NCLEX passing standard: what score you need to pass

There is no passing percentage on the NCLEX. Learn what the RN and PN passing standards are, how the adaptive exam decides, and why the number of questions tells you nothing.

What the passing standard is, in one paragraph

NCSBN describes the passing standard as the cut point at which the minimum ability is determined to be required for safe and effective entry-level practice. Because nursing practice changes over time, the NCSBN Board of Directors reevaluates the standards every three years when the test plans are reviewed. Your result depends on where your ability estimate lands relative to that point, not on how many items you got right.

RN and PN values at a glance

These values come from the official NCLEX passing standard page, which we checked on 2026-10-24. The Board of Directors voted in December 2022 to uphold both standards.

1. NCLEX-RN: 0.00 logits, effective through March 31, 2029.
2. NCLEX-PN: -0.18 logits, effective through March 31, 2029.

Older NCSBN publications list different historical values. For example, NCSBN's 2018 statistics publication reports a PN standard of -0.21 for 2018. Treat anything that stops at March 2026 as out of date, and treat the live NCLEX page as the authority.

One more point matters if you are comparing the two tracks. NCSBN states that the RN and PN standards are not directly comparable, because they are based on different item pools and different scopes of practice. A lower number on the PN scale does not mean that exam is easier, and it does not mean the PN standard is "lower" in any way you can translate into effort or content.

What a logit is and why 0.00 is not a score out of 100

A logit is a unit on a measurement scale. It is not a percentage of questions answered correctly, so a standard of 0.00 does not mean 0 percent, and it does not mean any other percentage either. It is a point on a scale, and that point is what your ability estimate is compared against.

Why "can you pass with 60%?" has no answer

The question assumes a percentage cutoff, and none exists. The exam is adaptive, so two candidates can answer very different items, at different difficulty levels, and the computer weighs those answers when it estimates ability. A raw "percent correct" does not describe that process, and NCSBN never reports one.

Some items also use partial credit scoring when more than one correct answer exists. NCSBN describes three methods (plus/minus, zero/one and rationale scoring), so even the idea of "number of items right" is not a clean count. For a plain-language look at how item types work, see our other NCLEX guides.

What logits do and do not mean

NCSBN's own footnote says it plainly: logit is short for log-odds-unit, the units have no inherent meaning with regard to nursing content, and the zero point is arbitrary. They are practical because the probability of a correct response can be computed when the candidate's ability and the item's difficulty are known. On both the RN and PN scales, the typical range runs from -2.00 (easy items or low-ability candidates) to 2.00 (difficult items or high-ability candidates).

What the sources do not give you: any public way to convert your experience of the exam into a logit value, or any per-item weights you could use to estimate your own result. Anyone who offers you a precise self-estimate is guessing.

How the passing standard is set and reviewed

The NCSBN Board of Directors decides, and it reviews the RN and PN standards every three years or following a revision to the test plan. The aim is to keep the standards aligned with the level of nursing ability required for competent entry-level practice.

Who reviews it and how often

NCSBN's FAQ gives the cycle: every three years, or after a test plan revision. The latest decision, in December 2022, upheld both standards through March 31, 2029. Eligibility and licensure rules are separate and are set by each nursing regulatory body, so check your board of nursing for those. The passing standard itself is the same for the exam wherever it is used.

What the Board of Directors considers

According to the NCLEX passing standard page, the Board looks at several inputs:

1. Panel of Judges exercise: the results of a standard-setting exercise, which currently uses a criterion-referenced method with additional statistical compromise procedures. The panel's members and qualifications are included.
2. Historical record: the history of the passing standard and annual summaries of candidate performance since computerized adaptive testing (CAT) began in 1994.
3. Employer and educator survey: an annual standard-setting survey on the competence of the current cohort of entry-level nurses.
4. Educational readiness: information on high school graduates who expressed an interest in nursing, currently supplied by the American College Testing service (ACT).

NCSBN's 2018 statistics publication described the panel exercise with different wording, so we use the current page's description here.

Criterion-referenced, not curved

Criterion-referenced means passing or failing depends solely on your performance relative to the established point for safe entry-level competence. NCSBN's 2018 statistics publication states there is no preassigned percentage of candidates who pass or fail each exam. You are not competing with the other people who tested that week.

NCSBN's FAQ adds that changes to the standard are expected to have a temporary effect on pass rates. Historically, pass rates tend to lower right after an increase and generally rebound within a few years. That is a statement about groups of candidates, not a prediction for you.

How CAT decides: the logic behind the rules

After every answer, the computer recalculates an ability estimate from all your earlier answers. It then picks the next item from the content area it needs, at a difficulty that gives you about a 50% chance of answering correctly. Every exam still has to meet test plan requirements while this happens, which is why the content areas in the 2026 NCLEX-RN® test plan matter even though no two exams are identical.

Ability estimate and precision

To make a decision, the computer needs three things, per NCSBN's 2018 statistics publication: your current ability estimate, the precision of that estimate, and the passing standard. Candidates clearly above the standard pass, and candidates clearly below it fail. If you are close enough that it is not clear which side you are on, the computer keeps asking items, and each new answer makes the estimate more precise.

Why most items feel hard

NCSBN's FAQ says everyone starts with an item of relatively low difficulty, and the path from there depends on your performance. Because the algorithm selects items of optimal difficulty for you, each item is relatively difficult for you. Candidates cannot reliably tell easy items from hard ones on the NCLEX scale, and both high- and low-ability candidates find the items at the end challenging.

So "the questions got harder" and "the questions were hard" are both expected experiences. Neither one is evidence about your result.

Retakes start fresh

Each exam attempt is independent. On a new attempt the process begins again with a relatively low-difficulty item, and selection depends only on your responses during that attempt. You also cannot skip items or go back to change answers, because each response is used to choose the next item.

The three decision rules

NCSBN's 2018 statistics publication describes how the exam ends. The wording below follows that document, so confirm any current details on nclex.com and in the Candidate Bulletin.

The 95% confidence rule

The exam can end once the computer is 95% certain your true ability is above or below the passing standard. This can only happen after the minimum number of items has been answered. NCSBN's FAQ explains that failing at the minimum number means it took only that many items to reach 95% certainty that ability was below the standard.

1. What it means for a pass: your ability was clearly above the standard.
2. What it means for a fail: your ability was clearly below it. Reaching that point early says nothing else about you as a future nurse.

The maximum-length rule

Some candidates sit very close to the standard, so even the whole item pool may not give enough information to be certain. Once the maximum number of items is reached, the computer waives the 95% certainty requirement and decides from your final ability estimate. If it is above the passing standard, you pass. If not, you fail.

The run-out-of-time rule

If the exam ends because time runs out, the computer did not have enough information for a clear decision, otherwise it would already have stopped. NCSBN's publication says that when it investigated response patterns of people who ran out of time, some had been performing consistently above the standard. A mechanism lets those candidates pass.

The key word is "consistently." If your ability estimate has been consistently above the passing standard over the last 60 items, you pass despite running out of time. That 60-item detail comes from NCSBN's 2018 statistics publication. The sources we used do not state what happens in other time-out situations, so we won't guess. Check the current Candidate Bulletin for time limits and item counts, which we deliberately leave out because they can change.

Why exam length does not tell you the result

The number of questions you got does not tell you whether you passed. NCSBN's FAQ says it directly: the number of items alone does not determine or reveal pass/fail results. The exam may stop as soon as the algorithm has enough information, or it may continue to the maximum when your ability estimate is close to the passing standard.

What the number of questions can and cannot mean

A shorter exam means the algorithm reached 95% certainty sooner. A longer exam means certainty took more information. Neither direction tells you which side of the standard you were on, so "I got the minimum, so I failed" and "I got the maximum, so I passed" are both unsupported.

About "good signs" and "bad signs"

People ask for good signs you passed, and the honest answer is that the official sources support no reliable one. Feeling that the items were difficult is built into the design, as shown above. The things that circulate online, like a particular pop-up or a certain feeling about the last few items, are not described in NCSBN's materials as signals.

If you are waiting on results, that is a hard place to be. It may help to know that your uncertainty is shared by almost everyone who has taken an adaptive exam.

After the exam: where results come from

Official results and Quick Results

Official results are available only from your nursing regulatory body. Pearson and NCSBN do not provide them. Candidates seeking licensure in the U.S. whose board participates in the Quick Results Service can see unofficial results 48 hours after the exam date and time, and a fee is required. Participation varies, so check your board of nursing.

Candidate Performance Report

Candidates who fail receive a Candidate Performance Report. NCSBN says it is meant to help direct remediation. "Near the Passing Standard" in a content area or clinical judgment category means your performance there is not clearly above or below the standard. It is not a sign you are failing that area, only that the data are not decisive.

What this means for how you study

You can't aim at a magic number, because none exists. The more useful target is broad, steady competence across the whole exam.

Aim at broad competence, not a magic number

NCSBN's FAQ says each exam adheres to the test plan content area percentages and covers all areas, with no exam focused on a specialty. There is no predetermined percentage of item formats, and NCSBN does not specify a list of drugs that will appear. So study by test plan category rather than hunting for a "must-know" list, and read the percentages in the plan for the track you are taking.

Using your own mistakes as the signal

Since the exam keeps probing at your edge, your own errors are more informative than a total score. Track your accuracy by content area, and for each miss ask what kind of reasoning slipped: a knowledge gap, a misread stem, or a priority call. Patterns show up faster than you expect.

That is the idea behind PreceptIQ, a study aid whose coach reads your missed-question history and per-domain accuracy and aims coaching at your weaker domains. It is not a guarantee of any result, and licensed nurse clinical review of the question bank is under way.

PN candidates

If you are taking the NCLEX-PN, use the PN materials and the PN standard, not RN ones, since the exams use different item pools and scopes of practice. Our NCLEX-PN test plan guide walks through the PN categories.

You can pass an adaptive exam without ever knowing a number, and you can study well without one. PreceptIQ, an NCLEX® coach that studies your mistakes, is coming to iPhone and Android at https://preceptiq.app.

Common questions

NCLEX®, NCLEX-RN® and NCLEX-PN® are registered trademarks of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN®). PreceptIQ is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NCSBN.