EPPP exam format, scoring and passing score

From fall 2027, the EPPP is one exam: 215 questions in a single session, five hours of testing plus an optional 30-minute break, four kinds of question, and a pass or fail decided on a total score. Today's two exams work differently. Part 1 has 225 questions in 4 hours and 15 minutes, Part 2 has 170 in 4 hours and 10 minutes, and each reports a scaled score from 200 to 800, with 500 the score ASPPB recommends for independent practice. This guide sets out the integrated EPPP's format and scoring as ASPPB describes them, how today's scaled scores work, how ASPPB writes and checks the questions, and which numbers ASPPB has not published yet, so you can tell a fact from a guess when you meet one elsewhere.

The short answer

• 215 questions, 175 of them scored. "Both exams include 215 questions: 175 scored and 40 unscored (pretest) items." Both means the beta test and the integrated EPPP, which are the same exam.
• Five hours, plus an optional break. "Total testing time for both is five (5) hours, plus an optional 30-minute break."
• One session, at a test center. The integrated EPPP "will be a computer-based exam administered in Pearson testing centers" and "a single-day administration".
• Four item types: traditional multiple choice with three or four options, extended multiple choice, scenario-based case studies with a series of questions, and questions built on audio or video.
• Six domains at fixed shares, from Consultation and Supervision at 10% to Assessment, Intervention, and Ethical and Professional Practice at 20% each.
• One total score decides the result. The integrated EPPP "will have a pass/fail standard based on a total score". Its passing score is set from the beta's data and is not published yet.
• Today's exams use a scaled score. It runs from 200 to 800; ASPPB recommends 500 for independent practice and 450 for supervised practice, and at present every licensing authority accepts 500 for independent practice on Part 1.

One exam, one session

The integrated EPPP brings the knowledge of today's Part 1 and the skills of today's Part 2 into a single exam. ASPPB's FAQ for the beta and the integrated EPPP describes both as "computer-based exams administered in a single session." The beta test in March and April 2027 has the same format, because "the EPPP Beta Test and the integrated EPPP are the same exam".

The questions. Of the 215, "175 questions are scored and contribute to a candidate's result, while 40 questions are unscored pretest items." Pretest items are trial questions: they "help ASPPB evaluate the performance of potential future exam questions." You will not be able to spot them. "Candidates will not know which questions are scored or unscored, and responses to pretest items do not affect a candidate's result." Every question deserves the same care, because any of them may count.

The time. Five hours is 300 minutes. Spread over 215 questions, that is about 84 seconds a question (our arithmetic). A scenario with a series of related questions, or an audio or video item, is likely to take longer than a short multiple-choice question, so the average is a guide, not a pace to hold item by item.

The break. ASPPB words it as five hours "plus an optional 30-minute break", which places the break outside the five hours of testing. Today's exams are different: the handbook says "There are no scheduled breaks during the EPPP. Candidates may take breaks whenever they wish; however, the clock on the time allotted for the exam will continue to run." ASPPB has said the integrated EPPP's own candidate handbook, still to come, will cover its administration. Our guide to EPPP test day covers the rest of today's rules, from check-in to technical problems.

Here is how the integrated EPPP compares with today's two exams:

The four item types

ASPPB lists the item types the beta and the integrated EPPP may include:

• "Traditional multiple-choice questions with three or four response options"
• "Extended multiple-choice questions"
• "Scenario-based case studies accompanied by a series of related questions"
• "Questions based on multimedia content, such as audio or video materials."

ASPPB's news post of February 11, 2026 calls the first type "single-best 3- or 4-option multiple-choice": you choose the one best answer of three or four options. Today's Part 1 is built the same way: "Each item has three or four possible responses, only one of which is the correct answer."

Extended multiple choice is not defined in ASPPB's documents. They name it and do not describe it, so a description of it elsewhere is someone's reading, not ASPPB's, until ASPPB's sample exam or the integrated EPPP's handbook shows it.

Scenario-based case studies give you a case and then several questions about it. Today's Part 2 already does this; its handbook says a scenario can include "Animation (with video/audio portions)", "A description of an interview", "A test protocol" and "Other data that adds information", and that "Each scenario can have up to 5 questions that pertain to that part of the scenario." ASPPB has not said whether the integrated EPPP's case studies follow the same pattern.

Audio and video items are not new either: on today's Part 2, "Some items include audio/video portions." On the integrated EPPP they become part of the one exam everyone takes.

ASPPB explains why the exam mixes these formats: "By incorporating multiple item formats, the EPPP Beta Test is designed to evaluate both foundational knowledge and the practical application of psychological principles in real-world contexts." It has not said how many questions of each type a form holds.

The six domains, and roughly how many questions each

The integrated EPPP is "organized into six competency domains that reflect the knowledge and skills required for entry-level independent practice in psychology." ASPPB publishes each domain's share. It does not publish a count of questions per domain, so the counts below are our arithmetic: each share applied to the 175 scored questions.

Three domains at 20% carry 60% of the exam between them. The smallest, Consultation and Supervision, still comes to about 17 or 18 scored questions, so no domain is safe to skip. Each domain breaks down into competencies and knowledge and skill statements in ASPPB's blueprint, which ASPPB's FAQ says "is available on the ASPPB website under Future EPPP Content Areas." The EPPP domains explained walks through all six.

How the integrated EPPP will be scored

Pass or fail, on one total score. ASPPB's February news post says the integrated EPPP "will have a pass/fail standard based on a total score", and its town hall slides of December 2025 put it the same way: "The pass/fail decision is based on the overall exam performance". ASPPB's documents describe no separate passing score for each domain.

A passing score set from the beta. The beta test exists partly for this. It "provides the performance data needed to establish the exam's passing score using accepted testing and psychometric practices." After the beta, ASPPB analyzes the items and the exam and runs its standard setting; "Once these analyses are complete and the passing score is finalized, ASPPB will release official EPPP Beta Test results to candidates and their participating licensing boards or colleges." Those results are "expected to be available in late June 2027."

Measured against a minimally competent psychologist. ASPPB's FAQ on the integrated EPPP explains the yardstick: "All items are developed with the expectation that a minimally competent entry-level psychologist can answer them, regardless of specialty area or practice setting. In addition, the standard-setting process evaluates whether a minimally competent psychologist would be expected to answer each item correctly, helping ensure the exam remains fair, relevant, and appropriate for general licensure."

That sentence tells you what kind of exam to expect. The questions test what an entry-level psychologist in any setting should know and do, "rather than specialty-specific expertise." If a question seems to need a specialist's knowledge, look for the general principle it tests.

How today's exams are scored

If you will take Part 1 or Part 2 before the launch, or retake one of them until March 31, 2028, these are the rules that apply to you.

A scaled score from 200 to 800. "The scaled scores utilized by ASPPB are an arithmetic conversion of raw scores (the number of questions a candidate answers correctly) to a scale that ranges from 200 to 800." The conversion keeps forms of different difficulty fair: "Thus, candidates are not rewarded because their exam was easier nor penalized because it was more difficult." That is also why no fixed number of correct answers passes. On an easier form you need more of them, on a harder one fewer.

500 and 450. ASPPB recommends "500 for independent practice and 450 for supervised practice", and the scoring procedures for Part 2 "are the same as for the EPPP (Part 1-Knowledge)." Your board makes the decision, not ASPPB: "each board sets the standard for passing in its respective state, province or territory and reports the result to the candidates." How many first-time candidates reach 500 is the subject of our guide to EPPP pass rates.

The passing score by state. This is the question many candidates search for, and the handbook answers it for independent practice: "At the present time, all licensing authorities accept the ASPPB recommended passing score for independent practice on the EPPP (Part 1-Knowledge), but there is some variation among licensing authorities regarding the passing score for supervised practice." As the handbook stands, then, the score to reach on Part 1 for independent practice is 500 in every jurisdiction. For supervised practice, ask your board. Our guide to the EPPP by state goes board by board through eight jurisdictions' scores, Part 2 rules and state exams.

Your score on the day. "Immediately upon completing the EPPP, candidates will receive an unofficial score at the test center." If you score below 500 on either part, you "will automatically receive performance feedback at the test center as part of the score report", which "will be reported by domain in the form of a bar graph. There is no fee for this report." Your board decides whether the score meets its standard.

The beta is the exception. Its results are not given on the day: "Unlike the current EPPP, results will not be available immediately following the examination." ASPPB has not said whether results on the integrated EPPP after its launch will be given at the test center.

How ASPPB writes and checks the questions

ASPPB's news post of September 17, 2026 describes how items for the integrated EPPP are made. A few points from it are worth knowing as a candidate:

• Psychologists write them, once a year. "The writing of items occurs once a year at an Item Writing Workshop, and no items are written by artificial intelligence programs."
• Committees review them in stages. Item writers and the 13-member Item Development Committee review and refine every draft, and the 11-member Examination Committee then reviews the items in three stages "for relevance to entry-level practice, accuracy of content, lack of bias in content and wording", among other checks.
• A separate committee looks for bias. "the members of the Item Review Committee, composed of nine psychologists with expertise in cultural competence/humility and/or expertise in the experiences of a specific historically marginalized group, are asked to review the pretest items".
• New items are tried before they count. "Pretest items are newly developed items that are being evaluated for possible use as operational items on future exam forms."
• Forms are kept equal in difficulty. "the final selection of operational items to be included on an exam form is informed by the operational items' IRT statistics, thus ensuring that the overall difficulty of the EPPP is consistent across exam forms."

Among other things, the first stage checks "continued relevance to entry-level practice" and "currency of the item reference". Current knowledge, applied to the situations of entry-level practice, is what the items are built to test.

What ASPPB has not published yet

Several numbers you may see quoted elsewhere do not exist yet in ASPPB's documents:

• The integrated EPPP's passing score, which comes from the beta's data in 2027.
• The scale it reports on. Today's exams use 200 to 800; ASPPB has not said whether the integrated EPPP will.
• How many questions of each type a form holds, and what an extended multiple-choice question looks like.
• Questions per domain. ASPPB gives shares; the counts above are arithmetic.
• Whether results are given on the day once the integrated EPPP launches.
• The integrated EPPP's own candidate handbook. "ASPPB will also publish an integrated EPPP Candidate Handbook in 2026," and it is due to cover "eligibility requirements, registration procedures, examination administration, test content, scoring, accommodations, policies, and other important details". The handbook ASPPB publishes today, of September 2026, covers Part 1 and Part 2.

Where to start

ASPPB names its own starting points: "ASPPB recommends that candidates use the integrated EPPP blueprint, sample examination, and Candidate Handbook as primary resources when preparing for both the EPPP Beta Test and the integrated EPPP." Its sample exam is where to meet the item types before the exam: each "contains 100 questions and allows 150 minutes for completion" and is meant to familiarize candidates with "the exam's content areas, item formats, navigation tools, and overall testing experience."

For the dates of the change and who takes which exam, see EPPP changes 2027; for every fee, EPPP exam cost.

QualExam's EPPP course is built on the same blueprint, with lessons, practice questions and flashcards for every domain, and its timed mock is built to the exam's length: 215 questions on one 300-minute clock, each domain at its share. Its questions have four options and one best answer and are text only: where an exam item would play a recording, ours describes it in words. The study plan on this page turns your exam date into a week-by-week schedule, and our guide to studying for the EPPP shows how it divides the weeks.