AMFTRB Practice Test for the MFT National Examination

AMFTRB is pleased to offer two online practice examination forms for the MFT National Examination, each with a 2-hour and a 3-hour format. Some of the questions on both forms of the practice exam are the same.

Candidates can use a practice examination to help assess their knowledge level before taking the actual examination. The practice examinations were developed using actual test questions from previous examinations. A practice examination will give candidates the opportunity to become familiar with the format of the test questions and will provide an indication of preparedness for the actual examination. These are the closest practice examinations to the “real thing” on the market today since they are the only practice examinations designed and developed by AMFTRB. The National MFT Examination practice exams are designed to give candidates exposure to the kinds of questions that appear on the actual examination, enabling candidates to gauge their test preparation.

Again, please take note that: there are two formats of each of the practice exam forms: the regular 2-hour exam and an extended 3-hour exam for qualifying ADA candidates.

The questions on both the 2-hour and 3-hour versions of the two forms of practice exams are identical, so you only need to take one or the other depending on your individual situation. Do not sign up for both thinking that the questions are different—they are the same. There are no refunds if you make that mistake.

School Vouchers

Your school may offer vouchers and administer the practice exam for you, so check with them first.

In addition to the Practice Exam, test out the exam experience itself.

Prometric, our testing provider, offers the test takers the opportunity to take a 30-minute “dry-run” of the test center experience prior to their exam. The program, called Test Drive, allows candidates to walk through, on a practice basis, all check-in and testing procedures that occur at the test center on test day.

Sign up or learn more here.

Go to MFT Practice Exam

Why Take the Practice Examination?

The practice examination is designed to help you:

• assess your level of MFT knowledge and experience.
• expose you to the types of questions you will see on the actual examination.
• determine if you have the right experience and knowledge to attempt licensing as a marriage and family therapist.
• gain practice experience in viewing and responding to items in an electronic environment as the items are actually presented during the examination and in a timed format, including the ability to mark questions for review or as “skipped” to be returned to later.
• The practice test is designed to show strong and weak areas of your knowledge and experience by domain.

The passing score on the MFT National Examination is established by a panel of expert judges on an “anchor examination.” A modified Angoff method is the technique used to determine the passing score. Each panel member estimates for each item on the test what percentage of minimally competent therapists would get the item correct. Their responses are examined and analyzed by psychometric experts and minor adjustments can be made by the Examination Advisory Committee. The anchor examination becomes the standard of knowledge to which all future forms of an examination are compared. Some forms of the examination will contain individual items that may differ in difficulty than items on other forms. To compensate for these variations, test forms are compared using a psychometric process called equating. This equating process accounts for the varying item difficulties and adjusts the passing score up or down accordingly.

As a result, the required standard of knowledge for passing the examination remains consistent from test form to test form. Therefore, there is not a standard or consistent score across exam administrations that represents a passing score. Please understand that if you hear and/or believe that the national exam passing score is 60, 70, or any other number, this does not follow the exam scoring guidelines in the Exam Candidate Handbook (see download links in the sidebar). Again, the Practice Exam passing score is set to 67% but this is not the MFT National Examination passing score.

What You Need to Know

You may take the practice examination at any time, any place, using a computer that can connect to the Internet. The testing site is compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, and Safari web browsers.

• The practice exam is not a teaching tool. It only provides, as is stated, feedback on how a candidate performs by domain, identifying their strong domains and their weak domains, that is the number of correct items in a domain.
• There are two practice test exams, each with two formats: 1) a regularly-timed test, and,  2) an extended-time test for qualifying ADA candidates. You will be able to select either one during the application process. Some of the questions on both forms of the practice exam are the same. There are no refunds if you decide to take both forms. You only need to take one or the other depending on your individual situation.
• Each examination fee is $70.00, payable only by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club, and Discover credit cards are accepted).
• You may take the examination as many times as you like; however, you will be charged the full practice examination fee each time you register for an examination.
• The 90 questions on each practice examination will remain the same each time you take the examination.
• You will receive your overall score on the practice examination, as well as a breakdown by domain at the end of the practice exam. Answers to the practice examination items are not made available. The Practice Exam passing score is set to 67% but this is not the MFT National Examination score.
• A passing or failing score on the practice exam of only 90 questions (actual examination currently has 180 questions) does not guarantee a similar outcome on the MFT National Examination. It can, however, be a good indication of your preparedness.
• The pass-point of 67% on the practice examination should not be used to calculate a passing point for the actual MFT National Examination.

Please read all the information carefully before proceeding to the examination.

The Practice Examination vs. The Actual MFT National Examination

The practice examination has been developed by MFT content experts using the same methodology used to develop the actual MFT National Examination. Because the practice exam questions are actual test questions that have appeared on previous examinations (but have been removed from the bank of test questions), the questions on the practice exams are formatted in the same way as the actual examination questions. It is important to note that a passing or failing score on the practice exam does not guarantee a similar outcome on the actual licensing examination. It can, however, be a good indication of your preparedness.

Practice Examination Fee and Credit Card Options

The cost to take each practice examination is $70.00. This is payable only by credit card whenever you are ready to take an examination. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners, and Discover credit cards are accepted as payment for the practice examination. Candidates will be charged the full examination fee each time they register for an examination. If you choose and begin taking an examination, you will be charged for that examination and will have to pay the fee again if you choose to take that examination again or if you choose another examination. You will not be able to apply for a refund. You are welcome to take an examination as many times as you like; however, the $70.00 fee will be collected each time.

Plan and Prepare

Before taking a practice examination, be sure to allocate enough time to complete the entire examination. You will be allotted two hours (120 minutes) to take the practice exams. This time frame simulates the actual MFT National Examination time period, which is four hours. If you will need extended time on the actual exam due to an ADA accommodation, you will be able to have an additional one hour (60 minutes), which will provide you with three hours (180 minutes) on the practice examination to ensure a simulated examination experience. Each examination must be completed within the allotted time. Your actual “screen time” will be equal to the time period you choose. The clock will also adjust for any time lost moving from one question to the next. If at any time during the examination process, you experience technical difficulties or problems using your MFT Practice Examination online user ID and PIN, contact PTC.

Practice Examination Scores

The practice examination has been equated to the same standard of the actual MFT National Examination to provide an indication of your level of preparedness. At the end of a practice examination, the overall score (0-90) will be presented to you in terms of the number and percentage of questions you answered correctly. The actual MFT National Examination raw scoring is 0-180.

Your overall practice examination score represents the sum of your scores in each domain area. On the practice examination, the minimum passing score for each domain area is calculated by applying the passing percentage required for the overall examination in each domain area. Your scores are stored permanently and you can retrieve them again at any time free of charge. AMFTRB does not provide answers to the individual questions contained in the practice examination. The practice exam is not a teaching tool, but is only designed to provide feedback about your strengths and weaknesses within the domains rather than by individual examination questions. For the actual examination, you do not need to obtain a minimum passing score in each domain area to be successful in the examination. Strong performance in one area can compensate for weaker performance in another. The overall score on the practice examination is expressed in a raw score ranging from 0 to 90.

The practice examination is scored immediately so you can use the results in your examination preparation. This is different from the actual MFT National Examination! PTC (Professional Testing Corporation) sends National Exam scores to the state licensing board portal and the candidate via email within 20 business days following the close of the testing period (this is necessary to allow for the psychometric review and administration time required to ensure accurate and reliable scores). Your scores on the domains and on the total examination will be emailed to you within 20 business days following the close of the examination window. Your Individual Candidate Score Report will be available online only for 60 days. Be sure to save a copy of your score report in your permanent files. Note: PTC must wait until the administration window has closed to perform the statistical analyses of the test data. Once the analyses are completed, test score results are first sent to your state licensing board office and then mailed to you.

Browser Compatibility

The testing site is compatible with Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, and Safari web browsers.

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