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United States · Licensing exam

The NPTE PTA exam for physical therapist assistants

Physical therapist assistants (PTAs) take their own version of the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE): 180 multiple-choice questions in four sections of 45, with 4 hours of testing time. The NPTE PTA exam has the same 200 to 800 scale and passing score of 600 as the physical therapist (PT) exam, and the same registration with the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT). What differs is the content outline, the shorter day and the Prometric fee.

  • 4 hoursTesting time, against 5 for PTs
  • 40Unscored pretest items, against 45
  • Up to 35Scenario questions, against 40
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Updated October 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

How the PTA exam differs from the PT exam

DetailPT examPTA exam
Sections of 45 questions54
Questions225180
Items in the content outline180140

Both exams have a scheduled 15-minute break after section two that doesn’t use exam time, and everything else about the day, from ID checks to breaks, is the same.

What’s on the NPTE PTA exam?

The PTA outline tests the knowledge an entry-level PTA needs when working under a physical therapist’s supervision. Body-system questions fall into three groups: physical therapy data collection, diseases and conditions that impact effective treatment, and interventions.

The musculoskeletal system has the most items, 31 to 40 of the 140 the outline covers, followed by the neuromuscular and nervous systems at 27 to 35 and the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems at 20 to 27. Equipment, devices and technologies gets 8 to 10 items, more than on the PT exam. For some techniques, such as iontophoresis and intermittent pneumatic compression, FSBPT says PTAs are tested on the knowledge behind them, like indications and precautions, not necessarily on applying them.

Full PT and PTA content outlines →

Who can take the PTA exam

You need a PTA degree from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), or an education a recognized credentialing agency has found substantially equivalent, plus approval from the board where you want to work.

PTA sittings fall in the same months as PT sittings, a few weeks earlier, with their own deadlines. FSBPT’s Practice Exam and Assessment Tool (PEAT) has a PTA version with two 180-question exams.

PTA exam dates and deadlines →PTA pass rates →NPTE exam cost for PTAs →
Sources: FSBPT and 5 more. Checked October 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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