Best Study Preparation Programs for the NBCOT® Exam for OT/OTA Program Directors

As an OT or OTA program director, there are so many opportunities to positively impact the success of your students. You are consistently faced with these choices across the lifespan of each cohort, but perhaps the most important decision comes when it’s time to prepare for the NBCOT® exam. Program directors must review many NBCOT® test prep options in order to select the program with the best track record and features that align with their needs.

We intend to make that process easier for you by giving a high-level overview of the products currently on the market. By offering an objective look at each product, we hope that you will come away more informed and more confidently able to choose a package that’s right for you. Let’s take a look at the options.

Prep Programs Comparison

Individual Program Highlights

Pass the OT

Founded in 2013, Pass the OT is dedicated to creating the most comprehensive material and course offerings to help newly graduated OTs and OTAs pass their board certification exam. This team is known for having strong customer satisfaction ratings and being suited for students with a range of learning needs. Their diverse and knowledgeable team of tutors expand their reach while offering the 1:1 assistance your students need to pass the NBCOT® exam.

Services offered: Pass the OT offers two packages for OT/OTA program directors: a 1-year flexible prep course that allows you to pay for only the students who pass, and a 1-day concentrated prep course that gives all students 5 days of unlimited access and a 4-hour Zoom call to review material.

Experience: Pass the OT has been delivering strong results for over a decade and was created by a seasoned OT for OTs and OTAs.

Customer satisfaction: With nearly 150 Google reviews and an average Trust Index rating of 4.8 stars, Pass the OT has been lauded by users for their professional presentation, consistent level of support, and overall effectiveness.

Pricing: A free 5-day trial followed by $19.99 per week or $219 per year. Pass the OT’s 100% Pass Guarantee makes this program stand out from other options. After 14 weeks of using the program, users are granted unlimited access to materials until they pass their NBCOT® exam. This makes Pass the OT one of the most cost-effective options on the market. Contact us for more information on program director package rates.

Pros:

• Timed and untimed tests with a combined 2,900 questions and paired rationales
• Proprietary games and study tips
• Clinical scenarios for OTs
• 60 hours of streamable audio and video content
• An accessible mobile app
• Personalized study plans generated by quiz performance
• 1:1 tutoring, group calls, intensive courses

• Live chat support with study guidance

Therapy Ed

Therapy Ed was founded in 1988 by a physical therapist and the PT test prep package was their initial offering. They have since expanded to offer test prep programs for physical therapy assistants, occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, and speech-language pathologists. They have a strong presence within the healthcare industry due to their best-selling review guides catered to various disciplines.

Services offered: Therapy Ed offers live, two-day intensive courses both in-person and online.

Experience: Therapy Ed is one of the oldest test prep companies, leading many program directors to recognize their name and good reputation.

Customer satisfaction: Therapy Ed’s mobile app has over 150 reviews and an average rating of 4.8 stars.

Pricing: This program costs $100 per student. Students must purchase the book separately, which helps directors offset some costs. The Therapy Ed mobile app costs $49.99. Program director rates are not publicly listed.

Pros:

• Books contain engaging, full-color graphics
• 510 multiple choice test questions
• 9 clinical simulations
• Insightful score reports
• Mini-exams in some topic areas
• Serves as a good general refresher

Cons:

• Company doesn’t specialize in OT
• 2-day courses are scheduled after fieldwork, which is not always optimal for success since students are not provided any study material to prepare for their 2 day course.
• No program director dashboards, activity logs, or usage data for performance tracking
• No customized study plans for students who need individualized support
• Private tutoring options are limited
• Many students prefer not reading long textbooks and many students complain that their book is way to overwhelming

OTKE

The Occupational Therapy Knowledge Exam (OTKE) is another tool developed by NBCOT®. This package is only offered to schools, so program directors can feel confident that it is catered to their needs and will help them achieve the best pass rate for their program. Program directors can use OTKE to assess cohorts and track their progress over time.

Services offered: Student assessments and a program director dashboard for tracking.

Experience: By offering predictive value, OTKE correlates strongly with NBCOT® outcomes. This lends itself to being a very useful tool for program directors to have in their belt.

Customer satisfaction: There are limited reviews for OTKE, but program directors who have used this program highlighted its reliability.

Pricing: OTKE costs $15 per student.

Pros:

• In-depth reports with percentages and comparisons to national averages
• Reasonably priced compared to some other tracking programs
• Program directors can see which students purchased what tools

Cons:

• Limited utility for individual students
• There is a steep learning curve for program directors to get used to interpreting results
• May create an over-reliance on quantitative metrics, which don’t account for individual factors and extenuating circumstances

AOTA® Online

AOTA® Online has been developed and backed by the American Occupational Therapy Association in partnership with top OT educators and leaders from various practice areas. This NBCOT® exam prep program is known for its multi-format accessibility and directors can reap the benefits of partnering with an esteemed organization such as AOTA®.

Services offered: An online-only exam prep book valid for 1 year from the date of purchase.

Experience: AOTA® is known for their student and organization memberships as well as disseminating relevant and evidence-based information to support the practice skills of OTs and OTAs. Their exam prep tool was first developed in 2016 and was updated in 2020 to reflect changes in the OT Practice Framework.

Customer satisfaction: There are limited online reviews for this program, but most members and directors report it is highly engaging.

Pricing: This program costs $149 for AOTA® members and $209 for non-members. Program directors receive discounts for groups: 5 to 19 students will get 10% off their purchase price, 20 to 49 students will get 15% off their purchase price, and 50+ students will get 20% off their purchase price. These costs include 1 free instructor license that lasts for one year.

Pros:

• 1,000 test questions
• Flashcards, games, and handouts
• Helps students form an adaptive study plan from their self-assessment
• Group dashboard for program directors
• Curriculum tailoring tools

Cons:

• Questions are less application-based than the actual exam
• Many directors report students needed to supplement this package with other study tools
• Question rationales are inconsistent
• Lack of performance tracking and analytics for directors
• No automated alerts or control tools to help directors identify lower-performing students

True Learn

True Learn offers exam prep packages for a range of physician specialties, medical assistants, dental hygienists, and therapy disciplines including PT, OT, and SLP. This company is known for their SmartBanks, which combine videos, practice questions, comparative analytics, and individualized testing behaviors. Such a wide range of features helps students in their studying efforts while allowing program directors to oversee performance and offer feedback.

Services offered: True Learn has an OT package and an OTA package, each of which comes with robust SmartBanks.

Experience: All of True Learn’s course content is written by occupational therapists, so their experience really shines through.

Customer satisfaction: True Learn relies on in-app customer feedback so their editors can promptly modify questions when needed. This ensures high levels of satisfaction and immediate results.

Pricing: The 30-day package costs $159 and the 90-day package costs $199. Program director rates are not publicly listed.

Pros:

• 1,700+ practice questions
• Access to one new mnemonic video each day
• Topics are mapped according to NBCOT® exam outline
• Program directors have access to performance analytics and real-time benchmarking according to national averages
• Offers a first-time pass guarantee

Cons:

• Serves many disciplines, so the focus isn’t solely on OT
• No personalized study plans
• Practice exams are short and don’t mimic the actual test’s format
• Directors have noted their website and platform are not user-friendly
• No domain-mapped reporting, login tracking, or detailed usage metrics for directors
• Lacks access controls and alerts that allow directors to identify students who need more support

NBCOT® Study Pack

Students can confidently prepare for their exam using materials made by NBCOT®, the makers of the board certification exams for OT providers.

Services offered: There is one study pack for OTRs and one for OTAs, both of which have flashcards, electronic study guides, mini tests, short practice tests, and full practice exams.

Experience: NBCOT® was founded in 1986, but it is unclear just how long ago this study pack was developed. Either way, they do have a strong reputation of establishing the OT field by implementing the board certification exam for OT and OTA providers.

Customer satisfaction: Users have given this package high ratings and report that it offers an accurate blueprint of the actual exam’s questions.

Pricing: This program costs $100 per student. Program director rates are not publicly listed.

Pros:

• Knowledge matching statements
• Study guides
• Flashcards
• Practice simulations
• Immediate feedback for students and directors alike
• Full practice tests mimic actual NBCOT® exam

Cons:

• Too many exam versions leads to inconsistency
• Their interests are not aligned with student and program director interests. They want to maintain a pass rate of 70%, which will not help program directors achieve proper benchmarks for their programs.  They also make another $595 when a student does not pass their exam.
• Lacks private tutoring
• No custom study plans
• No program director dashboard, meaning it lacks benchmarking, analytics, domain tracking, and other features needed to oversee your cohort’s performance

OT Help Desk

Founded in 2005, OT Help Desk has an exam prep package as well as a podcast that users can access for free to continue their learning. Their website notes that thousands of users have found success with their package and went on to pass their exam.

Services offered: A mixture of live and recorded tutoring sessions, a comprehensive library of resources, and test-taking training.

Experience: OT Help Desk was established in the same year its founder started training students for OT test preparation, so the owner did not have much experience in this area upon starting the company. OT Help Desk appears to have grown in that time and is considered a reliable resource.

Customer satisfaction: Program directors have noted not being very impressed with their 1-day courses. Students have noted that not all of the content is engaging.

Pricing: Their Gold Guarantee for OTs costs $199 and allows students to keep the product until they pass the exam. The OTA exam prep program costs $99. Program director rates are not publicly listed.

Pros:

• 40 lessons with 260 hours of video instruction
• Over 750 test questions paired with narrated explanations
• A full library of resources, including downloadable PDFs
• Weekly group tutoring sessions
• 1,150 test questions for OTs
• Over 200 grids and charts
• Allows students to chat with each other, promoting interactive learning
• 10-day test endurance training process to help build stamina for test-taking

Cons:

• Has a limited amount of questions
• Does not offer private tutoring
• No mobile app
• Lacks program director tools such as dashboards and performance tracking

450 Formula

Services offered: 1-, 3-, or 6-month access to a specific topic (such as pediatrics) according to the company’s pre-determined schedule of content availability. They also offer all 9 topics bundled at a discount.

Experience: There is very limited information about this company, including who developed the program and how long they have been in business.

Customer satisfaction: This product has generally high ratings. User reviews particularly note their pediatics course was very valuable as they studied such a difficult topic. Reviews also mention their videos helping them break down concepts more easily

Pricing: This costs $69.99 for a 1-month subscription, $74.99 for a 3-month subscription, and $84.99 for a 6-month subscription. These prices allow access to one topic (such as pediatrics or geriatrics). This may be helpful for program directors who know their students need more concentrated help in one knowledge, especially if they are using this to supplement other courses. However, this may be seen as a drawback for program directors wanting to offer their students a comprehensive exam prep program. Program director rates are not publicly listed.

Pros:

• Practice questions optimally placed after videos to reinforce learning
• Pass guarantee
• Their visual approach to learning is approachable for learners with anxiety who may not do well with written content

Cons:

• It is more expensive to buy all content areas
• Some complex topics are oversimplified, which may prevent students from fully understanding that type of content
• May need to be supplemented with other exam prep tools
• Lacks program director dashboard, tracking, and other useful tools

Pocket Prep

Founded in 2011, Pocket Prep developed as an affordable and effective mobile test prep company. They began with test prep for fields such as IT and cybersecurity, but have since expanded to nursing, behavioral health, therapies, supply chain, real estate, and much more. Pocket Prep is considered one of the most mobile-friendly test prep packages available.

Services offered: Mobile access to quizzes and full-length tests

Experience: Pocket Prep aims to make mobile-friendly exam prep more accessible for learners in many fields. They have focused on UX design to ensure their experience accommodates a range of disciplines and needs.

Customer satisfaction: Pocket Prep has received generally good reviews, though some users reported issues with repeat questions and lack of questions in certain topic areas.

Pricing: Subscriptions range from $20 each month or $50 per quarter. There is a free basic subscription with limited features. Program director rates are not publicly listed.

Pros:

• Pass guarantee in the form of a free extended premium account for three months
• Mobile-first, which caters to students who are more comfortable with technology or have busy schedules
• Various study modes, including timed quizzes, weakest subject quizzes, question-of-the-day, missed questions quizzes, and build-your-own quizzes
• Mock exams allow for full-length practice that simulates the actual exam

Cons:

• Some users have reported technical difficulties with their app
• Doesn’t offer any dashboard or tracking capabilities for program directors
• Content often doesn’t go into enough detail

The Missing Piece OT (TMPOT)

Services offered: There is very limited information about this product, so we’re unable to tell exactly what they offer aside from comprehensive study guides, quizzes, and flashcards focused on a range of topic areas.

Experience: There is very limited information about this company, including who developed the program and how long they have been in business.

Customer satisfaction: Reviews state that many users have taken this course after failing the exam their first time and report that it offers sharper guidance for those really needing to hone their skills.

Pricing: Program director rates are not publicly listed.

Pros:

• Targeted support
• Good for learners who have been overwhelmed by other packages

Cons:

• Limited details on program structure, making it difficult to properly compare it to other packages

Conclusion

There are many NBCOT® exam prep course options for program directors to consider. Some products with strong reputations (such as AOTA® and NBCOT® made exam prep courses) may be reliable, though not robust enough to sufficiently prepare students for the exam on their own. Other products seem to offer good results but are lacking in online information and presence, which makes it difficult to know whether they are trustworthy or not.

When you line up the products, pricing, and essential features such as program director dashboards, analytics, and metrics, a clear choice begins to arise. Pass the OT stands out among the rest with clearly positive results from all types of users. This makes it a solid choice for program directors looking to keep their cohorts on track and guide them toward success as they aim to pass their NBCOT® exam.