CPCT/A Exam Guide: The NHA Certified Patient Care Technician/Assistant Exam, Explained
The Certified Patient Care Technician/Assistant (CPCT/A) is the National Healthcareer Association’s credential for the technicians who provide hands-on daily care in hospitals, rehabilitation units, and long-term care. This guide explains the exam from NHA’s own published materials — with one fact in front, because it decides which exam you are actually taking: NHA’s 2025 test plan replaces the 2018 plan for examinations on January 13, 2027. Candidates testing before that date sit the 2018 plan.
The two test plans, and the date that divides them
Both plans share the same five domains and the same exam shape — 100 scored questions plus 20 unscored pretest questions in 2 hours. What changes on January 13, 2027 is the weighting and the task detail inside each domain: Patient Care 45% → 43%; Compliance, Safety, and Professional Responsibility 20% → 19%; Infection Control 11% → 16%; Phlebotomy 14% → 12% (and renamed Phlebotomy and Nonblood Specimen Collection); EKG 10% → 10%. NHA has said the change carries minimal impact to domains and content areas, and there is no pilot scoring period. One transition rule matters if you are testing near the line: candidates who fail within 30 days before the launch retest on the 2025 version. Our CPCT/A Exam Prep bank is built to the 2025 plan — if your exam date is before January 13, 2027, it is not the right product for your sitting, and our program page says so plainly.
Who is eligible
NHA’s eligibility routes pair a high school diploma or GED with preparation in the role: a patient care technician training or education program, or supervised work experience as a patient care technician. Candidates who expect to earn the diploma within 18 months may test under NHA’s provisional window. Because route specifics are NHA’s to set, confirm the exact requirements for your route in NHA’s current candidate handbook before you book.
The exam at a glance
| Questions | 120 (100 scored + 20 unscored pretest) |
| Time | 2 hours |
| Format | Multiple choice |
| Test plan | 2018 plan for exams before January 13, 2027; 2025 plan from January 13, 2027 |
| Passing | Scaled score of 390 on a 200–500 scale |
NHA reported 22,804 CPCT/A exams in 2025, with 75.01% of all attempts passing. That figure counts every attempt, including retakes — treat it as context, not as your personal odds.
The five domains (2025 test plan)
| Domain | Weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Patient Care | 43% | Basic care and ADLs, emotional support, vital signs and weights, intake and output, skin care, mobility and transfers, oxygen and feeding-tube support, condition-change recognition, hospice and postmortem care, delegation priorities |
| 2. Compliance, Safety, and Professional Responsibility | 19% | Scope of practice and professional behavior, two-identifier patient ID and consent, fall prevention, abuse and neglect reporting, OSHA and equipment safety, emergency response, HIPAA, chain of command |
| 3. Infection Control | 16% | Standard and transmission-based precautions, hand hygiene, PPE, the chain of infection and healthcare-associated infections, disinfection, biohazard disposal, aseptic and sterile technique |
| 4. Phlebotomy and Nonblood Specimen Collection | 12% | Venipuncture and capillary collection in the patient-care role, nonblood specimen collection and patient instruction, blood cultures, bedside labeling and chain of custody, point-of-care testing |
| 5. EKG | 10% | Patient and room preparation, electrode application for 3-, 5-, and 12-lead setups, performing the EKG, artifact identification and resolution, dysrhythmia recognition and reporting, external monitors |
Patient Care dominates the exam under both plans — the credential is, at its core, about safe hands-on care and reliable reporting to the nurse. Under the 2025 plan, Infection Control grows by half (11% to 16%), which is why precautions, disinfection contact times, and healthcare-associated infections deserve more of your study time than older outlines suggest.
Scoring, explained honestly
NHA converts your raw performance to a scaled score between 200 and 500, and 390 is the passing score. Scaled scores exist so that different versions of the exam can be held to the same standard; a 390 is not a percentage of anything, and there is no honest way to convert it to one. What you can control is coverage and accuracy in each domain. Our practice exams use a 70% practice benchmark purely as a readiness gauge — it is our number, not NHA’s.
A study plan that fits the blueprint
- Confirm your plan first: check your exam date against January 13, 2027 and study the weights for the plan you will actually sit.
- Baseline: take a full practice exam and record your score by domain, not just overall.
- Drill the gaps: work the domain drills for your weakest domain — Patient Care is the largest, so small gains there move your total the most.
- Re-test under time: take fresh full exams inside the 2-hour limit until your domain scores are consistent.
Start with the free 12-question sample on our CPCT/A Exam Prep page, then decide if the full bank — 1,500 questions across all five domains of the 2025 plan — is right for your study plan. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider: this program is not affiliated with NHA, and NHA does not endorse it.
Enroll now — $49 for the full program
Exam change alert: the CPCT/A test plan changes January 13, 2027
The 2025 CPCT/A test plan governs exams from January 13, 2027; the 2018 plan governs exams before it. Infection Control grows from 11% to 16% of the exam. Read the CPCT/A test plan change page