NCLEX-PN Pass Rates 2019 to 2025, Passing Standard and Question Count

Written by Julian. Checked on October 4, 2026.

The NCLEX-PN pass rate for first-time, U.S.-educated candidates was 86.6 percent in 2025, 47,470 passing of 54,818 tested, from Table 12 of NCSBN Research Brief Volume 96, published in June 2026 and checked on October 4, 2026. Across all 68,996 candidates, repeat takers and internationally educated nurses included, the 2025 rate was 77.3 percent. Below are seven years of rates, the ten largest states, the minus 0.18 logit passing standard, the 85 to 150 item length, the item types, and the fee and retake rules.

NCLEX-PN pass rate by year, 2019 to 2025

The NCLEX-PN pass rate for first-time, U.S.-educated candidates was 86.6 percent in 2025 and 88.4 percent in 2024, from Table 12 of the NCSBN NCLEX Examination Statistics research briefs, checked on October 4, 2026. Every rate below is by calendar year.

NCLEX-PN year	First-time U.S.-educated pass rate	First-time U.S.-educated tested	Repeat U.S.-educated pass rate	First-time internationally educated pass rate	Repeat internationally educated pass rate	All candidates pass rate	All candidates tested
NCLEX-PN 2019	85.6 percent	48,228	36.7 percent	54.7 percent	26.0 percent	73.7 percent	63,758
NCLEX-PN 2020	83.1 percent	45,656	35.6 percent	54.8 percent	25.0 percent	70.9 percent	61,549
NCLEX-PN 2021	79.6 percent	46,353	35.4 percent	51.5 percent	18.2 percent	66.9 percent	64,872
NCLEX-PN 2022	79.9 percent	47,636	35.7 percent	50.4 percent	22.8 percent	67.5 percent	66,294
NCLEX-PN 2023	86.7 percent	47,548	42.8 percent	53.9 percent	29.1 percent	74.5 percent	65,679
NCLEX-PN 2024	88.4 percent	50,570	41.9 percent	51.1 percent	23.9 percent	79.1 percent	63,150
NCLEX-PN 2025	86.6 percent	54,818	41.7 percent	53.7 percent	27.6 percent	77.3 percent	68,996

Source: NCSBN Research Brief, NCLEX Examination Statistics, Table 12 of the briefs for 2019 (Volume 79), 2020 (Volume 80), 2021 (Volume 85), 2022 (Volume 86), 2023 (Volume 88), 2024 (Volume 94) and 2025 (Volume 96, June 2026), all checked on October 4, 2026.

Across seven years the first-time, U.S.-educated rate runs from a low of 79.6 percent in 2021 to a high of 88.4 percent in 2024. It fell 1.8 percentage points from 2024 to 2025, a subtraction computed here and not a figure NCSBN prints. No 2026 NCLEX-PN rate is in any NCSBN annual brief on October 4, 2026: the newest, Volume 96, covers calendar year 2025.

The candidate group moves the number far more than the year. In 2025 the rate ran from 86.6 percent for first-time, U.S.-educated candidates to 27.6 percent for repeat, internationally educated candidates, a 59.0 point spread, computed here. Internationally educated candidates are a small group on this exam: 397 first-time takers in 2025, against 54,818 first-time U.S.-educated takers.

The 2023 step: before and after the Next Generation NCLEX

The 2023 annual rate hides a step. First-time, U.S.-educated candidates passed at 79.6 percent from January to March 2023, then at 90.1 percent from April to June, 90.7 percent from July to September and 87.6 percent from October to December, from Table 12 of the 2023 brief, checked on October 4, 2026.

The Next Generation NCLEX launched on April 1, 2023, on the NCSBN page checked on October 4, 2026. The passing standard did not move: it was minus 0.18 logits in both parts of 2023, from Table 13 of the same brief. The timing is on the record; this article claims no cause for the step.

NCLEX-PN pass rates by state, 2025

California tested the most first-time, U.S.-educated NCLEX-PN candidates in 2025, 9,136, and passed 80.9 percent of them, from Table 14 of the 2025 NCSBN brief, checked on October 4, 2026. These are the ten largest jurisdictions by candidates tested.

State and year	First-time U.S.-educated candidates tested	Passed	NCLEX-PN pass rate
California 2025	9,136	7,394	80.9 percent
Texas 2025	4,244	3,899	91.9 percent
Ohio 2025	3,853	3,179	82.5 percent
Florida 2025	3,755	2,950	78.6 percent
New York 2025	2,353	1,962	83.4 percent
Pennsylvania 2025	2,073	1,728	83.4 percent
New Jersey 2025	1,729	1,423	82.3 percent
Illinois 2025	1,667	1,471	88.2 percent
Virginia 2025	1,528	1,354	88.6 percent
Alabama 2025	1,474	1,381	93.7 percent
All jurisdictions 2025	54,818	47,470	86.6 percent

Source: NCSBN Research Brief Volume 96, June 2026, 2025 NCLEX Examination Statistics, Table 14, checked on October 4, 2026.

Alabama at 93.7 percent and Texas at 91.9 percent sit above the national 86.6 percent, and Florida at 78.6 percent is the lowest of the ten. NCSBN prints these figures by jurisdiction, not by school.

NCLEX-PN passing standard: minus 0.18 logits

The NCLEX-PN passing standard is minus 0.18 logits, effective through March 31, 2029, on the NCSBN passing standard page, checked on October 4, 2026. The NCSBN Board of Directors voted in December 2022 to uphold it through that date.

The standard has risen in steps since 1999, from the history printed in the 2025 brief:

April 1999: from minus 0.51 to minus 0.47 logits.
April 2005: minus 0.42. April 2008: minus 0.37. April 2011: minus 0.27. April 2014: minus 0.21.
March 25, 2020: minus 0.18, retained in April 2023 and April 2026.

NCSBN publishes no date for the next review. Its Board reevaluates the passing standards every three years when the test plans are reviewed, and the current NCLEX-PN Test Plan runs from April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2029. The NCLEX-RN standard is 0.00 logits, and the 2025 brief notes the RN and PN standards are not directly comparable, because they rest on different item pools and different scopes of practice.

No percentage of correct answers decides a pass. The result is a pass or fail decision against the standard, scores are never reported, and the 2026 NCLEX-PN Test Plan states that there is no fixed percentage of candidates that pass or fail.

How many questions are on the NCLEX-PN: 85 to 150 in five hours

The NCLEX-PN has a minimum of 85 items and a maximum of 150 items, and the five hour limit includes all breaks, from the 2026 NCLEX-PN Test Plan, effective April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2029, checked on October 4, 2026. The 2026 Candidate Bulletin offers optional breaks after two hours and after three and a half hours, and the clock runs through them.

A minimum length exam is 52 items from the eight Client Needs content areas, 18 items in three clinical judgment case studies, and 15 unscored pretest items. So the shortest exam scores 70 of its 85 items, computed here. The test plan weights the content areas this way:

Coordinated Care, 18 to 24 percent. Safety and Infection Prevention and Control, 10 to 16 percent.
Health Promotion and Maintenance, 6 to 12 percent. Psychosocial Integrity, 9 to 15 percent.
Basic Care and Comfort, 7 to 13 percent. Pharmacological Therapies, 10 to 16 percent.
Reduction of Risk Potential, 9 to 15 percent. Physiological Adaptation, 7 to 13 percent.

NCLEX-PN period	Average test length	Share stopping at the minimum	Share reaching the maximum	Average testing time
NCLEX-PN January to March 2023	97 items	52.2 percent	22.9 percent	1 hour 59 minutes
NCLEX-PN April to December 2023	98 items	69.3 percent	15.1 percent	2 hours 22 minutes
NCLEX-PN 2024	99 items	67.8 percent	16.2 percent	2 hours 17 minutes
NCLEX-PN 2025	100 items	64.6 percent	17.7 percent	2 hours 18 minutes

Source: NCSBN Research Brief, NCLEX Examination Statistics, Table 13 of the 2023, 2024 and 2025 briefs, first-time, U.S.-educated candidates, checked on October 4, 2026.

Stopping at 85 says nothing about the result: the test plan states a candidate may pass or fail regardless of the length of the examination. Most exams end when the computer is 95 percent certain the candidate is clearly above or clearly below the standard. Five hours over 150 items is 120 seconds an item, and the 2025 average of 100 items in 2 hours 18 minutes is 82.8 seconds an item, both computed here.

NCLEX-PN item types and how they are scored

The NCLEX-PN mixes stand-alone items and case studies written in several formats, and any item can include charts, tables or graphics, from the 2026 NCLEX-PN Test Plan, checked on October 4, 2026. Clinical judgment is measured by the 18 case study items and about 10 percent stand-alone items.

A case study is six items on one client presentation with unfolding information, one item for each step of the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model: recognize cues, analyze cues, prioritize hypotheses, generate solutions, take action and evaluate outcomes.
Multiple response items carry the qualifier "select all that apply" in bold, on the NCLEX FAQ page, checked on October 4, 2026.
Items with more than one key earn partial credit by one of three methods that page names: plus/minus, zero/one and rationale scoring.

These NCSBN pages do not list every format by name. They point to the candidate tutorial and to a sample pack with 2 PN case studies, on the NCSBN Prepare page, checked on October 4, 2026.

NCLEX-PN fee, retake wait and attempts a year

The NCLEX-PN costs USD 200 for U.S. licensure, and NCSBN allows eight attempts a year with 45 test-free days between them, from the NCSBN fees and payment page and results page, checked on October 4, 2026.

NCLEX-PN fact	Number	Applies to
Registration fee	USD 200	U.S. licensure, registrations before February 1, 2027
Registration fee from February 1, 2027	USD 350	The United States and Australia
International scheduling fee	USD 150 plus value added tax where applicable	Testing outside the United States for U.S. licensure
Change exam type, RN or PN, after registering	USD 50	U.S. licensure
Refund of the registration fee	None, for any reason	Every registration
Retake wait	45 test-free days between exams	NCSBN retake policy
Attempts a year	8, fewer where a board offers fewer	NCSBN retake policy
Unofficial results	2 business days, Quick Results Service	U.S. licensure, participating boards
Official results	Within six weeks, from your nursing regulatory body	Every candidate

Source: NCSBN fees and payment page, results page and the 2026 NCLEX Candidate Bulletin, checked on October 4, 2026.

A candidate who does not pass receives a Candidate Performance Report as a guide to the retake. State rules on attempts are in the article on attempt limits across exams.

NCLEX-PN versus NCLEX-RN

The two exams share a length, a clock and a fee, and differ in the standard and in who takes them, from the NCSBN passing standard page, the 2026 Candidate Bulletin and Tables 1, 3, 12 and 13 of the 2025 brief, checked on October 4, 2026.

Fact	NCLEX-PN	NCLEX-RN
Passing standard	Minus 0.18 logits	0.00 logits
Items and time	85 to 150 items, five hours	85 to 150 items, five hours
First-time U.S.-educated pass rate, 2025	86.6 percent of 54,818	86.7 percent of 192,916
First-time internationally educated pass rate, 2025	53.7 percent of 397	47.3 percent of 52,827
Average test length, 2025	100 items	103 items
Registration fee, U.S. licensure	USD 200	USD 200

The two first-time, U.S.-educated rates sat 0.1 point apart in 2025, computed here, and the RN exam drew more than three times as many of those candidates. RN rates by year, by state and by country of education are in the NCLEX-RN pass rates post, and the RN Client Needs weights are on the NCLEX-RN page.

NCLEX-PN practice questions from your own nursing notes

This site writes practice questions from the material you upload: a pharmacology lecture, a care plan, a chapter on infection control. Each question is printed with a verbatim quote from your file and the page number it sits on, and that quote is checked against the stored page text before you see the question. Single questions like these suit the 52 Client Needs items of a minimum length exam; the six item case studies, built on one unfolding client, are not what a set written from a lecture reproduces. This is not an NCLEX question bank and has no connection to NCSBN.

Pricing lists the free monthly allowance and the one time options, the sample exam needs no upload, and the pages for nursing students are at the nursing students page.

Questions people ask

What is the NCLEX-PN pass rate for 2025?

86.6 percent for first-time, U.S.-educated candidates: 47,470 passed of 54,818 tested in calendar year 2025, from Table 12 of NCSBN Research Brief Volume 96, June 2026, checked on October 4, 2026. Repeat U.S.-educated candidates passed at 41.7 percent, and all 68,996 candidates together at 77.3 percent.

What is the passing score for the NCLEX-PN?

There is no score to reach. The NCLEX-PN passing standard is minus 0.18 logits, effective through March 31, 2029, on the NCSBN passing standard page checked on October 4, 2026. The result is reported only as pass or fail, and the standard has been minus 0.18 logits since March 25, 2020.

How many questions are on the NCLEX-PN?

Between 85 and 150 items in five hours, breaks included, from the 2026 NCLEX-PN Test Plan, checked on October 4, 2026. A minimum length exam holds 52 Client Needs items, 18 case study items and 15 unscored pretest items. In 2025 the average first-time, U.S.-educated candidate answered 100 items, from Table 13 of the 2025 NCSBN brief.

Does stopping at 85 questions on the NCLEX-PN mean you passed?

No. The 2026 NCLEX-PN Test Plan states that the length of the exam is not an indication of a pass or fail result. In 2025, 64.6 percent of first-time, U.S.-educated candidates stopped at the 85 item minimum and 17.7 percent went to 150, from Table 13 of the 2025 NCSBN brief, checked on October 4, 2026.

How much does the NCLEX-PN cost?

USD 200 for U.S. licensure, rising to USD 350 in the United States on February 1, 2027, on the NCSBN fees and payment page checked on October 4, 2026. Testing outside the United States adds a USD 150 international scheduling fee plus value added tax where applicable, and neither fee is refunded for any reason.

How many times can you take the NCLEX-PN?

Up to eight times a year, with at least 45 test-free days between exams, under the NCSBN retake policy in the 2026 Candidate Bulletin and on the results page, checked on October 4, 2026. A board that offers fewer exams a year sets a lower limit, so check with your nursing regulatory body before you register again.

Is the NCLEX-PN easier than the NCLEX-RN?

The 2025 pass rates are almost equal: 86.6 percent of first-time, U.S.-educated NCLEX-PN candidates passed against 86.7 percent on the NCLEX-RN, from Tables 1 and 12 of the 2025 NCSBN brief, checked on October 4, 2026. The standards, minus 0.18 and 0.00 logits, are not directly comparable, because they rest on different item pools and scopes of practice.

More exam numbers

United States exams

USMLE Step 1 Passing Score, Pass Rates by Year The USMLE Step 1 passing standard is 196 on the three digit scale and the result comes back as pass or fail. Every published Step 1 pass rate from 2013 to 2025 sits here by year and examinee group.
NBME Shelf Exam Scores, Percentiles and Timing How NBME clinical science shelf exams work: 110 questions in 2 hours 45 minutes, equated percent correct scores from 0 to 100, academic year and quarterly norms that go to schools rather than the public, result timing, 2026-2027 fees and the contrast with Step 2 CK.
Step 2 CK Percentiles Table and 218 Pass Score Every Step 2 CK percentile from a score of 205 up to 280 in one table, with the national mean by academic year, the passing score of 218 and the pass rate for each examinee group, all checked on September 21, 2026.
USMLE Step 3 Pass Rate, Passing Score and Fee Step 3 first time pass rates for US MD, US DO and non-US graduates from 2020 to 2025, the 200 passing score on the 1 to 300 scale, the 227 mean with percentiles, the two day format, the USD 955 fee and when scores arrive.
NCLEX Pass Rate by Year Table, 2019 to 2025 Every published NCLEX-RN pass rate from 2019 to 2025 in one table, split by first-time, repeat, U.S.-educated and internationally educated candidates, with the 85 item minimum, the 0.00 logit passing standard, the USD 200 fee and the attempt rule.
MCAT Percentiles Table 2026, 2027 Test Dates Every MCAT total score from 472 to 528 with its percentile rank, the section percentiles from 118 to 132, the 35 U.S. test dates in 2027 with score release dates, and the AAMC fees in USD.
Match 2027 Timeline: ERAS and NRMP Dates Every date of the 2027 residency Match from the AAMC ERAS timeline and the NRMP applicant calendar, the ERAS and NRMP fees, Match Week and SOAP hour by hour.
NAPLEX Pass Rates 2015 to 2025, Passing Score Every NAPLEX pass rate NABP publishes, from 2015 to 2025 graduates, with the candidate counts behind them, the 20 programs with the most 2025 first-time candidates, the passing standard of 75, and the 2026 fee list.
INBDE Pass Rate Table 2025, Passing Score 75 Every INBDE pass rate from 2020 through 2025, by candidate group and with the tested counts, computed from the failure rates the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations publishes, plus the 75 passing score, the 500 item format, the fees and the retake limits.
COMLEX Level 1 Pass Rate Table and Score Dates Ten testing cycles of NBOME pass rates for COMLEX-USA Level 1 with the counts behind them, all twelve score release dates of the 2026-2027 cycle with the wait counted in days, and the 320 item format the exam runs on.
COMLEX Level 2-CE Pass Rate, Score Dates 2026 Ten testing cycles of NBOME pass rates for COMLEX-USA Level 2-CE with the counts behind them, the 400 minimum passing score on the three-digit scale, all twelve score release dates of the 2026-2027 cycle with the wait counted in days, and the 320 question format.
USMLE Fees 2026 and 2027: US vs International The USMLE fees for 2026 and 2027 by Step, the region fees outside the US and Canada, the India tax, who applies through NBME and who through FSMB, the Prometric rescheduling fees, and what Step 1 to Step 3 costs in total.
USMLE Designated Testing Dates: What Is Known What the USMLE program has published about Designated Testing Dates (a January 2029 start, dates published more than a year ahead, Prometric seats reserved for Step exams), what it has not published yet, and the year-round rules that hold until then.
How Long to Study: Step 1, NCLEX, MCAT 2027 Study time for Step 1, the NCLEX and the MCAT counted from dates: 16, 12 and 6 week start dates for each of the 35 MCAT test dates in 2027, and the booking, results and retake clocks USMLE and NCSBN publish.

UK exams

PLAB 1 Pass Mark and Pass Rate: 2016 to 2025 The GMC pass mark for PLAB 1, set per test by the Angoff method, with the four 2019 Angoff totals, the pass mark per diet in 2016 and 2017, and the pass rate for every year from 2021 to 2025.
How Long to Study for PLAB 1: 2026 Dates An 8, 12 or 16 week PLAB 1 plan with real start dates counted back from the November 5, 2026 and February 11, 2027 exams, plus the GMC booking and refund deadlines, the attempt limit and how long a pass stays valid.
MRCP Part 1 Pass Mark: 450 in 2026, Pass Rates The MRCP(UK) Part 1 pass mark is 450 from the 2026/1 diet, with the pass rate for eight diets from January 2024 to May 2026 that this article could source, plus the correct answers needed and the candidate count for seven of them.
MRCP Part 1 Results Sept 2026: by November 6 When MRCP(UK) Part 1 results for the September 23, 2026 paper are due, where they appear, every 2026 and 2027 diet with its application window and results date, and why the January 2027 window closes before the September results arrive.
PLAB 1 Exam Dates 2027 and Nov 5 2026 Results Ten published PLAB 1 exam dates with the GMC result date for each, the day of the week they fall on, both fee columns from April 2025 and April 2026, every exam city by country, and what changes in 2027.
UKMLA AKT Pass Mark 115 of 200, Pass Rates Every published UKMLA applied knowledge test number in one place: the 115 to 117 out of 200 pass mark, the 98.3 percent pass rate across 10,437 students, the attempts rule, and how the AKT compares with PLAB 1.

All exams

How Many Questions: Step 1, NCLEX, MCAT, PLAB The question count, the testing time and the computed pace for the eleven exams on this site, from USMLE Step 1 at about 280 questions to PLAB 1 at 180, each row naming the exam owner's document it came from, checked on September 21 and 26, 2026.
How Many Times You Can Take the NCLEX, Step 1, MCAT, PLAB 1 The attempt limit for all eleven exams in one table: the NCLEX eight a year, four per USMLE Step, seven MCAT attempts in a lifetime, five NAPLEX attempts, five PLAB 1 attempts with the fifth by application, six at MRCP Part 1.

Published October 4, 2026.