How to apply for and schedule the PANCE

Who can take the PANCE

You must graduate from an entry-level PA program accredited by ARC-PA. NCCPA counts your program as accredited if it was accredited when you started. A medical degree from another country doesn’t qualify on its own.

If you graduated on or after January 1, 2003, and have never been certified, you can take the PANCE for up to six years after completing your program, with up to six attempts. Whichever runs out first ends your eligibility. To become eligible again, you’d have to complete a full ARC-PA accredited program again.

Step by step

1. Apply through your NCCPA online account and pay the $550 fee. Applications open 180 days before your expected program completion date. Request testing accommodations now, if you need them.
2. Watch for your exam acknowledgement email. It comes within three days and shows your 180-day exam timeframe and how to schedule.
3. Schedule your date with Pearson VUE. There are more than 300 test centers, and testing runs throughout the year, but dates depend on what’s open in your window.
4. Your program director confirms your completion date. You can test from seven days after that.
5. On the day, arrive 30 minutes early with two valid IDs that match your name in NCCPA’s records.

Rescheduling, cancelling and retakes

• Reschedule or cancel through Pearson VUE at least one business day before your appointment, or you lose the whole fee.
• If you won’t test in your timeframe at all, tell NCCPA in writing. Cancelling with Pearson VUE alone doesn’t withdraw your application.
• You can take the PANCE only once in any 90-day period and no more than three times in a calendar year.
• You can only be registered for one NCCPA exam at a time.

Can you take it online?

No. NCCPA gives the PANCE only at Pearson VUE test centers. The only NCCPA exam taken online from home is PANRE-LA, the longitudinal recertification option for PAs who are already certified.

Staying certified: PANRE and PANRE-LA

Certification runs in a 10-year cycle of five two-year periods. Every two years you log 100 CME credits and pay a maintenance fee. By the end of year 10 you must pass a recertification exam, and you choose between two.

PANRE is a 240-question exam in four 60-minute blocks at a Pearson VUE center, taken in year 9 or 10. PANRE-LA is taken online on your own device: 25 questions a quarter, with five minutes per question, over 12 quarters in years 7 to 9. Both cost $350. If you don’t pass PANRE-LA, you can still take PANRE in year 10.