Testing the Test: Evaluating the Role of Commercial Practice Exams in NPTE Preparedness

Rahul Shah, Rudri Purohit, Bhupinder Singh
Purpose:

This study was undertaken to understand the students’ perceptions of the new version of NPTE and regarding the usability and accuracy of practice exams. 

Methods:

An online questionnaire was circulated among 860 physical therapy graduates who had given NPTE in January and/or April 2024. The survey consisted of questions about preferences for practice exams, similarity between those and the NPTE, perceptions and experience of giving NPTE 2024. The collected data was analyzed, with descriptive statistics used to interpret the results on a Likert scale. 

Results:

 Our study revealed that 45% of students believe that the NPTE could 'somewhat accurately but not completely' test their ability to practice as a PT. More than 50% felt 'unsure of passing the NPTE' after the exam. In 2024, NPTE, the musculoskeletal (>35%) and non-systems (>20%) were rated as the top two 'challenging,' whereas the neuromuscular (>27%) and other systems (>20%) were rated as the top two 'easy.'   85% of respondents found full-length practice exams could accurately predict the NPTE. Specifically, 35% rated the practice exams as being about 70% like the NPTE (7/10 on a Likert scale). Further, 65% of students preferred the PEAT (7.5±1/10 on Likert scale), followed by 25% preferring the NPTE Final Frontier exam (7.2±2/10 on Likert scale) followed by that other commercial exams (5.5±2/10 on Likert scale). More than 80% of students prefer to join an external NPTE preparation program, with >70% rating it 10/10 on its ability to prepare them for the NPTE.

Conclusion(s):

The study shows that students who took 2024 NPTE exam found the current practice exams available in market to be accurate predictors of the actual NPTE, despite that many still felt unsure of passing. This pilot study informs the PT community regarding the perception of students on the 2024 NPTE-related changes and competency assessment accuracy of current practice exams. 

Implications:

This study highlights the need for improvements in NPTE preparation methods. Further studies can be done to find correlation between practice exam and NPTE scores and the factors and challenges impacting the gap between performance and practice of NPTE among PT students. 

Funding acknowledgements:
Midwestern University Research Grant
Keywords:
License Exam
Students
Practice exams
Primary topic:
Education
Second topic:
Professional issues
Third topic:
Education: methods of teaching and learning
Did this work require ethics approval?:
Yes
Name the institution and ethics committee that approved your work:
Midwestern University, USA
Provide the ethics approval number:
24031
Has any of this material been/due to be published or presented at another national or international conference prior to the World Physiotherapy Congress 2025?:
No

Back to the listing