The 2020 NCLEX Examination

From April 1, 1994 through December 31, 2020, more than 6.3 millions candidates for nurse license have taken NCLEX® examinations via CAT.

 

For the calendar year ending Dec. 31, 2020, a total of REPLACEME candidates took the NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN Examinations.

 

NCLEX Pass Rates - RN

See Pass Rates by Jurisdiction
PDF (87KB)

First-time, U.S. Educated

Pass Rate:86.6%
# Testing:
177394
# Passing:
153579
Jan.–Mar. 2020 Apr.–Jun. 2020 Jul.–Sep. 2020 Oct.–Dec. 2020 Total
RN - Diploma
# Testing:
477
# Passing:
417
Pass Rate:
87.4%
# Testing:
519
# Passing:
466
Pass Rate:
89.8%
# Testing:
938
# Passing:
809
Pass Rate:
86.2%
# Testing:
249
# Passing:
191
Pass Rate:
76.7%
# Testing:
2183
# Passing:
1883
Pass Rate:
86.3%
RN - BSN
# Testing:
22356
# Passing:
20753
Pass Rate:
92.8%
# Testing:
25244
# Passing:
23300
Pass Rate:
92.3%
# Testing:
31713
# Passing:
28089
Pass Rate:
88.6%
# Testing:
9322
# Passing:
7882
Pass Rate:
84.6%
# Testing:
88635
# Passing:
80024
Pass Rate:
90.3%
RN - ADN
# Testing:
22846
# Passing:
19771
Pass Rate:
86.5%
# Testing:
25714
# Passing:
21975
Pass Rate:
85.5%
# Testing:
28938
# Passing:
23388
Pass Rate:
80.8%
# Testing:
9010
# Passing:
6508
Pass Rate:
72.2%
# Testing:
86508
# Passing:
71642
Pass Rate:
82.8%
Special Program Codes
# Testing:
12
# Passing:
5
Pass Rate:
41.7%
# Testing:
11
# Passing:
8
Pass Rate:
72.7%
# Testing:
20
# Passing:
4
Pass Rate:
20.0%
# Testing:
25
# Passing:
13
Pass Rate:
52.0%
# Testing:
68
# Passing:
30
Pass Rate:
44.1%

Repeat, U.S. Educated

Pass Rate:42.9%
# Testing:
44983
# Passing:
19320
Jan.–Mar. 2020 Apr.–Jun. 2020 Jul.–Sep. 2020 Oct.–Dec. 2020 Total
Repeat, U.S. Educated
# Testing:
6407
# Passing:
2642
Pass Rate:
41.2%
# Testing:
11513
# Passing:
4607
Pass Rate:
40.0%
# Testing:
14879
# Passing:
6595
Pass Rate:
44.3%
# Testing:
12184
# Passing:
5476
Pass Rate:
44.9%
# Testing:
44983
# Passing:
19320
Pass Rate:
42.9%

First-time, Internationally Educated

Pass Rate:43.7%
# Testing:
11900
# Passing:
5202
Jan.–Mar. 2020 Apr.–Jun. 2020 Jul.–Sep. 2020 Oct.–Dec. 2020 Total
First-Time, Internationally Educated
# Testing:
4167
# Passing:
2013
Pass Rate:
48.3%
# Testing:
1969
# Passing:
767
Pass Rate:
39.0%
# Testing:
3005
# Passing:
1287
Pass Rate:
42.8%
# Testing:
2759
# Passing:
1135
Pass Rate:
41.1%
# Testing:
11900
# Passing:
5202
Pass Rate:
43.7%

Repeat, Internationally Educated

Pass Rate:24.8%
# Testing:
18110
# Passing:
4498
Jan.–Mar. 2020 Apr.–Jun. 2020 Jul.–Sep. 2020 Oct.–Dec. 2020 Total
Repeat, Internationally Educated
# Testing:
3740
# Passing:
1136
Pass Rate:
30.4%
# Testing:
4375
# Passing:
1045
Pass Rate:
23.9%
# Testing:
5759
# Passing:
1367
Pass Rate:
23.7%
# Testing:
4236
# Passing:
950
Pass Rate:
22.4%
# Testing:
18110
# Passing:
4498
Pass Rate:
24.8%

All Candidates

Pass Rate:72.3%
# Testing:
252387
# Passing:
182599
*Due to COVID-19, the January quarterly data contain NCLEX examinations administered from January 1 to March 24, 2020.
**Due to COVID-19, the April quarterly data contain NCLEX examinations administered from March 25 to June 30, 2020.

NCLEX Pass Rates - RN

Candidates for Canadian Licensure/Registration

See Pass Rates by Jurisdiction
PDF (87KB)

First-time, Canadian Educated

Pass Rate:86.2%
# Testing:
9242
# Passing:
7963
Jan.–Mar. 2020 Apr.–Jun. 2020 Jul.–Sep. 2020 Oct.–Dec. 2020 Total
First-time, Canadian Educated
# Testing:
1179
# Passing:
1032
Pass Rate:
87.5%
# Testing:
2809
# Passing:
2560
Pass Rate:
91.1%
# Testing:
3846
# Passing:
3209
Pass Rate:
83.4%
# Testing:
1408
# Passing:
1162
Pass Rate:
82.5%
# Testing:
9242
# Passing:
7963
Pass Rate:
86.2%

Repeat, Canadian Educated

Pass Rate:53.3%
# Testing:
2325
# Passing:
1239
Jan.–Mar. 2020 Apr.–Jun. 2020 Jul.–Sep. 2020 Oct.–Dec. 2020 Total
Repeat, Canadian Educated
# Testing:
462
# Passing:
242
Pass Rate:
52.4%
# Testing:
415
# Passing:
197
Pass Rate:
47.5%
# Testing:
761
# Passing:
422
Pass Rate:
55.5%
# Testing:
687
# Passing:
378
Pass Rate:
55.0%
# Testing:
2325
# Passing:
1239
Pass Rate:
53.3%

First-time, Internationally Educated

Pass Rate:59.2%
# Testing:
1619
# Passing:
959
Jan.–Mar. 2020 Apr.–Jun. 2020 Jul.–Sep. 2020 Oct.–Dec. 2020 Total
First-time, Internationally Educated
# Testing:
321
# Passing:
199
Pass Rate:
62.0%
# Testing:
467
# Passing:
304
Pass Rate:
65.1%
# Testing:
511
# Passing:
286
Pass Rate:
56.0%
# Testing:
320
# Passing:
170
Pass Rate:
53.1%
# Testing:
1619
# Passing:
959
Pass Rate:
59.2%

Repeat, Internationally Educated

Pass Rate:41.3%
# Testing:
1238
# Passing:
511
Jan.–Mar. 2020 Apr.–Jun. 2020 Jul.–Sep. 2020 Oct.–Dec. 2020 Total
Repeat, Internationally Educated
# Testing:
218
# Passing:
90
Pass Rate:
41.3%
# Testing:
301
# Passing:
131
Pass Rate:
43.5%
# Testing:
415
# Passing:
166
Pass Rate:
40.0%
# Testing:
304
# Passing:
124
Pass Rate:
40.8%
# Testing:
1238
# Passing:
511
Pass Rate:
41.3%

All Candidates

Pass Rate:74.0%
# Testing:
14424
# Passing:
10672
*Due to COVID-19, the January quarterly data contain NCLEX examinations administered from January 1 to March 24, 2020.
**Due to COVID-19, the April quarterly data contain NCLEX examinations administered from March 25 to June 30, 2020.

NCLEX Pass Rates - PN

See Pass Rates by Jurisdiction
PDF (87KB)

First-Time, U.S. Educated

Pass Rate:83.1%
# Testing:
45656
# Passing:
37934
Jan.–Mar. 2020 Apr.–Jun. 2020 Jul.–Sep. 2020 Oct.–Dec. 2020 Total
First-Time, U.S. Educated
# Testing:
10054
# Passing:
8647
Pass Rate:
86.0%
# Testing:
8954
# Passing:
7578
Pass Rate:
84.6%
# Testing:
17697
# Passing:
14662
Pass Rate:
82.9%
# Testing:
8951
# Passing:
7047
Pass Rate:
78.7%
# Testing:
45656
# Passing:
37934
Pass Rate:
83.1%

Repeat, U.S. Educated

Pass Rate:35.6%
# Testing:
14622
# Passing:
5212
Jan.–Mar. 2020 Apr.–Jun. 2020 Jul.–Sep. 2020 Oct.–Dec. 2020 Total
Repeat, U.S. Educated
# Testing:
2506
# Passing:
834
Pass Rate:
33.3%
# Testing:
3489
# Passing:
1299
Pass Rate:
37.2%
# Testing:
4566
# Passing:
1558
Pass Rate:
34.1%
# Testing:
4061
# Passing:
1521
Pass Rate:
37.5%
# Testing:
14622
# Passing:
5212
Pass Rate:
35.6%

First-Time, Internationally Educated

Pass Rate:54.8%
# Testing:
560
# Passing:
307
Jan.–Mar. 2020 Apr.–Jun. 2020 Jul.–Sep. 2020 Oct.–Dec. 2020 Total
First-Time, Internationally Educated
# Testing:
136
# Passing:
71
Pass Rate:
52.2%
# Testing:
144
# Passing:
77
Pass Rate:
53.5%
# Testing:
160
# Passing:
90
Pass Rate:
56.2%
# Testing:
120
# Passing:
69
Pass Rate:
57.5%
# Testing:
560
# Passing:
307
Pass Rate:
54.8%

Repeat, Internationally Educated

Pass Rate:25.0%
# Testing:
711
# Passing:
178
Jan.–Mar. 2020 Apr.–Jun. 2020 Jul.–Sep. 2020 Oct.–Dec. 2020 Total
Repeat, Internationally Educated
# Testing:
120
# Passing:
23
Pass Rate:
19.2%
# Testing:
143
# Passing:
49
Pass Rate:
34.3%
# Testing:
248
# Passing:
64
Pass Rate:
25.8%
# Testing:
200
# Passing:
42
Pass Rate:
21.0%
# Testing:
711
# Passing:
178
Pass Rate:
25.0%

All Candidates

Pass Rate:70.9%
# Testing:
61549
# Passing:
43631
*Due to COVID-19, the January quarterly data contain NCLEX examinations administered from January 1 to March 24, 2020.
**Due to COVID-19, the April quarterly data contain NCLEX examinations administered from March 25 to June 30, 2020.
***The passing standard of the NCLEX-PN exam has changed from -0.21 to -0.18 since March 25, 2020.

More than 169,100 nurse licensure candidates have taken the NCLEX in international test centers through Dec. 31, 2020.

Top Five Countries/Territories
(with respect to volume)

First-Time, Internationally Educated Candidates for U.S. Licensure
2020 Total Jan.-Mar. Apr.-Jun. Jul.-Sep. Oct.-Dec.
First
Philippines
6003
Philippines
2494
Philippines
774
Philippines
1489
Philippines
1246
Second
India
1257
India
332
Puerto Rico
317
Puerto Rico
355
India
347
Third
Puerto Rico
1190
Puerto Rico
230
India
240
India
338
Puerto Rico
288
Fourth
Nigeria
495
Nigeria
206
Nigeria
98
Nigeria
108
Kenya
114
Fifth
Nepal
378
Kenya
148
Nepal
79
Nepal
93
Nepal
89
First-Time, Internationally Educated Candidates for Canadian Licensure/Registration
2019 Total Jan.-Mar. Apr.-Jun. Jul.-Sep. Oct.-Dec.
First
India
839
India
155
India
216
India
300
India
168
First
Philippines
541
Philippines
109
Philippines
179
Philippines
148
Philippines
105
First
Iran
36
Iran
11
Nepal
10
Nepal
10
Iran
9
First
Nepal
31
Nepal
6
Iran
8
United Kingdom
10
Nepal
5
First
United Kingdom
24
Australia
4
United Kingdom
8
Iran
8
Pakistan
5