Credentialing Guidelines and Requirements

Educators, instructors, and trainers of pharmacy technicians can be recognized as experts in their field by earning the national Certified Pharmacy Technician Educator^™ (CPTEd^™) Certification. CPTEds play a vital role in educating and mentoring students and pharmacy technicians. CPTEds will equip learners with the knowledge and skills necessary for roles in a variety of pharmacy practice settings, to earn national certification (e.g., CPhT), and to make positive impacts on patient care.

To apply to become a CPTEd, a candidate must qualify under one of the following pathways:

Pathway 1: Active PTCB CPhT Certification with at least three years of experience educating, instructing, or training in pharmacy.

Pathway 2: Active NHA CPhT Certification or pharmacy degree (e.g., PharmD, BS Pharm, BSPS) with at least three years of experience educating, instructing, or training in pharmacy.

Once approved, CPTEd candidates will be granted a one-year Candidacy Eligibility Window. Candidates must schedule and take the Multiple Choice Exam and Written Exam during this one-year period. Candidates who fail either the multiple-choice or the written exam will need to retake the failed exam but must pass both exams within the 12-month candidacy window to earn the CPTEd Certification.

Candidates are required to pass both the CPTEd Multiple Choice Exam and the Written Exam within their one-year candidacy eligibility window to earn the CPTEd Certification. The exams are computer-based and administered online and at Pearson VUE test centers nationwide. The CPTEd Multiple Choice Exam consists of 85 questions. The CPTEd Written Exam consists of three prompts that together cover the Education and Instruction Domain of the Content Outline. Be prepared to commit 1 hour 30 minutes for the Multiple Choice Exam (5-minute tutorial, 1 hour and 20-minute exam, and 5-minute post-exam survey) and 1 hour 30 minutes for the Written Exam (30 minutes per prompt). Separate appointments are required, but the exams can be taken in any order.

Content Outline

The content outline lists the knowledge areas required and can be found in Appendix L.

Exam Passing Score

Scores will be released in July 2025.

Preparing for the CPTEd Exams

PTCB has made two resources available to assist candidates in preparing for the CPTEd:

1. CPTEd Content Outline
2. CPTEd References List