Written to NHA's CPT test plan
- Safety and Compliance 26%
- Patient Preparation 20%
- Routine Blood Collections 28%
- Special Collections 12%
- Processing 14%
Free Phlebotomy practice test · 2026 Would you pass the NHA CPT exam today?
10 questions weighted like the real exam. Your score by domain and every answer explained, in about three minutes. No sign-up.
An outpatient keeps pulling her arm back as the phlebotomist prepares the site. The frustrated phlebotomist says loudly, "If you won't hold still, I'll get two people to hold you down and do it anyway." The patient becomes frightened, and the phlebotomist has not touched her. Which legal term best describes the phlebotomist's statement?
Tap an answer, or press A to D
- No sign-up
- Score by exam domain
- Every answer explained
What's on the NHA CPT exam
The NHA CPT (Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT) Exam) is set by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA). Questions are split across these domains:
OSHA, HIPAA and CLSI rules, sharps and exposure control, PPE and isolation precautions, quality control, first aid and incident reports.
Requisitions, two-identifier patient ID, consent, fasting and other test requirements, positioning, choosing a vein and non-blood specimen instructions.
Needles and tubes, additives, the order of draw, tourniquet and venipuncture technique, complications, capillary punctures and labeling. The biggest domain.
Blood cultures, newborn screening, blood donation, glucose tolerance and drug levels, point-of-care tests, blood alcohol and drug screens.
Centrifuging and aliquoting, chilled and light-sensitive specimens, rejection criteria, chain of custody, transport, the LIS and critical values.
- Questions
- 120 (100 scored)
- Time
- 2 h
- Passing
- Scaled score of 390 on a 200 to 500 scale
Source: NHA's CPT test plan. Check the official site before you book.
How this free phlebotomy practice test works
The 10 questions above are spread across the five NHA CPT domains in roughly the same proportions as the real exam, so your result shows where you stand on each part of the official test plan, not just an overall percentage.
You don't need an account. When you finish you'll see your score against our passing benchmark, your score for each domain, and every question with the right answer and a step-by-step explanation. Ten questions is a small sample, so use it to decide what to study first.
The NHA CPT exam in 2026
NHA released an updated CPT exam on January 7, 2026, built on a job analysis of phlebotomy technicians completed in 2024. It has 100 scored questions and 20 unscored pretest questions, and you get 2 hours. You can't tell which questions are pretest items, so treat every question as if it counts.
The scored questions are split into five domains: Safety and Compliance (26), Patient Preparation (20), Routine Blood Collections (28), Special Collections (12) and Processing (14). Questions test both what you know and what you would do, so expect short scenarios about real patients and specimens, not only definitions.
Where to focus
Routine Blood Collections and Safety and Compliance together are 54 of the 100 scored questions. Know the order of draw, what each tube's additive does, how many times to invert each tube, how long a tourniquet can stay on, and what to do when a patient faints or a needlestick happens. Remember that capillary collections use a different order than venipuncture.
The smaller domains are where many candidates lose easy points. Special Collections covers blood cultures, newborn screening cards, glucose tolerance tests and blood alcohol draws, and Processing covers which specimens go on ice, which are protected from light, and how chain of custody works.
Full Phlebotomy prep
Take the free test first, or unlock everything now
7-Day Cram Access
Lowest upfront$157 days
$2.14 a day
One-time payment. We will never charge you again.
- 300+ Phlebotomy practice questions, every answer choice explained
- Unlimited timed mock exams (120 questions)
- Order of Draw Sequencer: all 15 rounds
- Full 15-page printable High-Yield Cram Sheet (PDF)
100% Pass Guarantee + 7-day money-back. How it works
Phlebotomy Exam Pass
Best value$29120 days
$0.24 a day
One-time payment. Nothing renews.
- 300+ Phlebotomy practice questions, every answer choice explained
- Unlimited timed mock exams (120 questions)
- Order of Draw Sequencer: all 15 rounds
- Full 15-page printable High-Yield Cram Sheet (PDF)
100% Pass Guarantee + 7-day money-back. How it works
Phlebotomy exam FAQ
How many questions are on the NHA phlebotomy (CPT) exam?
120 questions: 100 scored and 20 unscored pretest questions, with 2 hours to finish. The pretest questions are mixed in and don't affect your score.
What score do you need to pass the NHA CPT exam?
NHA reports a scaled score from 200 to 500, and 390 or higher passes. NHA doesn't publish a percent-correct cut score, so our results page uses 70% correct as a benchmark to aim above.
What is the order of draw on the NHA phlebotomy exam?
For venipuncture, CLSI's order is blood cultures, light blue (sodium citrate), serum tubes (red or gold), green (heparin), lavender or pink (EDTA), then gray (sodium fluoride/potassium oxalate). Capillary collections are different: EDTA comes first and serum tubes come last.
How hard is the NHA CPT exam, and how long should I study?
NHA doesn't publish a pass rate, so we can't tell you how many people pass. The questions are written at entry level but many are short scenarios, so you need to apply rules like the order of draw, not just recite them. How long to study depends on how recently you finished training. Take the free practice test above and start with your weakest domain.
How much does the NHA CPT exam cost?
NHA lists the current exam fee in its online store at nhanow.com, and the price can be different when your school or employer registers you. Every retake costs the full fee, and you have to wait 30 days between attempts.
How many sticks do you need for the NHA phlebotomy certification?
You need evidence of at least 30 successful venipunctures and 10 capillary or finger sticks on live people. You also need a high school diploma or equivalent and either a phlebotomy training program finished in the last 5 years or supervised phlebotomy work experience (1 year in the last 3 years, or 2 years in the last 5).
Is the NHA CPT better than ASCP, NCCT or AMT phlebotomy certification?
NHA's CPT, ASCP's PBT, NCCT's NCPT and AMT's RPT are all national phlebotomy certifications. They differ in eligibility rules, exam format and fees, and many employers accept more than one. California, Louisiana, Nevada and Washington also have their own state requirements, so check what your state and the employers you want accept before you pick.
Is this affiliated with NHA?
No. Quizprep is an independent study tool and isn't affiliated with the National Healthcareer Association. Our questions are original and written to NHA's published CPT test plan.