at the current domains rather than chasing an unofficial “percent correct.”

What the score is based on

The exam has 90 multiple-choice items. Eighty are scored. Ten unscored items do not contribute. How many questions are on the PTCB exam? explains that count.

You will not be told which ten are unscored. Preparing as if every item counts is the only safe stance.

Preliminary results are not final

PTCB says unofficial exam results appear on screen after the post-exam survey, and that a printed unofficial copy may be available at the center. It also says those preliminary reports are typically an indication of performance but are not official or final. Official score reports are typically available in the PTCB Account within three weeks. PTCB says it cannot expedite processing.

PTCB exam results covers result timing. Do not celebrate or catastrophize from the screen until the account file is posted.

If the official score is below 1,400

An official fail is a retake problem, not a mystery percentage. Failed the PTCB exam? uses current waiting rules. Track and review the domains you missed in the Passy PTCB prep app instead of restudying an entire outdated compounding chapter.

Passy’s original items cannot predict a scaled 1,400, and Passy does not report a PTCB scaled score. They can show whether a classification, a federal rule, or a calculation setup is breaking down. How hard is the PTCB exam? covers difficulty, including PTCB’s published pass rate, without turning 1,400 into a raw-score target.

Practice exam-style questions in the Passy PTCB prep app after you accept the scale as a scale.

Trust the source

Official sources

Exam policies can change. Use these primary sources for the most current details.