PANRE practice questions, PANRE practice exams and a PANRE practice test for recertification

The PANRE is 240 multiple-choice questions delivered in four blocks of 60, with 60 minutes for each block. That is 4 hours of testing time, and with the 15-minute tutorial and 45 minutes of total break time you can split between blocks, NCCPA schedules a 5-hour appointment. It is given at more than 200 Pearson VUE test centers in the United States plus select international centers, throughout the year except for the last few weeks of the calendar year. Once you submit a block you cannot return to it, so pace at roughly a minute per question and flag anything you want to revisit before the block closes.

• 240 questions, four blocks of 60, 60 minutes per block
• 4 hours of testing inside a 5-hour scheduled appointment
• 45 minutes of total break time plus a 15-minute tutorial
• Over 200 US Pearson VUE centers, year-round with a year-end pause

The PANRE is reported on a scale from 200 to 800 and the passing score is 379. That is worth pausing on, because the PANCE uses the same 200 to 800 scale with a passing score of 350. The two numbers are set by separate standard-setting panels against different blueprints, so a 379 on the PANRE is not simply "29 points harder" than a PANCE pass. What it does tell you is that clearing recertification is not a formality, and that scores from the two exams cannot be compared directly. PANRE-LA is reported on a completely different scale, 1000 to 1500, with a passing score of 1150. Both are pass or fail once the decision is made.

• PANRE: scale 200 to 800, passing score 379
• PANRE-LA: scale 1000 to 1500, passing score 1150
• The PANCE passing score is 350 on the same 200 to 800 scale
• Scores from PANRE and PANRE-LA are not comparable to each other

Since 2023 every board certified PA has had two ways to meet the recertification exam requirement, and the fee is $350 either way. PANRE is one proctored sitting at a test center in year 9 or 10 of your cycle. PANRE-LA is a longitudinal assessment: you apply in year 6, questions begin in January of year 7, and you answer 25 questions per quarter across years 7, 8 and 9. Each PANRE-LA question carries a 5-minute limit, you may use online or printed references, you can take it on any compatible device, and you get immediate feedback with a rationale and references after every question. You also earn Category 1 CME for each quarter you complete. Twelve quarters are available, you must complete at least eight, you may skip up to four, and you must take at least one quarter in each of years 7, 8 and 9.

• Same $350 fee and the same core medical blueprint either way
• PANRE: one proctored sitting, year 9 or 10, closed book
• PANRE-LA: 25 questions a quarter, 5 minutes each, open reference, any device
• PANRE-LA earns Category 1 CME for every quarter completed

Your PANRE-LA score is built from your best eight quarters, not your first eight and not all twelve. Scoring for a pass or fail decision starts once you have completed eight quarters, and if you have reached 1150 at that point you are done and exit the program early, potentially finishing in two years rather than three. If you have not reached the standard, you stay in and your score is recalculated after each additional quarter, always using the highest-scoring eight. That design is forgiving in a way a single sitting is not: a bad quarter early on can be dropped entirely. And if you finish all twelve quarters without passing, you have not lost recertification, because you still get up to three PANRE attempts in year 10.

• Only your best 8 of 12 quarters count toward the final score
• Reach 1150 after eight quarters and you exit early
• Scores recalculate after every additional quarter you take
• Failing PANRE-LA still leaves up to three PANRE attempts in year 10

The recertification exams do not use the PANCE blueprint. In 2019 NCCPA adopted a separate content blueprint for PANRE and PANRE-LA that focuses on core medical knowledge, meaning the content considered essential for every clinically practicing PA regardless of specialty, rather than the broader general blueprint the PANCE uses. It was refreshed after the 2021 practice analysis and the current version went live in 2023. Practically, this is good news for a PA who has spent ten years in orthopedics or dermatology: the exam is not trying to test you on the deepest corners of every specialty. It is testing whether you have kept the core. The trap is assuming "core" means "easy," and skipping the systems you genuinely have not seen since school.

• A separate core medical blueprint, not the PANCE general blueprint
• Adopted 2019, updated from the 2021 practice analysis, live since 2023
• The same blueprint underpins both PANRE and PANRE-LA
• Breadth across core medicine matters more than specialty depth

You are eligible to sit the PANRE in the ninth or tenth year of your certification maintenance cycle, with a maximum of four attempts overall: up to two in year 9 and up to three in year 10. After your application is complete you get a 180-day window to schedule and test. The practical advice is to use year 9 rather than saving it all for year 10, because an early attempt leaves you room to recover, and a first attempt in year 10 leaves very little. Remember the exam is only half of it: you also have to earn and log 100 CME credits in each two-year cycle and pay the certification maintenance fee by December 31 of your expiration year.

• Eligible in year 9 or year 10 of the 10-year cycle
• Up to two attempts in year 9, up to three in year 10, four maximum
• A 180-day scheduling window once your application is complete
• 100 CME credits per two-year cycle run alongside the exam requirement