NCLEX - Your Pathway to Nursing Career in USA in 2025
UNDERSTANDING NCLEX
NCLEX EXAM DETAILS
NCLEX EXAM PREPARATIONS
NCLEX EXAM - POST EXAM INFORMATION
Understanding NCLEX-RN
What is NCLEX Examination?
NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) is a computer-adaptive test that nursing graduates must pass to obtain licensure in the USA, Canada and Australia. The test assesses the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to deliver safe and effective nursing care to clients across the lifespan in various healthcare settings.
2. NCLEX Requirements: NCLEX PN vs NCLEX RN
NCLEX-PN means NCLEX Practical Nurse and NCLEX-RN means NCLEX Registered Nurse.
To be eligible for the NCLEX-PN exam, candidates must first complete a practical or vocational nursing program. After successfully completing the program, they can request authorization to test (ATT) from their nursing regulatory body (NRB). Once the ATT is granted, candidates can proceed to register for the NCLEX-PN exam.
To be eligible for the NCLEX-RN exam, candidates must first complete a registered nursing program. After successfully completing the program, they must apply to their nursing regulatory body (NRB) for authorization to test (ATT). Once the ATT is obtained, candidates can register for the NCLEX-RN exam.
3. Next Generation NCLEX
The Next Generation NCLEX (NGN), introduced on April 1, 2023, is an advanced version of the NCLEX designed to more effectively evaluate nursing candidates' clinical judgment and decision-making skills. This enhancement incorporates innovative question formats to better reflect real-world nursing scenarios. The initiative is to improve assessment methods originated from the 2013-2014 NCSBN Strategic Practice Analysis, which revealed that newly licensed nurses are increasingly required to make complex decisions while managing patient care.
4. Pearson VUE
Pearson VUE, established in 1994, is a leading provider of computer-based testing services. They offer a wide range of testing solutions, from online practice tests to proctored exams conducted in secure environments. Pearson VUE administers licensing exams for healthcare professionals, including nurses, EMTs, doctors, pharmacists, and even massage therapists, across numerous countries. Their mission is to deliver reliable, valid, and legally defensible exams in secure testing centers to uphold public safety and trust.
5. Nursing Regulatory Bodies
Nursing Regulatory Bodies (NRBs) are governmental agencies in the 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and four US territories, responsible for regulating nursing practice within their jurisdictions.
Over a century ago, state and territorial governments established NRBs to safeguard public health and welfare by ensuring the safe practice of nursing. NRBs fulfill this mission by setting standards for safe nursing care, issuing nursing licenses, and monitoring compliance with jurisdictional laws. They also take disciplinary action against nurses who engage in unsafe practices.
All 59 NRBs in the United States are members of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).
6. National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN)
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) is an independent organization founded on March 15, 1978, and headquartered in Chicago. It represents nursing regulatory bodies across the United States and plays a vital role in addressing public health and safety issues. Among its key responsibilities is the administration and oversight of the NCLEX exam.
NCLEX-RN Exam Details
NCLEX Exam Registration process
· Submit your licensure or registration application to the nursing regulatory body (NRB) of your desired jurisdiction.
· Ensure you meet all eligibility requirements set by the NRB to take the NCLEX.
· Complete your NCLEX registration through Pearson VUE.
· Receive a Registration Acknowledgement email from Pearson VUE confirming your registration.
· The NRB will validate your eligibility in the Pearson VUE system.
· You will receive an Authorization to Test (ATT) email from Pearson VUE.
· Schedule your exam with Pearson VUE.
2. Cost of NCLEX Exam
3. Registration Deadline
All NCLEX registrations remain open for 365 days, during which time the nursing regulatory body (NRB) can determine a candidate’s eligibility. This period starts when the NRB receives the candidate's NCLEX registration from the testing service. Once the candidate is deemed eligible, they must take the exam within the validity period indicated on the Authorization to Test (ATT).
If a candidate is not made eligible or is denied eligibility by the NRB within the 365-day period, their NCLEX registration, including the registration fee, will be forfeited. To retake the NCLEX, candidates must re-register and pay the examination fee. They must wait until the current registration expires before re-registering. Candidates cannot hold two active NCLEX registrations for the same exam type simultaneously.
4. How to register for the NCLEX
Submit your licensure or registration application to the nursing regulatory body (NRB) in the jurisdiction where you wish to be licensed or registered, ensuring you meet their application deadline.
Register for the NCLEX using one of the following methods listed below.
Internet Registration
Visit the NCLEX website https://www.nclex.com/register.page to register
You can pay for your registration using a credit, debit, or prepaid card
An active email address is necessary for online registration.
Telephone Registration
Contact Pearson VUE NCLEX Candidate Services by calling one of the numbers provided on the webpage https://www.nclex.com/index.page
Payments can be made using a credit card, debit card or prepaid card.
A valid email address is required when registering by phone.
Test accommodations for eligible candidates will be provided only with authorization from the Nursing Regulatory Body (NRB). It is important to contact the NRB to inquire about the requirements for receiving accommodations before submitting your NCLEX exam registration to Pearson VUE. To ensure timely arrangements, submit a written request for accommodations to your NRB as soon as possible.
Wait to schedule your NCLEX appointment until you receive written confirmation of your testing accommodations and your Authorization to Test (ATT) email, which will outline the approved accommodations.
Once approved, you can schedule your appointment at, https://www.nclex.com/scheduling.page
You should also note that candidates with accommodations are not permitted to cancel their accommodations at the time of their appointment.
5. Authorization to Test (ATT)
You will receive your Authorization to Test (ATT) email once your nursing regulatory body (NRB) confirms your eligibility. Authorization to Test (ATT) is required to schedule an appointment for the NCLEX. The ATT email contains your authorization number, candidate identification number, and expiration date. The ATT is valid for a duration specified by the Nursing Regulatory Body (NRB), typically averaging 90 days. Once the NRB confirms your eligibility, you must take the exam within the validity period indicated. The ATT validity dates cannot be extended under any circumstances. If you fail to take the test within the specified period, you will need to re-register and pay a new examination fee.
6. NCLEX Exam Appointment
NCLEX exam centers may fill up because of high volumes. So, waiting to schedule your test may limit the selection of dates from which you can schedule. Additionally, waiting until your Authorization to Test (ATT) is near expiration may result in the test center being unable to accommodate you before the expiration date.. In that case, you will be required to reregister and pay for another examination.
First-time test takers of the NCLEX exam will be offered an appointment within 30 days of the call and repeat candidates will be offered an appointment after 45 days.
If you fail to arrive at your examination, your Authorization to test will be invalidated and you will be required to reregister and pay for another examination. Also, your failure to take the examination will be reflected in your registration as a case report and it can be viewable by your Nursing Recruitment Body.
7. Domestic Scheduling and International Scheduling
You can schedule the examination Domestically and Internationally. Domestic examination appointments can be scheduled through the NCLEX Scheduling webpage or by calling the Pearson VUE NCLEX candidate services at one of the telephone numbers listed on the NCLEX website.
For International scheduling, you will be charged an additional, non-refundable scheduling fee. If applicable, a value-added tax (VAT) may be applied to this examination.
United States and territories including American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands comes under Domestic Test Center types and all the test centers outside the United States and territories will be considered as International Test Centers.
8. Changing your NCLEX examination appointment
If you need to change your appointment date, time or location, log into your NCLEX candidate profile or call Pearson VUE NCLEX candidate services at least 24 hours before the scheduled exam date and time.
For examinations scheduled on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, log in or call at least 24 hours prior to appointment time.
For examinations scheduled on Saturday, Sunday or Monday, log in or call no later than Friday at least 24 hours in advance of your appointment time.
9. What to bring to the NCLEX exam test site?
NCLEX Examination involves strict candidate identification requirements. At the test center, you will be required to one form of acceptable identification. The presented identification must match the first and last names you provided when registering. If the ID doesn’t match with the names you registered with, you cannot attempt the examination and will be required to reregister and pay another exam fee.
The following are the acceptable forms of Identification in Domestic test centers:
Passport books and cards
Driver’s license
Provincial or Territorial or State Identification card
Permanent residence card
Military Identification card
The only acceptable forms of identification for international test centers are:
Passport books and cards.
Also, all forms of the identification must be valid and meet the following requirements.
Government-issued
Non-expired
Physical (Non-digital)
Name (in Roman characters)
Recent photograph
Signature
If the ID you brought doesn’t contain a signature, but meet all other ID requirements listed above, you must bring a secondary form of identification to the test center. The secondary ID must exactly match with the first and last names on your primary ID and with the names when you registered.
You should also note that if the ID is clipped, cracked or broken, it will be treated as expired.
10. Identification requirements from a US sanctioned country
Countries which are sanctioned by the US due to trade restrictions are known as sanctioned countries. Candidates from sanctioned countries cannot be admitted to sit for NCLEX exam. This is a federal requirement set by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
In order to be admitted to the NCLEX, the candidate has to present a proof of residency (government-issued identification) from a non-sanctioned country. This applies only to the candidates having passport from a sanctioned country.
11. NCLEX Exam – Test site rules and regulations
For the fair and accurate measurement, NCLEX exam always maintains a standardized testing environment. You have to provide a digital signature agreeing to the full list of candidate rules presented to you at the time of examination. You have to also undergo a biometric examination before the exam.
If you don’t follow the rules and regulations or warnings, you will be dismissed from the test center. Your exam result will be withheld or cancelled and additionally, Nursing regulatory Body can deny your license or registration from future registrations.
You should be also aware that disclosure of examination items before, during or after the examination is a violation of law. Violation of this confidentiality can result in criminal prosecution or disciplinary actions, including the denial of licensure.
NCSBN have two related goals for administering the NCLEX exam
Giving the test taker the opportunities to demonstrate their skills and abilities
Preventing any test taker from gaining unfair advantage over others.
NCSBN can cancel your result if they find you involved in any unfair practices, unusual answer patterns or unusual score increases from one exam to another. But If your result is cancelled without finding that the you are not engaged in any irregular behavior, then you can appeal the decision and you may be offered a free retest.
NCLEX Exam preparations
NCLEX Exam Content
Nursing practice requires the knowledge of the health needs of the clients (Clients means the Individual, family or a group) as well as the NCLEX Integrated processes such as nursing process, caring, communication, documentation, clinical judgement, culture and spirituality which are integrated through the client needs. These processes are fundamental to the nursing practice. The client needs are used as the framework for both RN and PN test plans. NCLEX RN and NCLEX PN examinations include topics from various cognitive levels. Majority of the topics are from higher levels of cognitive ability. If the age or age category of the client is not mentioned in the test, the client is an adult.
Developing the NCLEX
NCLEX is developed using the following steps:
To maintain a safe and effective entry-level nursing practice, NCSBN conducts a practical analysis of entry-level nurses every three years. The results of this practice analysis will be used to develop an NCLEX test plan. At the same time, on alternate years, NCSBN conducts Continuous Practice Analysis to validate the existing NCLEX test plan. If any significant changes in the entry-level practice are noted, those findings will be forwarded to the NCSBN Board of Directors for further direction.
Nursing Instructors write topics and items to test the entry-level nursing practice for the RN and PN examination. These nursing instructors are known as Item writers.
A second expert panel of practicing nurses review the newly written items and topics. This second review is to ensure that each item or topic reflects the current entry-level nursing practice.
All the items used in the examination will be pretested and will be ensured that the NCSBN statistical criteria have been met before used as scored items.
Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT)
The NCLEX uses Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) to deliver exam items. CAT provides more stable results with fewer questions by tailoring the items to the candidate’s ability. The main objective of CAT is to evaluate the candidate’s ability in relation to the passing standard. After each response, the computer re-estimates the candidate’s ability based on all previous answers. With each additional question answered, the ability estimate becomes increasingly precise.
For Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) to work, each question's difficulty must be determined in advance. This is done by first using these questions as "pretest items" with a large group of NCLEX candidates. Since the difficulty of pretest items is not yet known, they are not used to estimate a candidate's ability or make pass/fail decisions.
Once enough responses are collected, the pretest items are analyzed and calibrated statistically. If they meet NCLEX standards, they can later be included in the exam as scored questions.
NCLEX Preparation
Each NCLEX candidate will be give the information on how to answer the examination items. A tutorial is available to all candidates before the examination day. If you want NCLEX questions and preparation guidance, join BridgeWay Firm NCLEX Readiness Course.
NCLEX Exam – Post Exam Information
What is the passing score of NCLEX?
The Pass or Fail decision in the NCLEX Examination is determined by three distinct scenarios.
Scenario 1 – 95% Confidence Interval Rule
This is the most common scenario for NCLEX candidates. The computer system will stop administering items when it is 95% certain that the candidate’s ability is either clearly above or below the passing standard.
Scenario 2 – Maximum-length Exam
For some candidates, their ability level may be just below the passing standard. In such cases, the computer keeps giving questions until the maximum number of items is reached. At this point, the computer uses the final ability estimate to determine the result, ignoring the 95% confidence interval rule:
If the final ability estimate meets or exceeds the passing standard, the candidate passes.
If the final ability estimate falls below the passing standard, the candidate fails.
Scenario 3 – Run-Out-of-Time Rule (R.O.O.T)
If a candidate runs out of time before completing the exam and the computer cannot determine with 95% certainty whether they passed or failed, an alternate rule is applied:
If the candidate has not answered the minimum number of questions: The result is a failing exam.
If the candidate has answered the minimum number of questions: The exam is scored based on the final ability estimate, calculated from all answered questions.
If the final ability estimate is at or above the passing standard, the candidate passes.
If the final ability estimate is below the passing standard, the candidate will fail.
How to check NCLEX results?
NCLEX is scored twice; Firstly, by the computer at the test center and then the verification of the result after the exam record has been transferred to Pearson VUE. Test center staffs will not have access to the exam results and no results will be released at the test center.
NCLEX exam results will be released by the Nursing Regulatory Bodies. The results will be sent to the candidates after six weeks after taking the examination.
You shouldn’t call Pearson VUE NCLEX candidate services, test center or NCSBN for the result. If you do not receive the results within six weeks, you can contact your Nursing Regulatory Body (NRB).
If you are seeking licensure from USA, you have the availability of Quick Results Service. There is a minimal fee for this service and it is not available in all states. Quick results service is an unofficial NCLEX Exam result which you will get after two business days through your candidate profile.
How is NCLEX graded?
The NCLEX does not issue a raw score or a percentage of correct answers. Instead, it uses a pass/fail system based on how your performance compares to the established passing standard. You pass if you consistently demonstrate competency, but you fail if your performance falls below the required standard. The exam's scoring algorithm considers the difficulty of the questions, the number of correct responses, and the time taken to answer. Its primary purpose is to assess your competency and ensure you can practice nursing safely and effectively.
Candidate Performance Report
If you fail the NCLEX Examination, the Nursing Regulatory Body will send you the Candidate Performance Report (CPR). The report indicates the performance as failing, and provides a summary of your strengths and weaknesses. The Candidate Performance Report is intended to guide you to retake the examination.
How many times can you take the NCLEX?
NCSBN allows you to take NCLEX Exam eight times a year, and there must be 45 test-free days between each examination. You can contact with your Nursing Regulatory Body (NRB) for their policy on NCLEX exam retakes.
Nursing is more than just a profession—it’s an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on individuals, communities, and the world. Every step toward passing this exam brings you closer to becoming part of a compassionate community dedicated to caring for others. And when the journey feels challenging, remember the words of Florence Nightingale: "I attribute my success to this — I never gave or took any excuse."
If you are a nursing aspirant looking to start your nursing career in USA and want guidance in NCLEX, BridgeWay can help you.
BridgeWay is committed to empowering nurses with exceptional skills and compassion through top-tier nursing programs, addressing the growing demand for quality care. Our Nursing scholarships for Masters in Nursing in USA are designed for ambitious nurses aspiring to elevate their careers. Over the past three years, we have proudly awarded scholarships to more than 200 students. With personalized support and expert guidance, we are here to help you make informed choices and confidently advance toward a successful nursing future.
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