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NPTE study guide: the Candidate Handbook and content outlines

The free Candidate Handbook from the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) is the official guide to the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE). It covers the rules, registration, test day and scoring, and ends with abridged content outlines, approved abbreviations and sample questions. Any other NPTE study guide is a commercial review book. For what to study, FSBPT’s full content outlines, in effect since January 2024, list every area and how many items it gets.

  • FreeHandbook and full content outlines
  • January 2024Content outlines in effect since
  • Version 2025.02Current Candidate Handbook
Download the Candidate Handbook

Updated October 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

What’s in the NPTE Candidate Handbook

  • General information about FSBPT and how NPTE questions are written and pretested
  • Exam security, including what counts as sharing questions
  • Eligibility and attempt limits
  • The format, deadlines and scoring
  • FSBPT’s preparation tools
  • Registration, approval, accommodations and scheduling
  • Rescheduling, withdrawing and no-shows
  • Test day: check-in, ID, what you can take in, breaks and notes
  • Results, score transfers and retakes, then the appeal policy
  • Appendices: abridged content outlines for physical therapists (PT) and physical therapist assistants (PTA), approved abbreviations, medication terms and sample questions

FSBPT also posts each section as its own web page.

NPTE content outlines for PT and PTA

Content areaPT itemsPTA items
Cardiovascular and pulmonary22 to 2720 to 27
Musculoskeletal44 to 5431 to 40
Neuromuscular and nervous39 to 4827 to 35
Integumentary8 to 113 to 8
Metabolic and endocrine4 to 64 to 6
Gastrointestinal3 to 60 to 4
Genitourinary2 to 50 to 4
Lymphatic4 to 72 to 6
System interactions8 to 105 to 7
Equipment, devices and technologies5 to 68 to 10
Therapeutic modalities4 to 65 to 7
Safety and protection5 to 76 to 8
Professional responsibilities4 to 52 to 4
Research and evidence-based practice3 to 51 to 3
Total180140

Body-system items are also split by task. On the PT exam that’s examination; foundations for evaluation, differential diagnosis and prognosis; and interventions. On the PTA exam it’s data collection; diseases and conditions that impact effective treatment; and interventions. The exams themselves have 225 and 180 questions because they also carry unscored pretest items.

The full outlines describe each area in detail, from joint biomechanics to telehealth and statistics. FSBPT notes that some skills, such as communication and teaching, aren’t named in the outline but are tested across many areas.

Which NPTE study guide should you use?

Start with FSBPT’s handbook and the outline for your level, since they’re free and come from the people who write the exam.

Commercial NPTE study guides are written by prep companies, not FSBPT. TherapyEd’s National Physical Therapy Examination Review and Study Guide, by O’Sullivan, Siegelman, Shaffer and Sutlive, is in its 29th edition, and TherapyEd publishes a separate PTA guide. Prices and what each includes are on the study options page.

NPTE study options compared →NPTE study plan →

Abbreviations and medication names on the NPTE

The handbook lists the abbreviations approved for use on the exam, from ACE inhibitor and BMI to FEV1 and METs, so you’ll see them without explanation. Questions may name a drug by its class or by a generic or brand name; FSBPT’s exam committees decide that question by question. FSBPT says it generally doesn’t give reference ranges for typical lab values.

Sources: FSBPT · TherapyEd and 4 more. Checked October 2026.

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

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