Effective January 2025, verified July 19, 2026
Turn the PANCE blueprint into a study plan you can use.
See how the exam is weighted across medical content and clinical tasks, then translate those percentages into a flexible weekly starting point.
Arcade Academy is independent and not affiliated with the NCCPA. Official exam facts on this page link directly to NCCPA sources.
Know the format
One exam day, five focused blocks.
The PANCE has 300 multiple-choice questions in 5 timed blocks of 60, with 60 minutes for each block (about one minute per question) and 45 minutes of break time that the candidate manages.
NCCPA also provides a 15-minute tutorial. You can review and change answers within the current block, but you cannot return after leaving a block or after its time expires.
Read the blueprint in two dimensions
Every medical question has a content lens and a task lens.
Studying only by organ system misses the second half of the blueprint: what the question asks you to do with that knowledge.
A useful planning question
For each body system, can you practice more than recognition? Rotate through gathering information, interpreting studies, forming a likely diagnosis, and choosing an appropriate management direction using professionally reviewed materials.
Interactive blueprint planner
Start with the weights, then make the plan yours.
Choose a weekly time budget and switch between content and task views. The calculator keeps the total exact while rounding each category to whole minutes.
Choose your weekly study time
Use the official percentages as a first-pass time budget, then adjust for your course schedule, recent misses, and topics that need more work.
Content-category starting point
Fifteen official categories, weighted to 10 hours per week
10 hr allocated
Cardiovascular System
11%1 hr 6 minPulmonary System
9%54 minGastrointestinal System/Nutrition
8%48 minMusculoskeletal System
8%48 minInfectious Diseases
7%42 minNeurologic System
7%42 minPsychiatry/Behavioral Science
7%42 minReproductive System
7%42 minEndocrine System
6%36 minEyes, Ears, Nose, and Throat
6%36 minProfessional Practice
6%36 minHematologic System
5%30 minRenal System
5%30 minDermatologic System
4%24 minGenitourinary System
4%24 min
This calculator is an Arcade Academy planning aid, not an NCCPA study plan or a readiness score. Blueprint allocations can vary slightly on individual exams.
Keep the cross-cutting lenses visible
Some exam content runs through more than one system.
These official ranges should shape how you mix practice, but they are not separate blocks to add on top of the 100% blueprint allocation.
Block pacing
Practice the rhythm of 60 questions in 60 minutes.
Content knowledge matters, but the test-day format also asks you to sustain attention across five separate timed blocks and manage a shared break pool.
Full exam structure
Five testing hours, 300 questions
Block 1
60
questions
60 min
Block 2
60
questions
60 min
Block 3
60
questions
60 min
Block 4
60
questions
60 min
Block 5
60
questions
60 min
45-minute break pool
Candidate-managed between blocks
15-minute tutorial
Provided before the exam
Official sources
Verify the source before you set the schedule.
The blueprint describes the exam scope, not clinical guidance. NCCPA notes that percentages may vary slightly and that the listed topics are examples rather than an exhaustive list for any single exam.
Source status: effective January 2025, last checked July 19, 2026.
Turn the plan into deliberate practice.
Create your Arcade Academy workspace to organize reviewed resources, recall sessions, private notes, and progress around your next study block.