Question 1
An emergency department patient needs blood cultures, an aPTT and a lithium heparin chemistry. Which is collected first?
The phlebotomy exams, explained
Two national exams certify phlebotomy technicians. The NHA CPT exam is 120 items in 2 hours. The ASCP PBT exam is 80 questions in 2 hours, and it adapts to your answers. Both test the same job, with different weights.
| CPT exam | 120 items (100 scored, 20 pretest) in 2 hours |
|---|---|
| PBT exam | 80 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours, computer adaptive |
| Scores | CPT: 200 to 500, pass at 390. PBT: 100 to 999, pass at 400. |
| Where | CPT: at your school, a PSI test center or by live remote proctoring |
What the CPT exam covers
The CPT Test Plan, from NHA's 2024 job analysis, splits the 100 scored items into five domains. Core knowledge such as anatomy, terminology and labeling can appear in any of them.
- Safety and Compliance: 26 items
- Patient Preparation: 20 items
- Routine Blood Collections: 28 items
- Special Collections: 12 items
- Processing: 14 items
What the PBT exam covers
The PBT Examination Content Guideline (revised 25 September 2025) gives six content areas. Specimen collection alone is close to half the exam. Lab results on the exam are shown in both conventional and SI units.
- Circulatory System: 5 to 10%
- Specimen Collection: 45 to 50%
- Specimen Handling, Transport, and Processing: 15 to 20%
- Waived and Point-of-Care Testing: 5 to 10%
- Non-Blood Specimens: 5 to 10%
- Laboratory Operations: 15 to 20%
How the time works
CPT: 2 hours for all 120 items, about a minute each. You cannot tell which 20 items are unscored pretest items, so answer every one.
PBT: 2 hours for 80 questions, about 90 seconds each. The exam is computer adaptive, so each question depends on how you answered the ones before.
How this course follows both
One bank of original questions is written to both outlines and sorted into six areas. Pick your exam on the course home page: the full practice exam in your exam's format, the pace of timed sets and your study plan follow it.
Try 3 questions
Question 2
The sharps container on a phlebotomy cart reaches its fill line halfway through morning rounds. What does the phlebotomist do?
Question 3
Four specimen tubes go into a centrifuge. How are they placed?
Next step
Questions people ask
How many questions are on the NHA CPT exam?
120 items: 100 scored and 20 pretest items that do not count, in 2 hours.
How many questions are on the ASCP PBT exam?
80 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours. The exam is computer adaptive.
Which areas carry the most questions?
Collecting the specimen on both: Routine Blood Collections is the largest CPT domain at 28 of 100 scored items, and Specimen Collection is 45 to 50% of the PBT exam.
Can I take the CPT exam from home?
Yes. NHA offers the CPT exam at your school, at a PSI test center or by live remote proctoring.