The Examination for the Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) was developed by the ASPPB to assist
in the evaluation of applicants in granting licensing and certification. Upon successful completion of
the exam along with graduation from an accredited school with an appropriate degree (often a PhD in
Psychology) and the successful completion of supervised clinical experience, along with any state or
province-specific requirements, the candidate will be licensed and certified to practice psychology in
the United States and Canada.
The EPPP is administered at more than 320 Prometric test centers across the United States and Canada
making it simple and problem-free to take the exam on the computer. In states or provinces where
computerized test taking is not available, the test will be administered in a paper-and-pencil format.
If you are interested in finding out where test centers are in your area or if the test is administered
on the computer or in paper-and-pencil format, please call or email TSM today at 808.722.6666 or
contactus@taylorstudymethod.com.
The EPPP is a multiple-choice test consisting of 225 questions of which 175 are scored and 50 of which
are unscored, pre-test questions. Each multiple-choice question is accompanied by four potential
answers, only one of which is fully and completely accurate. A candidate’s reported score is based on
the total number of correct responses; no penalties are given for incorrect answers. A test-taker should
answer every question, even if he or she is unsure of the correct answer as an unanswered question will
be considered as incorrect. Candidates are given 4 hours and 15 minutes to complete all questions on the
exam.
The examination is scored on a scale from 200 to 800. The raw score is scaled to take into account
question difficulty and other factors and so that all tests administered may be compared equally. This
means that a different raw score on different tests may yield the same scaled score. While ASPPB member
jurisdictions (or licensing authorities in the United States and Canada) are responsible for setting
their own benchmarks regarding pass/fail scores, more than 90% use a passing score of 500, the passing
score recommended by the ASPPB. The average pass rate for first time, doctoral level candidates is
approximately 80%.
The EPPP is intended to cover the knowledge that most recent practice analysis has determined as
foundational to the competent practice of psychology. This includes questions in approximately eight
topics, including questions on the biological bases of behavior, the cognitive-‐affective bases of
behavior, the social and cultural bases of behavior, growth and lifespan development, assessment and
diagnosis of patients, the treatment, intervention, prevention and supervision of patients, research
methods and statistics, and finally questions on ethical, legal, and professional issues.
Most candidates have a PhD is psychology and at least a year of supervised experiences. These candidates
are expected to have acquired a broad knowledge base covering the general studies of psychology –
regardless of the candidate’s specialization. The EPPP is just one part of the overall evaluation of new
psychologists. Individual provincial and state boards supplement the EPPP with other requirements and/or
assessment procedures.
