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Free NCLEX-RN practice · Health

NCLEX-RN practice test: free questions and how the adaptive exam really works

The NCLEX-RN is a computerized adaptive exam of 85 to 150 items with a five-hour limit that includes every break. NCSBN publishes no passing percentage: you are scored against a passing standard its Board of Directors reevaluates every three years. 91.2% of first-time US-educated candidates passed in 2024. Registration is 200 USD.

Formally the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses. Awarding body: National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Neuron Trainer is an independent study app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the organization that owns this exam.

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NCLEX-RN at a glance, with the source for every line

Every row below is quoted from a document published by NCSBN and carries the date we checked it. Where NCSBN publishes nothing, the row says so instead of quoting a number from somewhere else.

Format
A variable-length computerized adaptive test. The NCLEX is not offered in paper-and-pencil or oral formats.Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin, verified 7 August 2026
Number of items
Anywhere from 85 to 150 items.Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin, verified 7 August 2026
Time limit
Five hours, including the introductory screen and every break you take.Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin, verified 7 August 2026
Registration fee
200 USD for US licensure.Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin, verified 7 August 2026
Retake policy
Up to eight attempts a year, with at least 45 test-free days between examinations, unless your nursing regulatory body sets a tighter limit.Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin, verified 7 August 2026
Pass rate
91.2% of first-time, US-educated candidates passed in January to December 2024 (170,256 of 186,760). Repeat US-educated candidates passed at 50.9%.Source: NCSBN, 2024 NCLEX Examination Statistics (Research Brief Vol. 94), verified 7 August 2026NCSBN publishes an annual examination statistics brief. This expires earlier than the 12-month default because the 2025 brief supersedes it.
Typical exam length
First-time US-educated candidates averaged 100 items and 2 hours 14 minutes in 2024. 65.4% finished at the minimum number of items.Source: NCSBN, 2024 NCLEX Examination Statistics (Research Brief Vol. 94), verified 7 August 2026NCSBN publishes an annual examination statistics brief. This expires earlier than the 12-month default because the 2025 brief supersedes it.
Unscored items
Pretest items are excluded when the computer estimates ability or makes the pass or fail decision, and they are not identified.Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin, verified 7 August 2026
Passing standard
No percentage is published. The exam is scored against a passing standard set by the NCSBN Board of Directors, which reevaluates it every three years. A candidate must perform at or above that standard, and NCSBN states there is no fixed percentage of candidates that pass or fail.Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin (The Passing Standard), verified 7 August 2026The NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN are scored on separate scales and have their own passing standards.
How long it is valid
Not published by NCSBN. The 2026 NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin does not state a validity period for a passing result or a license renewal cycle. It directs candidates to their nursing regulatory body for questions about licensure.Checked against: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin, verified 7 August 2026

Always verify: NCSBN owns the examination, but your nursing regulatory body owns your license. Registration steps, eligibility, how many attempts you actually get and the paperwork that follows a pass are all set jurisdiction by jurisdiction. Confirm the current rules with NCSBN and with your own board before you register or pay anything.

What our NCLEX-RN question bank covers

What this app's question bank covers — our own category shares across 682 questions, not NCSBN's published blueprint.
CategoryQuestions in our bankShare of our bank
Management of Care
Delegation, advance directives, advocacy, referrals, informed consent
12518.3%
Safety & Infection Control
Standard precautions, accident prevention, emergency response, error reporting
8812.9%
Health Promotion & Maintenance
Aging process, antepartum, postpartum, newborn, health screening
629.1%
Psychosocial Integrity
Abuse, behavioral interventions, coping, end-of-life, grief
639.2%
Basic Care & Comfort
Assistive devices, elimination, mobility, nutrition, rest/sleep
598.7%
Pharmacological Therapies
Adverse effects, dosage calculations, medication administration, IV therapy
10916%
Reduction of Risk Potential
Lab values, diagnostic tests, monitoring, system-specific assessments
8011.7%
Physiological Adaptation
Fluid/electrolyte, hemodynamics, medical emergencies, pathophysiology
9614.1%

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Try it

4 questions from our NCLEX-RN bank

Four questions from our NCLEX-RN bank, one each from Management of Care, Pharmacological Therapies, Safety and Infection Control and Health Promotion.

NCLEX-RN · Free practice Every answer explained. No signup, no email wall.

  1. Question 1 of 4

    Which task can the charge nurse safely delegate to the UAP?
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: Assisting Mrs. Okafor with oral care and repositioning

    Oral hygiene and repositioning are basic hygiene/comfort tasks within UAP scope once the RN has assessed the patient and set the plan of care. PCA pump monitoring requires ongoing licensed nursing assessment of pain, sedation, and respiratory status. Discussing advance-directive decisions with family involves clinical judgment and therapeutic communication requiring an RN. Insulin teaching is patient education, which cannot be delegated to unlicensed personnel. The five rights of delegation (task, circumstance, person, direction/communication, supervision) confirm hygiene/mobility tasks as appropriate.

  2. Question 2 of 4

    A client with a documented severe anaphylactic reaction to penicillin is prescribed cefazolin for surgical prophylaxis. Which action should the nurse take first?
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: Notify the provider of the allergy history before administering the medication

    Cephalosporins share a beta-lactam ring structure with penicillins, and clients with a history of severe anaphylactic penicillin allergy have an increased, though modest, risk of cross-reactivity, particularly with first-generation cephalosporins such as cefazolin. The nurse's priority is to notify the provider so the risk-benefit can be reassessed and alternative prophylaxis or a monitored approach considered. Administering the drug or premedicating without provider input bypasses necessary clinical judgment. Independently substituting another beta-lactam is outside the nurse's scope and equally risky.

  3. Question 3 of 4

    After sustaining the needlestick injury, what is the nurse's FIRST action?
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: Wash the wound immediately with soap and water

    Soap-and-water washing of the wound is the recommended first aid step immediately after a needlestick injury, as it physically removes contaminated blood and reduces pathogen load before further exposure evaluation. Recapping the needle is unsafe practice and should never occur, especially after injury. Notifying the charge nurse before treating the wound delays essential first aid — treat first, then report. Alcohol-based antiseptics are not recommended as first-line wound care for needlestick injuries; plain soap and water is preferred per CDC/OSHA guidance.

  4. Question 4 of 4

    Which prescribed intervention should the nurse implement FIRST for this patient?
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: Begin 0.9% sodium chloride IV infusion at 15-20 mL/kg/hr

    Fluid resuscitation is the first priority in DKA. Isotonic saline restores intravascular volume, improves tissue perfusion, and begins diluting the serum glucose before insulin is started, because insulin alone can worsen hypotension and cause a rapid intracellular potassium shift if volume is not first replaced. Insulin is initiated after fluids and confirmation of adequate urine output and a safe potassium level. Bicarbonate is reserved for severe acidosis (pH under 6.9) and is not routine. Potassium is never given as a rapid IV bolus, and this patient's serum K+ is already elevated at 5.8 mEq/L.

What actually trips people up

Every option is defensible, and only one is first

The classic NCLEX stem gives you four actions a competent nurse might take and asks which comes first. Candidates who study facts rather than priority frameworks read all four as correct and pick by feel. Airway before circulation, assess before intervene, stabilize the membrane before shifting the electrolyte: the exam is testing sequence, and sequence is learnable.

Delegation questions are scope questions in disguise

Management of Care is the largest slice of our bank at 125 questions, and delegation dominates it. The rule that resolves most of them is that assessment, teaching and evaluation stay with the RN, while stable, predictable, routine tasks can go to a UAP. Every wrong answer in a good delegation item is wrong for a nameable reason, not because it sounds less caring.

Adaptive testing means length tells you nothing

Candidates spend the drive home decoding how many questions they got. In 2024 the average first-time US-educated candidate answered 100 items and 65.4% stopped at the minimum, and people pass and fail at both ends. The exam stops when it is confident about your ability relative to the standard, not when you have earned a score.

Lab values are asked as decisions, not as recall

Reduction of Risk Potential is 80 questions in our bank and almost none of them ask you to recite a range. They give you a value inside a scenario and ask what to do about it: a potassium of 3.0 on a client taking furosemide and digoxin is not a number to report, it is a dysrhythmia risk to act on.

Next Generation item types reward the same thinking, in a new wrapper

Case studies, multi-select and ordering items look unfamiliar and test the same clinical judgment cycle: recognize cues, analyze them, prioritize, act, evaluate. Our bank ships 131 multi-select and 84 ordering questions precisely so the format is not the surprise on exam day.

A six-week study plan

Six weeks of consistent work suits most new graduates. Structure it around the eight Client Needs categories rather than around body systems, because that is how the exam samples.

Weeks 1 to 2: Baseline and the big three.

Smart Quiz across all eight categories to find your gaps, then daily drilling on Management of Care, Pharmacological Therapies and Physiological Adaptation, which together are 330 of our 682 questions.

Weeks 3 to 4: Priority and delegation reps.

Work Topic Drill on Management of Care and Safety and Infection Control until you can name why each distractor is wrong, not just which answer is right. Use the AI tutor on every miss.

Week 5: The alternate item types.

Multi-select and ordering questions specifically, so the format costs you nothing on the day. These are where careless partial answers leak points, and where a rushed reading of the stem is expensive.

Week 6: Full simulations.

Run the fixed-length 130-question simulator under time, then review every miss by category rather than as a list. Two full runs beat six short sessions here.

The last week: Judgment, not new content.

Stop adding topics. Re-drill the two categories your readiness score won’t hold, sleep properly, and book when all eight are green rather than when the calendar says so.

Is the NCLEX-RN hard?

NCSBN publishes the numbers, so this one doesn’t need guessing. In 2024, 91.2% of first-time US-educated candidates passed and 50.9% of repeat US-educated candidates did. That gap is the real story: the exam is passable first time for most people who prepare, and a retake is materially harder, which is an argument for drilling to consistency before you book rather than sitting it to find out.

What makes it hard isn’t obscure content. It’s that the exam adapts and keeps handing you items near the edge of your ability, so a well-prepared candidate spends the whole session feeling uncertain. That feeling is the design working, not a signal about your result. Our bank leans into it deliberately: 417 of the 682 questions sit at difficulty 3 or 4.

The other thing that makes it hard is the shape of the day. Five hours is a long time to hold judgment steady, and the average first-time candidate is in the chair for 2 hours 14 minutes before the exam decides. Practicing in short bursts builds knowledge but not stamina, which is why the full-length timed simulation is worth running more than once.

How the NCLEX-RN differs from the exams beside it

The NCLEX-RN is the only exam in our health family that adapts to you, and the only one where the number of questions you see carries no information about your result. Against the NCLEX-PN it covers a wider scope of independent decision-making, particularly delegation and comprehensive assessment, which the PN test plan assigns to the supervising RN. Against the CEN it is entry-level and general rather than specialty and experienced. Its questions are built around choosing between four defensible actions, which is a different skill from recalling a correct fact.

Questions people actually ask about the NCLEX-RN

How many questions are on the NCLEX-RN?

Anywhere from 85 to 150 items, because the exam is adaptive. In 2024 the average first-time US-educated candidate answered 100, and roughly two thirds stopped at the minimum number of items.

What is a passing score on the NCLEX-RN?

There is no percentage. NCSBN scores the exam against a passing standard set by its Board of Directors and reevaluated every three years, and states there is no fixed proportion of candidates that passes or fails. You have to perform at or above that standard, which is why nobody can tell you how many items to get right.

Is the NCLEX-RN hard?

Hard enough that preparation decides it, and NCSBN publishes the evidence: 91.2% of first-time US-educated candidates passed in 2024 against 50.9% of repeat candidates. The content is not obscure. What is hard is choosing between options that all look defensible, while the exam keeps testing at the edge of your ability.

How long should I study for the NCLEX-RN?

Six weeks of consistent daily work suits most new graduates. Structure it around the eight Client Needs categories rather than around body systems, because that is how items are sampled. Judge readiness one category at a time: an average that looks healthy while a single category sits red is how first attempts go wrong.

How long is the NCLEX-RN?

Five hours, whatever the number of items. That total includes the introductory screen and every break you take, so the clock is on the session rather than on the questions.

What is the NCLEX-RN pass rate?

NCSBN reported 91.2% for first-time, US-educated candidates over January to December 2024, and 50.9% for repeat US-educated candidates. The gap between those two numbers is the strongest argument for preparing properly the first time.

Does the number of questions tell me if I passed?

No. Candidates pass and fail at 85 items and at 150 items. The exam stops when the computer is confident where your ability sits relative to the passing standard, which isn’t the same as earning a score.

Are these real NCLEX questions?

No. That would violate exam security rules. They’re original questions written to the same format, categories and difficulty as the real exam, and every one carries a full explanation.

Practice another Health exam

Nursing, allied health & medical certifications. Every one of these pages is built the same way: sourced facts, an honest admission where the sponsor publishes nothing, and free practice questions.

The app

Practice the NCLEX-RN in the app

One thing the app does not do is imitate the real scoring engine. The Exam Simulator runs a fixed-length 130-question timed paper, so treat it as a stamina and pacing rehearsal rather than a preview of an adaptive result. What it does do is aim: Smart Quiz keeps returning to the Client Needs categories you miss, and Topic Drill isolates one of the eight at a time. The bank is 682 questions, 131 of them multi-select and 84 ordering, so the Next Generation formats are not the surprise on test day. An AI tutor explains any question in plain English, an on-screen calculator handles dosage work, and readiness is reported by category rather than as a single number. NCLEX-RN Practice Test 2026 went live on the App Store on 8 August 2026, free to download. It has no ratings yet, so there is no star average to show you. It is free to start, with Premium for unlimited practice.

  • Smart Quiz — keeps returning to the categories you keep missing
  • Topic Drill — one category at a time, on its own
  • Exam Simulator — a fixed-length timed paper (130 questions in 300 minutes, as this app sets it). It does not get harder as you go; the length and the mix are fixed.
  • AI tutor — re-explains any question in plain English
  • Progress tracking, reported per category
  • On-screen calculator
  • Study reminders
  • Light and dark themes

The app calls you ready at 65% on its own simulator. That is an in-app practice target we chose, not NCSBN's passing standard.

Get NCLEX-RN Practice Test 2026 free on the App Store

Listed on the App Store as NCLEX-RN Practice Test 2026. Free to download; Premium unlocks the full bank and unlimited tutor explanations.

Walk in knowing what comes first.

Drilling that keeps returning to the Client Needs categories you miss, full-length timed simulations, and an AI tutor that explains why the other three answers were wrong.

Download free on the App Store

Sources, and when we last checked them

This page was last reviewed on . The 9 facts quoted above were last checked against their sources on . Where NCSBN publishes nothing, the table above says so rather than guessing.

NCLEX and NCLEX-RN are registered trademarks of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN). Neuron Trainer is an independent study app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by NCSBN.