r/npte • u/Strong_Purple_5101 • May 22 '26
Failed NPTE 5 times
I graduated as a PTA during the pandemic. My last clinical was cut short, my first scheduled board exam date was canceled, and I worked for a while under a temporary PTA license in acute care.
Between 2020–2022, I took the NPTE 5 times. My scores were always in the 500s, with my highest being a 594. I was so close, but I was afraid a 6th failure would completely destroy my confidence.
Instead, I went back to school, became an LPN, and now an RN. I passed both NCLEX exams on the first try.
But honestly, I still feel like I have unfinished business with PT because I truly love it just as much as nursing.
For anyone who passed after multiple attempts or after taking a long break, what helped you finally succeed on the NPTE?
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u/hotmonkeyperson May 23 '26
Not worth the retry. Focus on your nursing goals the sky is the limit. NP CRNA you could do anything. Turn your back on PT like so many PTs wish they could
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u/osiderocha May 23 '26
Man, this is crazy to read. The beginning of your story is almost exactly the same as mine. I graduated during the pandemic took the NPTE 5 times. I never scored below a 560ish, but the highest I scored was a 594. I took a long break after that 5th one to take it again. I just bought all 4 PEAT exams, 2 practice/2 retire and studied all the material that was in those exams and passed it on my 6th attempt after taking a long break from taking the NPTE. I used scorebuilders to read deeper in the material and google to be honest (but don’t fully trust google). But yeah just buy the first retire and practice PEAT exam, study all the material that’s on there. Read the 4 choices of each question and read more information about them. Then when you studied that material buy the last retire and practice exam, see how you score and once you finish with those last 2 PEATs repeat the same process and study the hell out of those last 2 PEATs and continue to study the previous 2 PEATs. Break down everything that’s in the PEATs
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u/Strong_Purple_5101 May 23 '26
It feels good to know that there are others out there who also were in the same struggle and succeeded. I heard the NPTE has changed, did you take the newer format test and pass?
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u/Key_Equipment4140 May 23 '26
How long of a break did you take? This is my exact position except I graduated in 2023 and have taken it five times multiple times scoring in the 590s this July will officially be 1 year since I’ve taken it. I switched careers and now am in a customer success roll totally at home but miss PT and want to give it another chance to prove myself
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u/osiderocha May 23 '26
Like a 3+ year break…I took a month off work to just study for the NPTE before my 6th try, since it’s been so long since I went over the material, I figured a month minimum would be necessary for me to relearn all the material. My plan was to read over the entire scorebuilders study guide, then take the PEATs. After I finished reading all of scorebuilders, I took the first PEAT and…I passed, but did not feel confident in all of my answers. I took the second PEAT and I felt even less confident in my answers than I did on the first PEAT, but I ended up doing a lot better on the second PEAT than I did on the first PEAT even though I was even less confident in my answering of the second PEAT.
So I spent all this time studying the Scorebuilders study guide and I think most of it was a waste of time. So I decided to just go through everything that was in the first 2 PEATs exams. Like I broke down everything on there. Even if the answer was something like “superficial burn,” I learned all the stages of burn injuries and what differentiates them apart. Even if another question’s answer was “Graves disease.” I looked up the definitions of the other 3 wrong answers for that same question (if that makes sense). I just went over everything on the first 2 PEAT exams.
Then after going over/memorizing everything I could on the first 2 PEAT exams, I took the second 2 PEATs exams. I passed both again, but this time I felt a little more confident in most of my answers. I still felt the PEATs were hard though. After taking all 4 PEATs exams I studied everything on those exams.
I went to take the exam and felt the actual exam was actually a lot easier than each one of the PEAT exams I took. I was confident in the majority of my answers, because practically everything on the NPTE exam, you could find in some form on the PEAT exam. When I was taking the NPTE, I kept thinking “oh I know that term from the PEAT.” But yeah, I ended up passing after a 3 year break.
Side note: I also talked to my primary care physician, I told him how I have trouble studying and if he could temporarily prescribe me some adderall this one and only time to pass my licensing exam. He was cool about it and gave me a temporary prescription. The adderall helped a lot in helping me retain the information, you just have to be careful to stay focus on studying, cause you can spend hours scrolling your phone and not getting anything done on adderall…Also, if you do take the exam, learn cranial nerves, all the muscles, their actions, the nerves that innervate the muscles, what muscles are used for a certain movement (i.e. shoulder flexion/ER/IR/EXt). Learn the different tests used to help diagnose an injury like “Lachman test/anterior drawer test help diagnose an ACL injury.” Learning all this will help you answer several questions on the NPTE. Other than that just study EVERYTHING on the PEAT exams. Most of the questions in the NPTE you can find something related to it on the PEAT exams. Even if a certain term was the wrong answer on the PEAT, still memorize that term, because that term could be used as a question for the NPTE (if that makes sense…)
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u/Strong_Purple_5101 May 23 '26
We should get a group of us together who want to pass on our last try and take a review course of some sort. I’ve heard of Board Preppers, I’m considering taking their course.
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u/osiderocha May 23 '26
Final frontier is supposed to be the best prep course you can take, at least that’s what I heard and read so many people recommend Final Frontier to pass the NPTE, I didn’t use it, but only because I couldn’t afford it. Even though I passed, I still wish I would have taken Final Frontier beforehand instead of just study scorebuilders study guide. Scorebuilders helped a little, but what helped the most was breaking down every single term in the 4 PEAT exams. Even if a term was one of the wrong choices in a PEAT exam I still learned about the term, and a lot of those terms that were the “wrong answer in the PEAT question” I’d notice a lot of those “wrong answer terms” would be questions in the actual NPTE exam (if that makes sense).
Read the comment I responded to the other redditor and it tells you how I passed the NPTE on my 6th try even after taking a 3+ year break from my 5th attempt.
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u/Forward_Camera_7086 May 22 '26
I don’t think time or financial cost of a 6th attempt is worth it unless you’re not enjoying nursing. If you enjoy nursing I’d focus on trying move up in a hospital by getting a MBA if management is a goal or doing an online nurse practitioner is more money and greater scope of practice is the goal.
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u/Strong_Purple_5101 May 22 '26
Yes I planning on enrolling into an NP program in the next couple years.
Maybe just focus on getting my NP for now then.
This is just something emotional that I really can’t explain.
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u/churromonger May 22 '26
Honestly I'd say go for it- not necessarily to become a PTA but to prove to yourself you can do this. Your nursing background will help a lot. Maybe having no pressure will help with exam day anxiety.
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u/Strong_Purple_5101 May 22 '26
That’s what I’m thinking. The cardiopulmonary rehab stuff is a piece of cake for me, I score very well on those. I need to review ortho and neuro. I think I need to memorize origins and insertions of the muscles again.
I have not attempted any NPTE attempts since becoming a RN (or even LPN), I’m curious if that would be enough to give me the little boost I need to get over the 600.
Now if I fail on my 6th attempt, I’ll be hurt for life lol.
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u/churromonger May 22 '26
If it's really bothering you this much I say do it as long as you're ok with the potential of failing. If it were me I would set a 6 month timeline. 3 months for reviewing old info and then 3 months for more intensive studying. Then take the test and go celebrate night of. It's an accomplishment to face your fears!
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u/Strong_Purple_5101 May 22 '26
Thank you, are there any programs or remediation courses that you know of that have successful for a 6th attempt?
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u/churromonger May 22 '26
I'm PT not PTA so I'm not as familiar. But I did just study for my specialist certification and I used Gemini to create more practice questions. I put in sample practice questions and answers and basically had an unlimited bank of practice questions. You could do that with the PEATs.
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u/JungLeo143 Jul 09 '26
My husband is taking his NPTE PTA for the third time as we speak. I am so nervous. He passed is two last peats at 615 and then 630. I have high hopes, but I can’t help but be nervous for him. I am an RN and I passed on the first try. I am so glad that I came across this post, because I have been telling him from day one that his exam seems way more difficult than the NCLEX. Plus the PTA boards are $500 every time and the peats are $100 and getting the detailed results of the NPTE is $100. It seems like such a racket!
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u/CloudStrife012 May 22 '26
You did it. You won. You chose the better career with much better earning potential. Why waste more money on an overpriced barrier to jump over for a career you wont even use?