Tutorial Cool
You did not pass. Here is what actually happens next.
In 2025, roughly three in ten people who sat the NCLEX-RN did not pass. You are not an outlier and you are not finished. What follows is the process, and the one document most people ignore.
Wait 45 test-free days
NCSBN requires at least 45 days between attempts, counted from the date you sat the exam, not the date results arrived. One exception: if you missed the appointment or your ATT expired without sitting, the wait does not apply.
Go through your board, not only Pearson
You notify your nursing regulatory body, complete whatever it asks for, then reregister with Pearson. A new Authorization to Test follows, and its dates already reflect the wait.
Check your state rules
NCSBN allows up to eight attempts a year. Some boards are stricter, and some require remediation after repeated attempts. Your board is the authority; ask them before you plan anything.
Read the Candidate Performance Report first
Everyone who does not pass receives one. It rates each content area Above, Near, or Below the passing standard. Candidates who answered fewer than sixty questions do not get this feedback.
The report tells you where you lost
Most people who retake study everything again, equally. That is the mistake. The Candidate Performance Report already says which content areas the exam judged you short on.
Below the passing standard
Start here. This is where the ground was lost.
Near the passing standard
Second. A small improvement here can decide it.
Above the passing standard
Maintain it. Do not spend the bulk of your time here.
What the repeat numbers say
In 2025, repeat US-educated candidates passed at about 53%, and repeat internationally educated candidates at about 30%. Read that as a warning about method, not about you: the people who retake with the same approach tend to get the same result. The passing standard did not move between 2024 and 2025.
Change the method, not the hours
A small group works through the questions you got wrong, out loud, with a critical care nurse. Bring your report and we start where it says you are short. $1.99 a month.
Find a study buddyRetake policy from NCSBN. Pass rates from the NCSBN NCLEX Examination Statistics brief. State boards set their own additional rules and those change, so your board is the authority. See ncsbn.org and your board before acting on anything here.