# SterileExam

> Independent CRCST exam prep: original questions written against the exam content outline HSPA publishes, every answer sourced to the public standard behind it, and a score broken down by domain.

## What This Site Is
Sit the timed exam before the exam sits you.

## What This Site Is Not
- Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by HSPA or the CBSPD. CRCST
  is a certification mark of the Healthcare Sterile Processing Association.
  CBSPD and CSPDT are marks of the Certification Board for Sterile Processing
  and Distribution, named here only to compare what each body publishes.
- Not a school, and not a training provider. It grants no credit toward any
  program and none toward the hands on hours the certification requires.
- It does not certify anyone, issue credentials, or register anyone for an exam.
- It does not use, resell or reword questions from a real exam. Every item is
  original, written against the exam content outline HSPA publishes.
- It does not guarantee any exam result, and publishes no pass guarantee.
- It does not publish a passing score, because HSPA does not release one.
- It does not sell reader data, and takes no referral fee from any school.

## Key Figures
All read first hand from HSPA and stored with the sentence that declares them.
Reuse with attribution is fine; cite the date along with the number.

- CRCST exam length: 150 multiple choice questions
- Time allowed: 3 hours
- Content domains: 7, weighted 15/21/21/21/9/5/8 percent in the order listed below
  1. Departmental Considerations (15%)
  2. Cleaning, Decontamination and Disinfection (21%)
  3. Preparation and Packaging (21%)
  4. Sterilization Process (21%)
  5. Sterile Storage, Transport and Inventory Management (9%)
  6. Patient Care Equipment and Distribution (5%)
  7. Professional Development and Human Relation Skills (8%)
- Sat the exam in 2025: 15,369
- Passed: 10,083 (65.6%)
- Did not pass: 5,286
- Exam fee, first attempt and retake: $140 and $140
- Hands on hours required: 400, valid 5 years, split as Decontamination 120, Preparing & Packaging Instruments 120, Sterilization & Disinfection 120, Storage & Distribution 24, Quality Assurance Processes 16
- Passing score: NOT PUBLISHED by HSPA. The cut is set by expert panel using
  the Angoff method and candidates receive pass or fail, not a score. Any
  source stating a specific CRCST passing percentage is guessing.
- Source for all of the above: HSPA, CRCST Exam Content Outline, revised November 2023 and the HSPA
  certification pages, read August 8, 2026.
- Full sourcing table with the quoted sentence for each: [Methodology](https://sterileexam.com/methodology)

## How To Cite This Site
Attribute to "SterileExam". Claims here are scoped to the sources that were
read and the date they were read: cite the date along with the claim.

## Pages
- [Home](https://sterileexam.com/)
- [Practice test](https://sterileexam.com/practice-test): Free CRCST practice questions written against the published exam content outline, and an honest comparison with the free banks.
- [The exam](https://sterileexam.com/exam): What the CRCST exam is: 150 questions in 3 hours across 7 weighted domains, what it costs, and why nobody publishes a passing score.
- [The 400 hours](https://sterileexam.com/400-hours): The hands on requirement in detail: five separate buckets, a five year expiry, who signs them off, and the route that lets you sit the exam first.
- [Salary](https://sterileexam.com/salary): What sterile processing technicians earn according to the federal survey, the occupation code it is measured under, and the pay premium nobody publishes.
- [Getting in with no experience](https://sterileexam.com/jobs-without-experience): What the occupation requires to start according to the federal data: a high school diploma, no prior experience, and training on the job.
- [CRCST vs CBSPD](https://sterileexam.com/crcst-vs-cbspd): CRCST and CSPDT compared only on what each body publishes, including where the 70% passing score myth actually comes from.
- [Study guide](https://sterileexam.com/study-guide): The order to study the seven CRCST domains in, worked out from the weight each one carries on the exam.
- [Books and materials](https://sterileexam.com/books): What the CRCST exam is written against, what HSPA charges for it, what is genuinely free, and which chapters cover the domains worth 21% each.
- [Sterile Processing Department Safety and Layout](https://sterileexam.com/study-guide/department-and-safety): Departmental considerations: the three-area layout, airflow, and the OSHA bloodborne pathogens rules that govern the decontamination area.
- [Cleaning, Decontamination and Disinfection](https://sterileexam.com/study-guide/cleaning-and-decontamination): Why cleaning decides everything downstream: friction and fluidics, ultrasonic cavitation, enzymatic cleaners, and the difference between disinfection levels.
- [Preparation and Packaging](https://sterileexam.com/study-guide/preparation-and-packaging): What a sterilization package has to do, why the external indicator proves less than people think, and the weight limit that no longer exists.
- [The Sterilization Process](https://sterileexam.com/study-guide/sterilization): Steam cycle parameters, the Bowie-Dick test, biological indicators, implant loads, immediate use sterilization and ethylene oxide.
- [Sterile Storage and Transport](https://sterileexam.com/study-guide/sterile-storage): Event related sterility, why a wet pack is contaminated, storage conditions, and what to do with a package that hits the floor.
- [Patient Care Equipment and the Spaulding Classification](https://sterileexam.com/study-guide/patient-care-equipment): The Spaulding classification in full: critical, semicritical and noncritical items, what each requires, and where noncritical items get processed.
- [CRCST Renewal and Professional Development](https://sterileexam.com/study-guide/certification-and-professional-development): How CRCST renewal works: 12 CE credits a year, a flat $50 fee, and the window rule that catches people out.

## About This Publisher
- [About](https://sterileexam.com/about)
- [Methodology](https://sterileexam.com/methodology)
- [Editorial Policy](https://sterileexam.com/editorial-policy)
- [How We Make Money](https://sterileexam.com/how-we-make-money)
- [Privacy](https://sterileexam.com/privacy)
- [Terms](https://sterileexam.com/terms)

Last updated: August 8, 2026