Earn the Profession’s Highest Credential
Become Board Certified

NCBTMB partners with Prometric, a computer-based testing solution, to administer the BCETMB exam. Prometric has multiple testing centers in each state; most centers are open 5-6 days per week.

Once you are eligible to schedule your exam, you will receive an email notification with instructions on how to search all available testing locations available (as well as the dates and times) to conveniently schedule your exam within your eligibility period. Within this email, you will be linked to Prometric’s system directly to schedule online, as well as provided with a phone number to contact them.

The Board Certification exam contains 140 questions and you will have 140 minutes to complete the exam. Content found on this exam embraces application of technique and is assessment based—simulating real-life scenarios you will more than likely encounter as a certified massage therapist.

The Board Certification Exam is built around the below main categories:

• Assessment (25%)
• Applied Science, including Anatomy, Physiology, Kinesiology, Pathology/Injury, and Pharmacology (25%)
• Massage Modalities, Techniques, and Manual Forces (20%)
• Professional Communication (15%)
• Professionalism and Ethics (10%)
• Laws and Business Practices (5%)

To download the full BCETMB breakdown, click here.

Yes! NCBTMB is proud to offer our exclusive Online Practice Exam, which contains Level 1 (entry-level) questions to better prepare you for any licensing exam, as well as Level 2 questions to better prepare you for any licensing exam, as well as Level 2 questions to better prepare you for the Board Certification (BCETMB) exam.

For more information on the Online Practice exam, click here.

For a list of resources utilized to create the Board Certification Exam and the Board Certification Study Guide, click here

The Board Certification exam is graded in Scale Score Format. A Scale Score of 410 is required to pass the Board Certification Exam.

Yes, your failed score report will show how you performed in each test category using a sliding scale framework.

The score report is only provided to offer a general indication regarding your performance in each content area. The exam is designed to provide a consistent and precise determination of your overall performance and is not designed to provide complete information regarding your performance in each content area. You should remember that areas with a larger number of questions will affect the overall score more than areas with a fewer number of questions. The precision and consistency of scores diminishes with fewer questions, and therefore, scores by content area should be interpreted with caution, especially those that correspond to content areas with very few questions.

If you have been denied eligibility to sit for the exam, you may appeal the decision by following this process:

1. No later than 30 days after the date of notice of denial to sit for the certification examination, you must submit a written notice of appeal to the staff liaison of the Ethics and Standards Committee. The request must state the reasons why you believe your application should not be denied along with any other information requested in your notice of denial.
2. The appeal will be reviewed by the NCBTMB Ethics & Standards Committee.
3. If you have been denied by the Ethics and Standards Committee, you may appeal to the Certification Board.  You must, no later than 30 days after the date of the notice of the Committee’s decision, submit a written notice of appeal of the decision of the NCBTMB CEO. The notice of appeal must state the reasons why you believe the decision of the Committee was in error. The appeal will be considered by the Board. In all cases, the decision of the Board is final.
4. Unallowable Appeals: There is no appeal allowed for the following:
   • on the basis of an incomplete application,
   • on the basis of a candidate’s failure to pass the board certification examination.

You may request in writing to NCBTMB that your examination be rescored. The testing company will conduct any necessary rescoring. Request for rescoring must be made no later than 90 days after the date examination results were sent to you. You may request a single rescoring for each examination taken.