The Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT) exam
Awarded by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA) · what the exam is, how it is weighted, how it is scored, and what it takes to keep the credential.
| Questions on screen | 120 |
|---|---|
| Scored questions | 100 |
| Unscored pretest items | 20 |
| Time limit | 2 hours (about 1 minute per question) |
| Passing score | 390 out of 500, scaled |
| Version in force | In effect since January 7, 2026 |
| Pass rate (2024) | 75.96 % of 57,457 exams administered in 2024 |
Source: NHA CPT Test Plan, based on the 2024 job analysis (exam in effect since January 7, 2026)
What the exam is
The NHA Certified Phlebotomy Technician exam has 120 questions: 100 are scored and 20 are unscored pretest items. You get 2 hours. That is one minute per question with no slack, so the exam rewards knowing the material cold rather than reasoning each item out from scratch.
A new version of the exam went live on January 7, 2026. It comes from a job analysis NHA completed in 2024, and NHA's own announcement described the change as having minimal impact on topics and content areas. Study materials written for the previous test plan are not wrong, but they were not built to its weights.
The test plan groups everything into five domains: Safety and Compliance, Patient Preparation, Routine Blood Collections, Special Collections, and Processing. It also lists a block of Core Knowledge (anatomy of the circulatory system, medical terminology, and the like) that is not a domain of its own: those facts show up inside whichever domain applies them.
Source: NHA Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT) Test Plan, based on the 2024 job analysis
The areas and their weight
| Domain | Scored questions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Safety and Compliance | 26 | 26 % |
| Patient Preparation | 20 | 20 % |
| Routine Blood Collections | 28 | 28 % |
| Special Collections | 12 | 12 % |
| Processing | 14 | 14 % |
| Total scored questions | 100 | 100 % |
Source: NHA CPT Test Plan, based on the 2024 job analysis (exam in effect since January 7, 2026)
How it is scored
NHA does not grade the CPT as a percentage. Every NHA exam is reported on a scaled score, and the passing score is 390 out of 500. NHA publishes that number in its annual pass-rate report, and it does not publish how many correct answers map to 390, because that depends on the difficulty of the particular set of questions you get.
For the same reason, this app cannot tell you "you would have passed". What it can do is hold you to a study target: the practice tests here use 70 % as the bar, and the guide says so on every result screen. If you clear 70 % consistently on tests that follow the official split, you are studying at the level the exam expects.
In 2024, NHA administered 57,457 CPT exams and 75.96 % of candidates passed. Roughly one in four did not. The domains where that quarter loses points are the ones with a single right answer: order of draw, tube additives, tourniquet time, needle angle.
Source: NHA, Pass Rates for NHA Examinations Administered in 2024 (revised 1/8/25); NHA CPT Test Plan
What the questions look like
NHA’s published CPT test plan describes the domains and the number of questions, and does not describe the item formats. We do not describe a format the certifying body has not published.
What it costs to sit
The National Healthcareer Association (NHA) sets and publishes the exam fee, and it is not stated in the outline documents this page is built from. Check the current fee with the certifying body before you apply.
The exam changed in January 2026
NHA released updated CPT study materials on October 8, 2025, and the new certification exam on January 7, 2026. Anyone testing after that date sits the new version; there is no choice between old and new.
The five domains and their weights in this app are the ones in the 2024-job-analysis test plan, which is the plan for the January 2026 exam. If you are using a book or a course written before 2025, compare its table of contents with the areas listed here; the names and the emphasis are what changed.
Source: NHA News Center, New CPT Certification Exam & Study Materials Available; NHA CPT Test Plan
Keeping the credential
Passing is the start of a cycle, not the end of one. This is what the National Healthcareer Association (NHA) requires afterwards.
- Recertify every two years.
- Ten continuing education credits per cycle, where two hours of continuing education equal one NHA credit. Leftover credits do not carry over to the next cycle.
- There is a one-month grace period; not meeting the requirement before the expiration date voids the credential.
- Reinstatement is possible within one year of expiry with 15 CE credits, plus the recertification and reinstatement fees. After one year there is no reinstatement: you re-register, retake the exam and pay the full price.
- A provisional certification expires twelve months after the exam and can be neither recertified nor reinstated.
- NHA’s own blog gives the renewal fee as $195, and $65 for each additional NHA certification with no extra continuing education. That figure comes from the blog, not from the fee page, which we could not open.
Source: NHA Candidate Handbook; NHA Help Center, How do I keep my NHA certification current; NHA blog, How do I renew my NHA certification.
How to study for it
- Work in the proportions above. A practice test that pulls at random from a whole question bank hides your weak areas by burying them among the strong ones; one built with the published split shows you where the exam will actually hurt.
- Train at the pace of the real thing: this exam runs at about 1 minute per question.
- Study by area, not by volume. Finish one area, then measure it, then move on. A score of 90 % on eight questions is not mastery of anything.
- Read the explanation of the questions you got right, not only of the ones you missed. A lucky guess and a correct answer look identical on a score line.
- Answer every question as if it counts: you cannot tell the unscored pretest items apart from the rest.
How ScrubCert prepares you for it
ScrubCert is an iPhone app. Its NHA CPT practice tests carry the same number of questions as the scored part of the real exam, the same time limit, and the same number of questions per area that the certifying body publishes. Every explanation says why the correct answer is correct, why each of the other three is not, and names the public document it rests on.
Without paying anything you get the full guide to this exam, the first three questions of every area with their explanations, a diagnostic you can repeat every week, and five new questions a day. The rest is unlocked with a single payment that never renews: no subscription, no advertisements, no account, and nothing sent off your phone.
Read how we write the questions and which sources we use and which we refuse.
Questions people ask
How many questions is the NHA CPT exam?
The exam has 120 questions on screen: 100 are scored and 20 are unscored pretest items.
How long do you get?
You get 2 hours, which works out to about 1 minute per question.
What score do you need to pass?
NHA does not grade the CPT as a percentage. Every NHA exam is reported on a scaled score, and the passing score is 390 out of 500. NHA publishes that number in its annual pass-rate report, and it does not publish how many correct answers map to 390, because that depends on the difficulty of the particular set of questions you get.
What is the pass rate?
NHA reports 75.96 % of 57,457 exams administered in 2024.
How do you keep the credential after you pass?
Recertify every two years. Ten continuing education credits per cycle, where two hours of continuing education equal one NHA credit. Leftover credits do not carry over to the next cycle.
Is ScrubCert an official product of the certifying body?
No. ScrubCert is an independent study aid. It follows the published outline, it does not reproduce any real exam question, and it has no connection with any certifying body.
The other certifications
This app is an independent study aid. It is not official and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA), the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA), American Medical Technologists (AMT), the National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT), any school or training program, any test administration company, or any publisher. All names of examinations and organizations are used only to describe the exams this app prepares for. It does not reproduce any real exam question.
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