Sending Your NBCOT Score to a New Board

To prove you passed the certification exam, order an NBCOT Score Transfer through your MyNBCOT account and name the state board as the recipient. NBCOT's score transfer page says the fee is $35 per transfer and that "the Score Transfer will be sent within three business days of receipt of the request," electronically, to the state regulatory board. Only you can order it, and you need one for each board that asks for it.

That is the short version. The longer version matters because boards do not all want the same document, and sending the wrong one is a common reason an otherwise complete OT or OTA application sits untouched.

Is a Score Transfer the same as a Verification of Certification?

No. NBCOT lists them as two separate services. A Verification of Certification confirms your current certification status (OTR or COTA) and, according to NBCOT's fee schedule, is free. A Score Transfer sends your exam result to a board and costs $35. They answer different questions: "Is this person currently certified?" versus "Did this person pass the exam?"

State licensing boards care about the second question. Your NBCOT certification status can lapse while your passing score stays on record forever, and most state licenses depend on the score, not the current certification.

How do boards differ on what they accept?

• Texas is strict. Its OT application page says the NBCOT score report "must be sent by NBCOT directly to the Board" and that this is distinct from a verification of certification or an authorization-to-test letter. Texas endorsement rules repeat the requirement, allowing a Verification of Certification form only for people examined before 1986 (40 Tex. Admin. Code § 364.4).
• New York wants scores sent directly from NBCOT to the Office of the Professions. Its license requirements page adds that if you previously took and passed the exam, you should ask NBCOT to provide written verification of your certification directly to the Department. New York also states the passing score it relies on: 450.
• Tennessee makes it the applicant's responsibility to have NBCOT send examination results directly to the board office (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1150-02-.05).
• Illinois does something different. IDFPR's Qualifications for Licensure guide for occupational therapists says the score is available in the NBCOT portal and that "IDPR staff will retrieve your score during evaluation of your application."
• Oregon tells new graduates to arrange a score transfer, but says applicants who already hold certification or are coming by endorsement do not need to reorder a verification, according to the Oregon Occupational Therapy Licensing Board's applications page.
• Maryland asks for "verification of initial NBCOT certification" with the application and lists your current NBCOT status on the form.

The pattern: assume a Score Transfer unless the board's own instructions say otherwise, and read those instructions before paying for anything.

When should you order it?

Order it the same day you submit the state application, not before you have an application on file. Boards match incoming documents to an open file; a score that arrives for an applicant who does not exist yet can be misfiled or need to be resent. The exception is a board that tells you to send documents first. Tennessee's rules, for example, say the intent is for all documentation to be filed together.

Three business days is NBCOT's sending time. The board then has to receive it, match it and log it, and that part is on the board's schedule. If your application portal still shows the score as missing two weeks later, call the board before you buy a second transfer.

Does a new graduate need a separate transfer?

Usually yes, and new graduates have one more wrinkle: the score cannot go anywhere until NBCOT releases it. NBCOT's apply page says exam results are not released until it receives an official final transcript from your school. If your school is slow to send it, every state application waits. California's limited permit page also asks for a Score Transfer receipt from NBCOT along with the authorization-to-test letter, so even a permit application depends on it. Our guide to your first OT license as a new graduate covers the order of steps.

Do compact privileges need a score transfer?

A compact privilege is issued on the strength of your home-state license, so the Commission's Before You Apply page lists an unencumbered home license, an FBI background check through your home board and any jurisprudence requirement, not an NBCOT score transfer. Your home board already has your score. If you hold a license in a state that issues privileges, see the OT Compact hub.

What goes wrong most often?

1. Sending a verification instead of a score. Free is tempting. In Texas it does not satisfy the requirement.
2. Choosing the wrong recipient. Some states license OTs through a combined board or a department. Virginia's OT licenses come from the Board of Medicine (18VAC85-80); Ohio's from the Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Athletic Trainers Board; Texas's through the Texas Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners. Pick the OT licensing body, not a similarly named one.
3. A name mismatch. If your NBCOT record and your application use different last names, the board may not connect them. Update NBCOT or explain the change on the application.
4. One transfer for two states. Each board needs its own. If you are licensing in three states, that is three orders.

Physical therapists deal with the same issue through the FSBPT; our sister site has a post on NPTE score transfers if you work alongside PTs who are moving too.

Can we order the score transfer for you?

No, and we would not want to. It is ordered from your MyNBCOT account, and you should never share that login. What we do is tell you exactly which document each board wants, when to order it, and which recipient to select, then confirm with the board that it arrived and is attached to your file. That is part of every License by Endorsement ($599 OT, $499 OTA) and Full State License Application ($749 OT, $649 OTA) we handle. NBCOT's $35 fee is separate. The state license index lists each board's requirements.