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| NCLEX® Candidate Process | Candidate FYI | After the NCLEX® Examination |
NCLEX® Examination Experiences
Use the links below or scroll down the page to view questions and answers about common situations that candidates sometimes encounter during the NCLEX testing process.
Run out of time?
Stopping & Passing Rules
When will the exam end?
Passing
Failing
Candidates who ran out of time on the NCLEX examination
If your examination ended because your six hours for the NCLEX-RN® examination or five hours for the NCLEX-PN® examination expired, the computer did not have sufficient evidence to make a clear pass or fail decision (or it would have already stopped administering questions). Candidates whose competence is either far above or far below the passing standard are identified quickly, and their examinations end after the minimum number of items has been administered. Candidates whose competence is closer to the passing standard (neither extremely high nor low) need to provide more information (by answering more questions) before a confident decision can be made. We have established a maximum number of items that provides as much information as was obtained from the paper-and-pencil NCLEX examination. However, when you run out of time before taking the maximum number of questions, we do not have even that much information.
Because the primary mission of boards of nursing is to protect the public, it can be argued that candidates should fail whenever it's not clear if they should pass. However, when we looked at the response patterns of people who ran out of time during the field tests, we found some of them had been performing consistently above the passing level, and their true competence level appeared to be above passing, although close to it. The "last 60" rule provides a mechanism to permit these candidates to demonstrate acceptable competence and pass.
Instead of just looking at how well you were doing at the very end of the examination, when you run out of time we require you to have been consistently above passing.
When you run out of time, we know that you were not far enough above or below the passing standard for the test to have finished early, and we don't have as much information to use in calculating your competence level as we require for people whose performance is close to the passing standard. So, in addition to requiring that your final competence estimate was above passing, we also require that it had been consistently above the passing standard throughout the final portion of your examination.
After each question, the computer recalculates your competence level, using your performance on all of the questions you have answered to that point. If each of the last 60 competence levels that were calculated were above the passing standard, then you will pass the examination, even though you ran out of time. This does not mean you need to answer all of the last 60 questions correctly. You just have to answer enough of them correctly so that your competence level stays above the passing standard. Therefore, if your performance has been consistently above passing, you will pass, despite having run out of time.
For your future NCLEX examination preparation, you may want to refer to your NCLEX® Candidate Bulletin. This bulletin contains information regarding how computerized adaptive examinations are structured, and provides guidelines on how to approach the examination. In addition, keep up a steady pace when you take the NCLEX examination again, averaging about one minute per item, on the assumption you will need to take the maximum number of questions.
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NCLEX examination stopping and passing rules
A candidate's NCLEX examination will end when the maximum number of questions* has been taken or when the time limit** is reached. In addition, testing will also stop when a candidate's pass or fail status has been determined with a high level of certainty.
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The NCLEX examination will end when:
a candidate's measure of competence is known to be above or below the passing standard with at least 95 percent confidence (is significantly above or below the standard) and at least the minimum number of questions has been answered; or
a candidate has taken the maximum number of questions; or
a candidate has been testing for the maximum time.
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Candidates will pass the NCLEX examination when:
they answer at least the minimum number of questions, within the time allowed, and achieve a competence measure significantly above the passing standard; or
they answer the maximum number of questions, within the time allowed, and achieve a final competence measure above the passing standard (even if not significantly above); or
they answer at least the minimum number of questions, but not the maximum, using all of the time allowed, and have a competence measure above the passing standard consistently for all of the last 60 questions. Not all of the last 60 items need to be answered correctly, but the competence estimate must remain above the passing standard after each of the last 60 items answered.
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Candidates will not pass the NCLEX examination when:
they answer at least the minimum number of questions, within the time allowed, and achieve a competence measure significantly below the passing standard; or
they answer the maximum number of questions, within the time allowed, and achieve a final competence measure below the passing standard (even if not significantly below); or
they answer at least the minimum number of questions, but not the maximum, using all of the time allowed, and have a competence measure that has not been above the passing standard for all of the last 60 questions; or
they answer fewer than the minimum number of questions before the maximum time allowed elapses.
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* The maximum number of questions is 265 for the NCLEX-RN examination and 205 for the NCLEX-PN examination.
The time limit for the NCLEX-RN examination is six hours and the NCLEX-PN examination is five hours including tutorials and any optional breaks.
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Candidates will pass the NCLEX examination when:
they answer at least the minimum number of questions, within the time allowed, and achieve a competence measure significantly above the passing standard; or
they answer the maximum number of questions, within the time allowed, and achieve a final competence measure above the passing standard (even if not significantly above); or
they answer at least the minimum number of questions, but not the maximum, using all of the time allowed, and have a competence measure above the passing standard consistently for all of the last 60 questions. Not all of the last 60 items need to be answered correctly, but the competence estimate must remain above the passing standard after each of the last 60 items answered.
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Candidates will not pass the NCLEX examination when:
they answer at least the minimum number of questions, within the time allowed, and achieve a competence measure significantly below the passing standard; or
they answer the maximum number of questions, within the time allowed, and achieve a final competence measure below the passing standard (even if not significantly below); or
they answer at least the minimum number of questions, but not the maximum, using all of the time allowed, and have a competence measure that has not been above the passing standard for all of the last 60 questions; or
they answer fewer than the minimum number of questions before the maximum time allowed elapses.
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* The maximum number of questions is 265 for the NCLEX-RN examination and 205 for the NCLEX-PN examination.
The time limit for the NCLEX-RN examination is six hours and the NCLEX-PN examination is five hours including tutorials and any optional breaks.
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THERE ARE 265 QUESTIONS FOR NCLEX
AND I THINK THERE IS A MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM
SO MEANS IF THE PERSON REACH THE MINIMUM AND DID NOT GO BEYOND THE MAXIMAUM AND DEPENDING OF THE CONSISTENCY OF THE STANDARS IS HOW THE PASS OR FAIL I THINK SO ANYWAY
READ ABOVE
OR GO THE HOME PAGE
SINCERELY
KATHY