NPTE Exam Information and Outline
National Physical Therapy Examination
NPTE Exam Syllabus & Study Guide
Before you start practicing with our exam simulator, it is essential to understand the official NPTE exam objectives. This course outline serves as your roadmap, breaking down exactly which technical domains and skills will be tested. By reviewing the syllabus, you can identify your strengths and focus your study time on the areas where you need the most improvement.
The information below reflects the latest 2026 course contents as defined by Therapy. We provide this detailed breakdown to help you align your preparation with the actual exam format, ensuring there are no surprises on test day. Use this outline as a checklist to track your progress as you move through our practice question banks.
Below are complete topics detail with latest syllabus and course outline, that will help you good knowledge about exam objectives and topics that you have to prepare. These contents are covered in questions and answers pool of exam.
The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) administers the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE)- the examination that every graduate of a physical therapy or physical therapist assistant education program must pass to become a licensed physical therapist or licensed/certified physical therapist assistant (or to regain licensure/certification if lapsed) in the United States (US). Foreign-educated candidates who wish to become licensed in the US must also take and pass this examination.
The NPTE is a computer-administered examination. The physical therapist licensure examination has five sections each with 50 questions. Of the 250 multiple choice questions- only 200 are scored. The other 50 questions are being pretested to see if they meet the standards to be included in future exams. The physical therapist assistant licensure examination has four sections with a total of 200 multiple choice questions. As in the physical therapist examination- 50 of these questions are being pre-tested and are not scored.
Scoring
The scoring ranges from 200-800. The minimum passing score is 600 for both the PT and PTA exam.
Location
Testing is administered at Prometric Testing Centers. Candidates are not required to test in the jurisdiction for which they are applying for licensure.