PT Exam Prep

PT Exam Prep is a Canadian test prep company for physiotherapists working toward licensure. It sells courses and mock exams for the CAPR's Canadian Physiotherapy Exam (CPTE), the Written PCE, and the provincial clinical exams: Alberta's Post-Graduate exam, BC's Alternate Clinical exam and Ontario's Clinical Exam (OCE). It also offers a prep course for the College's screening interview. Courses run live online, face to face in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, or as self-paced video, and the FAQ says virtual courses are delivered through Zoom and Thinkific.

The company was founded by Katelyn Proctor, who graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Masters in Physical Therapy. Her bio explains the idea behind it: to simplify studying "so you don't waste an attempt or spend time studying things that aren't examinable."

The CPTE courses

The CPTE line comes in three options: CPTE Essentials, CPTE Mastery and CPTE Mastery Plus, with a course comparison page to tell them apart. The home page sums them up as courses that "offer live learning, mock exams, and personalized support."

The live part runs twice a week. The CPTE FAQ describes one Oral Prep session (practice cases and reasoning) and one Written Prep session (question dissection and exam strategy), each with teaching plus Q&A. The days and times change every week to fit as many schedules as possible, since the company says students join "from all over the world", and every session is recorded and uploaded to the classroom.

Full mock exams sit in the top tier: the FAQ says there are currently two, both in Mastery Plus. A Full Mock Day starts with a 2.5 hour oral exam run by a PT Exam Prep teacher, followed by 30 minutes of personalized feedback; the session is recorded, and the recording stays available for 30 days. A 2.5 hour written mock follows, either straight after the oral or on another day, with marking keys to review. Students who want extra mocks after registering can buy them for $475 plus tax, if slots are available.

The FAQ is candid about coverage. Between the manual, classroom videos, handouts, quizzes, workbooks, live sessions and mock exams, the company estimates the course covers "approximately 90% of the content you are likely to encounter on the exam", and adds that only about 5-10% of everything a student studies will appear on a given sitting. It recommends about 5-6 months of preparation. If a student fails, the FAQ promises a meeting to discuss what went wrong and how to move forward, Mastery and Mastery Plus buyers keep their materials until they pass, and Essentials buyers can add a Full Day Mock Exam to upgrade to Mastery. Questions by email go to a content expert, with an answer promised within three business days.

Written PCE and clinical exam courses

For the Written PCE, the Live Teacher Virtual Course combines the resources with a live instructor. The Premium Access Video Course is described as "For motivated students that want to prepare for the Written PCE at their own pace", and a Basic Access Video Course works the same way; both self-paced courses come with a six month subscription. Vignette-style mock exams are sold singly or as a 3 Mock Exam Bundle, and an Ethics Masterclass reviews ethics with practice scenarios and vignette-style questions. For internationally educated physiotherapists, the FAQ recommends the live virtual course or the Premium Access Video Course.

For the clinical exams, the practical course for Alberta's and BC's in-person exams runs face to face in the three cities and as a live virtual course, with several start dates. The FAQ says practical courses are usually released four to six months before an exam date and start two to three months before it. Ontario candidates get a prep course with a 1-on-1 live mock interview exam, and mock exam bundles cover the Alberta and BC clinical exams. A study plan calculator helps candidates work out their timeline.

Materials, teachers and how a course runs

Each course includes detailed manuals, workbooks and self-assessment tools that the company says are derived from the most recent blueprint updates, plus a study plan. Manuals arrive as PDFs, usually within 1 business day of payment, and a printed manual can be mailed to Canadian residents on request. The course platform runs in Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox, and the FAQ recommends broadband, with at least 750 Kbps for video and 2 Mbps for HD.

The teachers page lists a large roster of physiotherapists. The company says every teacher has done an MPT at a Canadian university and passed an audition and screening process. Some bios show the range: Raphaële Lemire is a bilingual (FR/EN) Registered Physiotherapist whose style is "conversational and supportive", and Erin Reeds was a yearly examiner for the PCE for 7 years. Several instructors, including Karli Vanderlaan, are former students who used the written and OCE courses for their own exams. Courses are offered with student-teacher ratios as low as 3:1, and the teachers page mentions live office hours and review sessions.

Prices, payment and free resources

The study plan page offers a group deal for the CPTE courses: "If you register in a group of 3, each of you will receive $600 off", set up by email, and the general FAQ mentions discounts on some products for previous or current full-course students, though none on Written Mock Exams. The CPTE FAQ says installment plans are available at checkout through Klarna and Affirm. The general FAQ lists credit card, Interac e-Transfer and PayPal, with fees paid in full in Canadian dollars before the first session, and says students can buy extra prep time if they are not ready for their exam date. The CPTE FAQ states a "strict no refund policy" once a course is purchased, and the general FAQ notes that fees do not qualify for tuition tax credits because the company is not a designated educational institution.

The free material is generous: a 10 question mock exam built from CPTE sample questions, a 5 Day Written Study Challenge and a 7 Day Clinical Exam Study Challenge sent by email, free live webinars, a YouTube channel and a free musculoskeletal anatomy workbook. The site also runs a group-matching form, a referral program and an employment sponsorship program. A clinical course student, Tiffany C., writes that "the practice questions were comparable to the actual exam" and that "the live office hours answered" her questions.

Who it suits and who it does not

PT Exam Prep fits candidates for Canadian physiotherapy licensure who want structure: weekly live sessions, a study plan, and mock exams with feedback from a physiotherapist who knows the format. Internationally educated physiotherapists have a recommended route, and candidates in Alberta, BC and Ontario get prep for their own provincial clinical exams. Mastery Plus is the choice for anyone who wants full mock days; Essentials suits a student who mainly needs the course materials and live sessions.

One point to weigh before buying: refunds are not offered once a CPTE course is bought, so it pays to use the free mock exam, the webinars and the course comparison first. Candidates who prefer to study entirely alone can use the video courses, though the program is built around live teaching and feedback.