Pharmacy tech study guide: the official outlines

The PTCE Content Outline

The current outline took effect on January 6, 2026. It has four knowledge areas: Medications (35%), Patient Safety and Quality Assurance (23.75%), Order Entry and Processing (22.50%) and Federal Requirements (18.75%).

Items marked with a star involve calculations. That includes doses, days' supply, conversions, dilutions, sig codes, drug stability and lot and NDC numbers. So math shows up across the exam, not in one section.

The ExCPT Test Plan

NHA's test plan comes from a 2023 job analysis and applies to exams from July 9, 2025. It lists 100 scored questions across five domains. The biggest is the dispensing process, with 43 questions, which covers prescription intake, filling, calculations and compounding.

Each domain lists tasks and knowledge statements. Turn them into a checklist and tick them off as you go.

What to study, in plain terms

• The top prescribed drugs: brand and generic names, class and what they treat.
• Controlled substance schedules, DEA forms and refill rules.
• Pharmacy math: proportions, conversions, weight-based doses, dilutions and days' supply.
• Error prevention: look-alike names, high-alert drugs and safe abbreviations.
• Storage temperatures, recalls and returns.
• For the ExCPT especially: sterile and non-sterile compounding, HIPAA and the technician's role.

Books and paid guides

PTCB's paid tools are practice questions, not a textbook: the Pre-PTCE ($29) and the Practice Bank ($65). Its free reference list names the books and resources the exam draws on. NHA sells its own ExCPT study guide and practice tests. Neither is required to sit the exam.

If you're in a training program, your course textbook is usually enough alongside the outline.