COMLEX Level 2-CE Pass Rate by Cycle to 2025-2026, and Score Dates

Written by Julian. Checked on October 4, 2026.

The COMLEX Level 2-CE pass rate for first time candidates was 92.5 percent in the 2025-2026 testing cycle, on 9,096 first time takers, from the NBOME examination performance data page, checked on October 4, 2026. Repeat candidates passed at 82.1 percent, and all 10,060 candidates together at 90.0 percent. The minimum passing score is 400. The next score release is October 22, 2026, for the window that closes on October 9, 2026. Ten cycles of rates and every release date of the 2026-2027 cycle are below.

COMLEX Level 2-CE pass rate by testing cycle

The COMLEX Level 2-CE pass rate for first time candidates was 92.5 percent in the 2025-2026 testing cycle, on 9,096 takers, from the NBOME examination performance data page and the Level 2-CE spreadsheet it links, checked on October 4, 2026. Across the ten most recent cycles the first time rate ran from 91.3 percent in 2024-2025 to 96.8 percent in 2019-2020. Repeat candidates passed at 82.1 percent in 2025-2026, on 780 takers.

COMLEX Level 2-CE testing cycle	First time takers	First time pass rate	Repeat takers	Repeat pass rate	All candidates	All candidates pass rate
Level 2-CE, 2025-2026	9,096	92.5 percent	780	82.1 percent	10,060	90.0 percent
Level 2-CE, 2024-2025	8,924	91.3 percent	845	81.1 percent	9,970	88.6 percent
Level 2-CE, 2023-2024 (new standard)	8,598	92.5 percent	680	83.2 percent	9,399	90.6 percent
Level 2-CE, 2022-2023	7,816	94.5 percent	477	82.6 percent	8,382	92.8 percent
Level 2-CE, 2021-2022	7,747	95.1 percent	425	82.1 percent	8,250	93.5 percent
Level 2-CE, 2020-2021	7,575	96.5 percent	285	77.89 percent	7,911	95.25 percent
Level 2-CE, 2019-2020 (new standard)	6,806	96.8 percent	240	81.3 percent	7,081	95.8 percent
Level 2-CE, 2018-2019	6,727	95.6 percent	355	86.2 percent	7,157	94.1 percent
Level 2-CE, 2017-2018	6,491	92.8 percent	515	84.9 percent	7,117	90.8 percent
Level 2-CE, 2016-2017	6,084	93.2 percent	476	84.9 percent	6,662	91.2 percent

Source: NBOME, COMLEX-USA Examination Performance Data, Level 2-CE table and the spreadsheet linked from it (2020-2021 repeat and total rates as the spreadsheet stores them), and Standard Setting, checked on October 4, 2026.

The NBOME marks 2023-2024 as a cycle with a new passing standard. Its standard setting page dates the review to February 2023 and the implementation to June 2023. The first time rate fell 2.0 points into that cycle, from 94.5 to 92.5 percent, and 1.2 more to 91.3 percent in 2024-2025, then rose back to 92.5 percent in 2025-2026, by this article's arithmetic.

The NBOME table goes back 21 cycles, to 2005-2006. Its lowest first time rate is 82.6 percent in 2009-2010, another new standard cycle. A Level 2-CE cycle typically runs from June to May, and the table is updated at the end of each cycle. The all candidates count for 2025-2026 is 10,060, more than the 9,876 first time plus repeat takers, so read the three rates separately.

COMLEX Level 2-CE fail rate

The COMLEX Level 2-CE fail rate was 7.5 percent for first time candidates in the 2025-2026 testing cycle. That is 100 minus the NBOME first time pass rate of 92.5 percent, arithmetic by this article on the NBOME table checked on October 4, 2026.

2025-2026 cycle: 7.5 percent of first time candidates, 17.9 percent of repeat candidates, 10.0 percent of all 10,060.
2024-2025 cycle: 8.7 percent first time, 18.9 percent repeat, 11.4 percent of all 9,970.
2023-2024 cycle: 7.5 percent first time, 16.8 percent repeat, 9.4 percent of all 9,399.

A repeat candidate failed at about 2.4 times the first time rate in 2025-2026. No 2026-2027 rate exists yet. That cycle opened on June 4, 2026, and the NBOME updates the table only when a cycle ends.

COMLEX Level 2-CE passing score and score scale

The minimum passing score for COMLEX Level 2-CE is 400, on a three-digit standard score, from the NBOME scoring and reporting page, the examination scores section of the Bulletin of Information and the NBOME FAQ, all checked on October 4, 2026. The FAQ says 400 holds regardless of when the examination is taken. Level 3 passes at 350.

Unlike Level 1, Level 2-CE still reports a number. The score report gives the three-digit standard score, a pass or fail designation and a graphical performance profile against other first time takers who passed.

The three-digit score is not a raw score and not a percent correct, the FAQ says. Correct answers are converted to the standard score, every scorable question counts the same, and unscored pretest questions count for nothing. The pass or fail standard is criterion based, so the share who pass is not set in advance.

None of the NBOME pages read for this article gives the top or bottom of the scale. To place a score above 400, use the NBOME percentile score converter, which works by testing cycle. For 2026-2027 it offers an interim Level 2-CE percentile, which the NBOME calls preliminary and subject to change until the cycle ends.

COMLEX Level 2-CE score release dates 2026-2027

COMLEX Level 2-CE scores come out on a fixed date for each testing window, by 5:00 PM Central time barring unforeseen circumstances. The next release is October 22, 2026, for the window of September 10 to October 9, 2026. The one after it is November 24, 2026, for October 10 to November 10, 2026. Dates from the NBOME testing windows and score release dates page, checked on October 4, 2026; the day counts are this article's arithmetic.

COMLEX Level 2-CE testing window, 2026-2027 cycle	Score release date	Days from window close to release (computed)
June 4 to June 27, 2026	August 4, 2026	38 days
June 28 to July 16, 2026	August 13, 2026	28 days
July 17 to August 4, 2026	August 25, 2026	21 days
August 5 to August 23, 2026	September 15, 2026	23 days
August 24 to September 9, 2026	September 22, 2026	13 days
September 10 to October 9, 2026	October 22, 2026	13 days
October 10 to November 10, 2026	November 24, 2026	14 days
November 12 to December 4, 2026	December 17, 2026	13 days
December 5, 2026 to January 8, 2027	January 21, 2027	13 days
January 9 to February 12, 2027	February 25, 2027	13 days
February 13 to March 17, 2027	March 30, 2027	13 days
March 18 to April 24, 2027	May 6, 2027	12 days

Source: NBOME, COMLEX-USA Testing Windows and Score Release Dates, Level 2-CE 2026-2027 cycle, checked on October 4, 2026.

Counted from the published dates, the wait from window close to release runs 12 to 38 days. The long waits are the first windows of the cycle: 38 days for June 4 to June 27 and 28 days for June 28 to July 16. From late August it settles at 12 to 14 days. Every release in the table falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, and November 11, 2026 sits in no window, both by this article's count.

NBOME prose gives wider ranges. The Level 2-CE page and the scoring page say two to six weeks. The FAQ says approximately four to six weeks after the test date, and warns that the first release of each cycle may be briefly delayed.

The NBOME has also published the 2027-2028 cycle. There the same count runs from 14 to 38 days, and every release is a Tuesday.

COMLEX Level 2-CE testing window, 2027-2028 cycle	Score release date	Days from window close to release (computed)
June 3 to June 26, 2027	August 3, 2027	38 days
June 27 to July 17, 2027	August 17, 2027	31 days
July 18 to August 7, 2027	August 31, 2027	24 days
August 8 to August 21, 2027	September 7, 2027	17 days
August 22 to September 4, 2027	September 21, 2027	17 days
September 5 to October 2, 2027	October 19, 2027	17 days
October 3 to October 30, 2027	November 16, 2027	17 days
October 31 to November 30, 2027	December 14, 2027	14 days
December 1, 2027 to January 8, 2028	January 25, 2028	17 days
January 9 to February 12, 2028	February 29, 2028	17 days
February 13 to March 18, 2028	April 4, 2028	17 days
March 19 to April 22, 2028	May 9, 2028	17 days

Source: NBOME, COMLEX-USA Testing Windows and Score Release Dates, Level 2-CE 2027-2028 cycle, checked on October 4, 2026. The NBOME notes that these dates are subject to change.

COMLEX Level 2-CE format: 320 questions in 8 hours

COMLEX Level 2-CE is a one day computer based test of 320 single best answer multiple choice questions in two separately timed sessions of four hours each, from the NBOME examination format page and the Bulletin of Information 2026-2027, checked on October 4, 2026. The count was 352 until the change the NBOME announced in December 2024 for the Level 2-CE cycle starting in June 2026, with the eight hours kept.

COMLEX Level 2-CE fact	Number	Applies to
Level 2-CE questions	320 single best answer questions, some with images, video or audio	2026-2027 cycle, down from 352
Level 2-CE testing time	8 hours, two separately timed sessions of 4 hours	Time left in session A does not carry into session B
Level 2-CE sections	8 sections of 40 questions, four in each session	A section cannot be reopened once you move on
Level 2-CE pace	90 seconds a question, 28,800 seconds divided by 320	Arithmetic by this article
Level 2-CE break time	60 minutes pooled, used in the optional breaks between sections	Break time past 60 minutes comes out of testing time
Level 2-CE tutorial	16 minutes of pre-examination information and tutorial	Before section 1
Level 2-CE unscored items	Research and pretest items carry no credit; the Bulletin gives no count	2026-2027 cycle

Source: NBOME, Examination Format, Bulletin of Information 2026-2027 (effective July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027) and Enhancements to COMLEX-USA Exams in 2026, 2027, checked on October 4, 2026.

The blueprint sets minimums, printed on the NBOME Level 2-CE page. Osteopathic patient care and procedural skills carries at least 30 percent, about 96 questions on 320. Osteopathic principles, practice and manipulative treatment carries at least 10 percent, about 32 questions. Both counts are this article's arithmetic. The largest clinical presentation is the musculoskeletal system at 13 percent, then community health and wellness at 12 percent.

COMLEX Level 2-CE fee, eligibility and attempts

The COMLEX Level 2-CE fee is USD 745, the same as Level 1, from the NBOME FAQ, checked on October 4, 2026. The FAQ says COMLEX-USA fees are frozen at 2025 levels through the 2027-2028 cycles.

COMLEX Level 2-CE fee or rule	Number	Applies to
Level 2-CE examination fee	USD 745	One attempt
Reschedule or cancel more than 30 days before	USD 0	Each exam day
Reschedule or cancel 6 to 30 days before	USD 85	Each exam day
Reschedule or cancel 1 to 5 days before	USD 250	Each exam day
No show within 24 hours	USD 400	A missed appointment
Score confirmation	USD 75, requested within 120 days, answered within 10 business days	One review per examination
Eligibility	Level 1 passed, second year completed at a COCA accredited college of osteopathic medicine, good standing attested by the dean	Every candidate
Attempts	4 scored attempts, and no more than 4 in any 12 months, counting incomplete or voided ones	All COMLEX-USA levels
Scheduling	Dates open up to six months ahead; no booking less than 5 calendar days before the exam date	Levels 1 and 2-CE

Source: NBOME, frequently asked questions, Eligibility, Examination Scores and the Bulletin of Information 2026-2027, checked on October 4, 2026.

A fifth attempt exists only as a one time final attempt requested by a medical licensing agency. A pass cannot be retaken to raise the score. That rule weighs more here than on Level 1, because Level 2-CE reports a number, and the NBOME lists use by residency program directors as part of eligibility criteria among the secondary uses of its scores. Scores do not go to ERAS by themselves: you request them through ERAS.

How COMLEX Level 2-CE differs from Level 1

Both levels have 320 questions in 8 hours, both cost USD 745 and both carry 400 as the passing score in the Bulletin. The differences are in what you get back and what is tested, from the NBOME Level 1 and Level 2-CE pages, the scoring page and the performance data page, checked on October 4, 2026.

Level 1 against Level 2-CE	COMLEX-USA Level 1	COMLEX-USA Level 2-CE
Result	Pass or fail only	Three-digit score plus pass or fail
Eligible after	First year completed	Level 1 passed and second year completed
Foundational biomedical sciences knowledge base, blueprint minimum	75 percent	25 percent
Osteopathic patient care and procedural skills, minimum	6 percent	30 percent
Osteopathic principles, practice and manipulative treatment, minimum	12 percent	10 percent
Testing cycle	Typically May to March	Typically June to May
First time pass rate, 2025-2026	90.2 percent of 9,678	92.5 percent of 9,096

On that last row, Level 2-CE passed 2.3 points more of its first time takers in 2025-2026, with a cohort that is a year further into training, so the gap is not a ranking of difficulty. Level 1 rates by cycle and its release dates are in the post on the COMLEX Level 1 pass rate and score dates, and its format sits on the COMLEX Level 1 page. If you also sit the USMLE, the post on Step 2 CK percentiles and the passing score covers that exam.

Preparing for COMLEX Level 2-CE from your own notes

The NBOME publishes no recommended study length for Level 2-CE. Its own practice test is COMSAE Phase 2, which the NBOME COMSAE Phase 2 page says follows the Level 2-CE content outline. That page sorts questions into eight clinical disciplines: emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, osteopathic principles and practice, pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery, checked on October 4, 2026.

Those eight are your clerkships, and your rotation notes already follow them. The generator here turns a set of notes, slides or a guideline summary into single best answer questions. Each question prints the verbatim sentence it was written from and the page it sits on, checked against the stored text of that page. That includes the osteopathic slice, about 32 questions at the 10 percent floor, which a bank written for MD students is least likely to cover. A guest gets 1,000 verified questions, a confirmed account gets 5,000 a month free, a 90 day Exam Pass is USD 19.99 and a 500 question pack is USD 5.99, and neither renews. Examples are on the sample exam page.

Questions people ask

What is the COMLEX Level 2 pass rate?

For first time candidates in the 2025-2026 testing cycle, the COMLEX-USA Level 2-CE pass rate was 92.5 percent, on 9,096 takers. Repeat candidates passed at 82.1 percent, on 780 takers, and all 10,060 candidates together at 90.0 percent. The 2026-2027 rate will not be published until that cycle ends. NBOME examination performance data, checked on October 4, 2026.

What is the passing score for COMLEX Level 2-CE?

The minimum passing score is 400 on the three-digit standard score, regardless of when the examination is taken. The three-digit score is not a raw score and not a percent correct, so there is no published number of questions you can miss. Level 3 passes at 350. NBOME scoring and reporting page and FAQ, checked on October 4, 2026.

When do COMLEX Level 2-CE scores come out?

On a scheduled date set by your testing window, by 5:00 PM Central time. A candidate testing in the window of September 10 to October 9, 2026 gets the score on October 22, 2026, 13 days after the window closes. Across the twelve windows of the 2026-2027 cycle the wait runs from 12 to 38 days, counted from the published NBOME schedule. NBOME testing windows and score release dates, checked on October 4, 2026.

How many questions are on COMLEX Level 2-CE?

COMLEX-USA Level 2-CE has 320 single best answer questions in the 2026-2027 cycle, down from 352. They come in eight sections of 40 over two separately timed sessions of four hours, 8 hours of testing in all, plus 60 minutes of pooled time for the optional breaks between sections. That is 90 seconds a question. NBOME examination format page and Bulletin of Information 2026-2027, checked on October 4, 2026.

What was the COMLEX Level 2-CE pass rate in 2025?

Two NBOME cycles touch 2025, on the usual June to May calendar. The 2024-2025 cycle passed 91.3 percent of 8,924 first time candidates and 88.6 percent of all 9,970. The 2025-2026 cycle passed 92.5 percent of 9,096 first time candidates and 90.0 percent of all 10,060. NBOME examination performance data, checked on October 4, 2026.

How many times can you take COMLEX Level 2-CE?

You get four scored attempts, and no more than four within any 12 month period, counting incomplete and voided attempts. A fifth exists only as a one time final attempt requested by a medical licensing agency. A candidate who has passed may not retake Level 2-CE to improve the three-digit score. NBOME eligibility rules, checked on October 4, 2026.

Is COMLEX Level 2-CE harder than Level 1?

By first time pass rate, Level 2-CE was the easier of the two in 2025-2026: 92.5 percent of 9,096 passed it against 90.2 percent of 9,678 for Level 1. The cohorts differ, since Level 2-CE candidates are a year further into training and have already passed Level 1. The Level 2-CE first time fail rate that cycle was 7.5 percent. NBOME examination performance data, checked on October 4, 2026.

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Published October 4, 2026.