According to the NBCOT, “to pass the NBCOT, you will need to score a minimum of 450 on a standardized scale ranging from 300 to 600.” Based on this information, we can roughly infer that a score of 450 = 50%, 300 = 0%, and 600 = 100%…sort of.
Disclaimer: as far as I know, this is not exactly how NBCOT calculates the scores and this is only known by them because it is kept a secret. Technically speaking, some questions may be weighed more than others, some questions may count and some may not, e.g., the trial questions for future exams, then there’s the CST where the points are a big mystery. While we know the 6 multiple choice for COTAs don’t technically penalize you for incorrect choices, we don’t know how many points each correct choice is, and some may be worth more than others. So this makes giving an ‘NBCOT score’ nearly impossible without knowing the specifics.
It’s still helpful to have a rough idea to relate a percentage to the 300-600 scale. Why? Because the NBCOT Exam results are presented as this scale and subsequently, this is what others will report on social media. When we learn about students who pass or fail, they often will report their NBCOT score and then the percentage they average (or ranges, see later) on their practice exams. For this reason, relating the NBCOT score to the percentage of your practice exams can give you an idea of how you are doing because you won’t always be taking the complete practice exam every time.
Let’s say you are doing some last-minute studying and make a mini-exam with, for example, a bank of just 20 questions. You can score it as a percentage and then compare it to the NBCOT scores based on what people have said they passed by using the exact same exam practice questions and then whether it is for the OTR or COTA exam.
Currently, I don’t have enough data from students who passed and took the OT Dude practice exams relative to the actual NBCOT exam scores, but I would like to compile such data to provide some insight into what may be needed to pass for future students. This can then help me calibrate the OT Dude practice exams and its scoring more closely to the actual NBCOT exam to give future students a better idea, but it would require a very large dataset. Please see the survey below.
There are many thoughts by OTs and OTAs who have passed on what percent is probably passing. Is it 50%? 60%? 75%? 80%? We don’t really know. Some have taken practice exams and passed with as low as 50% as I have read on social media. Overall, instead of one single average, it might be more helpful to think of it as a range OF averages instead, e.g., scoring consistently in the X-Y% range means you have a high chance of passing. Sorry but I don’t have any specific thoughts on what specific ranges to aim for either, but you can ask in study groups and look online.
To make matters even more confusing, some have passed and gotten high scores on the official NBCOT practice exam and failed by several points on their actual NBCOT exam! And this is using their own scaled score system 1:1 and not converting back to percentages. Of course, this may raise some questions such as if the practice exam is easier than the actual one, but in reality, there are so many factors involved, yes even some luck too!
So take while the scaled scores shown on this page can be helpful and fun to look at, please take it with a grain of salt. It’s possible that some may score below 450 and pass the actual NBCOT exam, and the other way around as well.
Remember that you just need to pass. Do your best and don’t stress about the scores too much.
With that said, here’s is a table of scores in 5% increments to give you a rough idea:
