Study guide
TEST TAKING SKILLS 2009
The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) designs and administers the National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE) for the 53 United States
Jurisdictions that utilize the NPTE as one of several criteria to determine if you are qualified to practice physical therapy in their state.
The NPTE was revised effective March 1, 2008 and is carefully designed, constantly reviewed and statistically correlated to provide a standardized and defensible indicator of minimum practice competence. An increasing number of jurisdictions also require a second examination, the “Jurisprudence Exam,” which tests the applicant’s knowledge of the licensing State’s physical therapy and related laws. Reference:
FSBPT: 2007 NPTE Candidate Handbook for the National Physical Therapy
Examinations: PT, PTA p. 16. The test taking techniques in this chapter can also be applied to this examination.
Exam Structure
The current NPTE is five testing-hours long and has 250 questions broken up into five blocks of fifty questions. Of these 250 questions, 200 are scored, and 50 are pre-test questions to be “experienced” under exam conditions for possible inclusion in future exams. These pre-test items are representative of the entire content outline of the exam and are equally distributed throughout the exam (about ten questions per block). Reference: FSBPT: 2007 NPTE Candidate Handbook for the National Physical
Therapy Examinations: PT, PTA p. 12-13.
Attempts Per Year
The FSBPT allows each candidate three exam attempts per twelve-month period, and many jurisdictions also have additional limitations on the number of examinations each candidate may attempt in a lifetime. Thus, we strongly suggest that you check with your jurisdiction at the beginning of your exam process to determine what, if any, additional restrictions exist in your Jurisdiction that could affect your ability to become licensed. Reference: FSBPT: 2007 NPTE Candidate Handbook
The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) designs and administers the National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE) for the 53 United States
Jurisdictions that utilize the NPTE as one of several criteria to determine if you are qualified to practice physical therapy in their state.
The NPTE was revised effective March 1, 2008 and is carefully designed, constantly reviewed and statistically correlated to provide a standardized and defensible indicator of minimum practice competence. An increasing number of jurisdictions also require a second examination, the “Jurisprudence Exam,” which tests the applicant’s knowledge of the licensing State’s physical therapy and related laws. Reference:
FSBPT: 2007 NPTE Candidate Handbook for the National Physical Therapy
Examinations: PT, PTA p. 16. The test taking techniques in this chapter can also be applied to this examination.
Exam Structure
The current NPTE is five testing-hours long and has 250 questions broken up into five blocks of fifty questions. Of these 250 questions, 200 are scored, and 50 are pre-test questions to be “experienced” under exam conditions for possible inclusion in future exams. These pre-test items are representative of the entire content outline of the exam and are equally distributed throughout the exam (about ten questions per block). Reference: FSBPT: 2007 NPTE Candidate Handbook for the National Physical
Therapy Examinations: PT, PTA p. 12-13.
Attempts Per Year
The FSBPT allows each candidate three exam attempts per twelve-month period, and many jurisdictions also have additional limitations on the number of examinations each candidate may attempt in a lifetime. Thus, we strongly suggest that you check with your jurisdiction at the beginning of your exam process to determine what, if any, additional restrictions exist in your Jurisdiction that could affect your ability to become licensed. Reference: FSBPT: 2007 NPTE Candidate Handbook