Pharmacy Technician Practice Test (PTCE): 40 Free Questions With Answers

The Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE) earns the CPhT credential from PTCB. It is a computer-based exam with 90 multiple-choice questions: 80 count toward your score and 10 are unscored. Plan on 2 hours: a 5-minute tutorial and a 1 hour 50 minute exam.

To sit for it, you complete a PTCB-recognized training program, or have at least 500 hours of work experience as a pharmacy technician.

The content outline splits the exam into four areas:

Answer 10 questions at a time; each shows the answer and why. Medications is the biggest area, so if your score is low, start with drug classes, brand and generic names, and common doses.

Every question is original, written to the PTCB outline. None is copied from the PTCE or a test bank.

1. Day 1: take this test and list the areas you missed.
2. Days 2 and 3: medications.
3. Day 4: federal rules: controlled substance schedules, DEA forms and pseudoephedrine limits.
4. Day 5: patient safety: look-alike sound-alike drugs and error-prone abbreviations.
5. Day 6: order entry and pharmacy math: days supply, conversions and dosing.
6. Day 7: a timed 90-question practice exam.

Check your state board of pharmacy for registration or license rules, then start the job search: pharmacy technician jobs near you, the pharmacy tech resume guide and the interview questions.

1. A printed label reads 'warfarin 5.0 mg'. What is the safety problem?
   Answer: The trailing zero could be misread as 50 mg. A trailing zero after a decimal can be misread as a dose ten times larger if the decimal point is missed. It should read 5 mg.
2. A caregiver asks if she can crush her father's metoprolol succinate extended-release tablets into applesauce. What is the best answer from the label?
   Answer: No. It should not be crushed or chewed. Metoprolol succinate ER tablets should not be crushed or chewed, because that can release too much drug at once. The pharmacist can advise on other options.
3. Under federal law, tramadol is in which DEA schedule?
   Answer: Schedule IV. The DEA lists tramadol as a Schedule IV controlled substance.
4. A customer at the counter asks for the generic name of Lipitor. Which drug is it?
   Answer: Atorvastatin. Lipitor is the brand name for atorvastatin, a statin that lowers cholesterol.
5. A stock bottle says 'EXP 03/2027'. Through what date can it be used?
   Answer: March 31, 2027. When only a month and year are given, the product is good through the last day of that month.
6. A pharmacy needs to order oxycodone tablets from its wholesaler. Which ordering method does federal law require for this Schedule II drug?
   Answer: DEA Form 222 or CSOS. Schedule I and II drugs must be ordered on DEA Form 222 or through the Controlled Substance Ordering System (CSOS).
7. A prescription is for 90 tablets with the sig '1 tab po tid'. What is the days supply?
   Answer: 30 days. Tid means 3 tablets a day. 90 tablets divided by 3 tablets per day equals 30 days.
8. An NDC has three segments. What does the first segment identify?
   Answer: The labeler, the company that markets the drug. The first segment of the NDC is the labeler code assigned by the FDA. The second is the product and the third is the package.
9. Ms. Tran takes levothyroxine and just started a calcium carbonate supplement. What timing does the levothyroxine label advise?
   Answer: Take them at least 4 hours apart. Calcium carbonate can block levothyroxine absorption, so the label advises separating them by at least 4 hours.
10. The FDA calls a recall Class I. What does that mean?
    Answer: Use of the product could cause serious harm or death. A Class I recall means there is a reasonable chance the product will cause serious health problems or death. It is the most serious class.
11. Why does a pharmacy shelf label show hydrOXYzine and hydrALAZINE with some capital letters?
    Answer: To highlight the letters that differ in look-alike names. Tall Man lettering highlights the parts of look-alike names that differ, which helps prevent picking the wrong drug.
12. Under the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act, what is the most pseudoephedrine base a store may sell one buyer in a single day?
    Answer: 3.6 grams. The federal daily sales limit is 3.6 grams of pseudoephedrine base per buyer, no matter how many purchases are made.
13. An order reads 'insulin regular 4U subcutaneously before meals'. Why is this order unsafe as written?
    Answer: The letter U can be misread as a 0 or a 4. The Joint Commission bans 'U' for units because it can be misread as 0 or 4, leading to large overdoses. The word 'units' should be written out.
14. Ciprofloxacin carries a boxed warning about which serious side effect?
    Answer: Tendon inflammation and tendon rupture. Fluoroquinolones such as ciprofloxacin have a boxed warning for tendinitis and tendon rupture, among other serious effects.
15. Under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), the product identifier on a prescription drug package includes which items?
    Answer: NDC, serial number, lot number, and expiration date. The DSCSA product identifier combines the NDC and a unique serial number with the lot number and expiration date, usually in a 2D barcode.
16. A 150 mL bottle of cough syrup has the sig '2 tsp po tid'. How many days will the bottle last?
    Answer: 5 days. 2 teaspoons is 10 mL. Three doses a day is 30 mL a day. 150 mL divided by 30 mL equals 5 days.
17. A prescriber writes a dose of half a milligram. Which way of writing it is safest?
    Answer: 0.5 mg. A leading zero before the decimal (0.5 mg) keeps it from being read as 5 mg. Trailing zeros and fractions are error-prone.
18. Lisinopril belongs to which drug class?
    Answer: ACE inhibitor. Lisinopril ends in -pril, the stem for ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) inhibitors used for blood pressure and heart failure.
19. Which of these drugs has a narrow therapeutic index, so small changes in dose or blood level can cause harm?
    Answer: Lithium. Lithium has a narrow gap between a helpful level and a toxic level, so patients need blood level checks.
20. A patient faints and has a seizure one hour after getting a vaccine at the pharmacy. Which national system is used to report this event?
    Answer: VAERS. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), run by CDC and FDA, collects reports of problems after vaccination.
21. A pharmacy pulls several bottles of expired non-controlled drugs from the shelf. What is the usual way to send them back for credit?
    Answer: Send them to a reverse distributor. Reverse distributors take back expired drugs from pharmacies, process manufacturer credit, and handle proper disposal.
22. What does the sig '1 tab po ac and hs' mean?
    Answer: Take 1 tablet by mouth before meals and at bedtime. Ac means before meals and hs means at bedtime.
23. Which of these drugs is on the ISMP list of high-alert medications?
    Answer: Insulin. Insulin is a high-alert medication. An error with it is more likely to cause serious harm.
24. A prescription for zolpidem, a Schedule IV drug, was written on February 3 with refills. Under federal law, what is the most it can be refilled?
    Answer: 5 times within 6 months of the date written. Federal law limits Schedule III and IV prescriptions to 5 refills, and none may be filled more than 6 months after the date issued.
25. While waiting for her prescription, Kim asks the technician which cough syrup is safe to take with her heart medicines. What should the technician do?
    Answer: Ask the pharmacist to talk with her. OTC recommendations and questions about drug safety need the pharmacist's judgment. Technicians refer these questions.
26. A parent will give a 2.5 mL liquid dose to a baby. Which device should be given with the medicine?
    Answer: An oral syringe. An oral syringe measures small liquid doses accurately and cannot take a needle, so it is safe for mouth use.
27. Dev already fills losartan every month. Today he drops off a new prescription for valsartan from a different doctor. What should the technician notice?
    Answer: Both drugs are ARBs, a possible therapeutic duplication. Losartan and valsartan are both angiotensin receptor blockers. Taking both may be a duplication, so the pharmacist needs to review it.
28. A child weighs 22 lb. The dose is 10 mg/kg. How many milligrams is one dose?
    Answer: 100 mg. 22 lb divided by 2.2 equals 10 kg. 10 kg times 10 mg/kg equals 100 mg.
29. Allopurinol is most often prescribed for which condition?
    Answer: Preventing gout attacks. Allopurinol lowers uric acid in the blood, which helps prevent gout attacks.
30. During a count, a pharmacy finds that a full bottle of hydromorphone is missing and was likely stolen. Which DEA form is used to report the theft?
    Answer: DEA Form 106. DEA Form 106 reports theft or significant loss. The DEA field office must also be told in writing within one business day of discovery.
31. Eliquis is the brand name for which drug?
    Answer: Apixaban. Eliquis is apixaban, an oral anticoagulant (blood thinner).
32. Rosa started enalapril for high blood pressure four weeks ago. She now has a dry, tickly cough that will not go away. What is the most likely cause?
    Answer: A known side effect of ACE inhibitors. A lasting dry cough is a common side effect of ACE inhibitors such as enalapril. The pharmacist should be told so the prescriber can be contacted.
33. A technician mixes amoxicillin powder with water to make an oral suspension. Per the label, when should any unused suspension be thrown away?
    Answer: After 14 days. The amoxicillin label says to discard unused reconstituted suspension after 14 days.
34. A box of unopened insulin vials arrives in the pharmacy. Where should the vials be stored until they are dispensed?
    Answer: In the refrigerator at 36 to 46 degrees F. Unopened insulin should be kept in the refrigerator at 36 to 46 degrees F (2 to 8 degrees C) and never frozen.
35. What does the sig '1 tab po bid' mean?
    Answer: Take 1 tablet by mouth twice a day. Tab means tablet, po means by mouth, and bid means twice a day.
36. A patient who takes warfarin wants to buy ibuprofen for back pain. Why should the technician ask the pharmacist to talk with him?
    Answer: The two drugs together raise the risk of bleeding. NSAIDs such as ibuprofen can increase bleeding risk in patients on warfarin. This is a serious drug interaction that needs pharmacist review.
37. At pickup, a technician asks each patient for their date of birth and address before handing over the bag. This mainly prevents which type of error?
    Answer: Giving a prescription to the wrong patient. Checking two patient identifiers at pickup helps make sure the prescription goes to the right person.
38. Empagliflozin and dapagliflozin share the stem -gliflozin. Which class are they in?
    Answer: SGLT2 inhibitors. The -gliflozin stem marks SGLT2 inhibitors, oral drugs for type 2 diabetes that help the kidneys remove glucose in urine.
39. Isotretinoin can cause severe birth defects. The FDA requires a special program, iPLEDGE, for prescribers, pharmacies, and patients. What type of FDA program is this?
    Answer: A Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS). iPLEDGE is a REMS, an FDA required safety program for drugs with serious risks.
40. A technician just counted sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim tablets. What should be done with the counting tray before the next drug is counted?
    Answer: Clean it with 70 percent isopropyl alcohol. Drug dust left on a tray can contaminate the next drug and cause allergic reactions, such as to sulfa drugs. Trays are cleaned with 70 percent isopropyl alcohol.

• PTCB: PTCE Content Outline (effective January 2026)
• PTCB: Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT)