The NCLEX Pass Rate Is Four Numbers, and Yours Is Not the One People Quote

Published 16 October 2026 · Luke, co-founder of NCLEX BANK · 9 min read

Ask what the NCLEX pass rate is and you will usually hear "about 70 percent". That number is real, but it is mostly the result of nurses who trained in the United States. NCSBN, the organisation that writes the exam, publishes four pass rates, and in 2025 they ran from 86.7% down to 30.5% on the same exam with the same passing standard. If you trained outside the US, the number that describes you was 47.3%. This article takes every figure straight from NCSBN's own tables: the four numbers, why there is no "passing score", what 2026 looks like so far, the figures for your country, and the one number most people skip.

1. The NCLEX pass rate is four numbers

NCSBN does not publish a single pass rate. It splits candidates two ways: where you were educated (in the US or outside it) and whether this is your first attempt. For the NCLEX-RN taken for a US licence, the four groups looked like this:

2. There is no passing score, and the standard did not move

People search for the NCLEX "passing score" or "pass mark" as if there were a percentage to reach. There is not. The NCLEX is a computer adaptive test: each answer changes the difficulty of the next question, and the exam stops once the computer is 95% confident that your ability is above or below a fixed line, the passing standard. If that confidence never comes, it stops at the maximum number of questions or when the five hours run out. In 2025 the exam was 85 to 150 questions, and the number you get tells you nothing about whether you passed. (How the stopping rules work in detail is in Part 1 of the guide.)

Three of the four rates fell between 2024 and 2025. The obvious suspicion is that NCSBN raised the bar. It did not. NCSBN's summary table for first-time US-educated candidates shows:

The standard was 0.00 logits in both years. The ruler stayed where it was; the candidates moved relative to it. You can see it in the length of the exams: fewer people stopped at 85 questions and more went all the way to 150. An exam that runs to the maximum is one where the candidate stayed close to the line the whole way. NCSBN publishes this table for first-time US-educated candidates only, so treat it as a picture of how the exam behaves, not as data about international candidates.

3. 2026 so far: about 51%, with fewer candidates

The full-year report for 2026 will not appear until mid-2027, but NCSBN's live dashboard is updated as the year goes on (last update: 10 October 2026). Three quarters of 2026 are complete. For first-time, internationally educated candidates:

Two things changed at once. The pass rate is about four points higher than in the same months of 2025, and about 15% fewer internationally educated nurses sat the exam for the first time. NCSBN gives no reason for either, and the dashboard does not break 2026 down by country. Retakes did not move: internationally educated repeaters passed at 32.4%, 31.0% and 30.5% in the three quarters, still around 31%.

The dashboard is live data, so the figures can be revised slightly as records are reconciled. The October–December column currently covers only the first ten days of October, so it is left out here.

4. Pass rates by country of education

Table 9 of the NCSBN report lists every country where first-time internationally educated candidates trained. These are the largest groups, for the NCLEX-RN taken for a US licence:

Every one of the seven largest countries fell between 2024 and 2025, by between 5.9 and 10.9 points. Kenya dropped 10.9 points, Nepal 9.2, Ghana 8.5. Because these groups each have thousands of candidates, the drop is not noise: it is the same fall seen in the international total, country by country.

The Philippines is in a class of its own: 22,793 first-time candidates, 43% of all internationally educated first-timers. Its 2025 quarters rose steadily (43.2%, 45.7%, 46.7%, 47.3%), but the year as a whole was still 5.9 points below 2024. And India, the second-largest group, passed at only one in three.

5. The heaviest number: 30.5% on a retake

The row most people skip is the one at the bottom of the first table: repeat, internationally educated, 30.5%.

That runs against intuition. After one attempt you know the feel of the exam, and the Candidate Performance Report tells you where you were weak. The data says it does not work out that way. NCSBN does not explain why, so we will not guess. But the planning conclusion is clear:

Summary

Three things the 2025 data, and 2026 so far, actually say:

1. Your number is 47.3%, not 70%. Nurses trained outside the US belong to "first-time, internationally educated". The familiar 70% is the all-candidates figure, dominated by US graduates. For January–September 2026 the international figure is about 51%.
2. The rates fell in 2025, but the passing standard did not move. It was 0.00 logits in both years. There is no percentage to hit, and NCSBN has not explained the fall. The seven largest countries all dropped, by 5.9 to 10.9 points.
3. The heaviest number is the 30.5% retake rate. Most people who fail once fail again, US graduates included. The NCLEX is an exam you plan to pass the first time.

No table here can tell you your own chances. What the 30.5% does tell you is where to spend your effort: on how many NCLEX-style questions you have worked through, and understood, before the first attempt.

Frequently asked questions

What is the NCLEX pass rate for international nurses?

In 2025, 47.3% of internationally educated nurses taking the NCLEX-RN for a US licence for the first time passed: 24,999 of 52,827 candidates. That is lower than the 2024 figure of 53.8%. For repeat internationally educated candidates the 2025 rate was 30.5%. NCSBN's live dashboard shows about 51% for first-time internationally educated candidates in January to September 2026, against about 47% for the same months of 2025. The often-quoted figure of about 70% (69.1% in 2025) is for all candidates, most of whom are first-time US graduates.

What is the NCLEX passing rate in the Philippines?

Nurses educated in the Philippines are counted as internationally educated. In 2025, 22,793 took the NCLEX-RN for a US licence for the first time and 10,433 passed, a rate of 45.8%, down from 51.7% (14,545 of 28,112) in 2024. Within 2025 the quarterly rate rose from 43.2% to 47.3%. NCSBN's 2026 dashboard does not give country figures; the 2026 country table is expected with the full-year report in 2027.

What score do you need to pass the NCLEX?

There is no percentage score. The NCLEX is computer adaptive, and you pass when the exam is 95 percent confident that your ability is above the passing standard, a fixed point on NCSBN's logit scale that was 0.00 logits in both 2024 and 2025. The exam has 85 to 150 questions, and the number you receive says nothing about the result: candidates pass and fail at 85, and pass and fail at 150.