NNP-BC exam facts, window to maintenance

1. Apply and upload your transcript; expect an eligibility letter within two weeks (exam page). Who qualifies is on eligibility.
2. Approval places you in the next testing window. Book in its first month, either for live remote proctoring or at a PSI center; late booking risks having no seat nearby.
3. Moving the date or switching between remote and a center inside the window costs nothing. A new window needs a paid change request, priced on the cost page.
4. On test day there are 175 questions on a single clock of 3 h, with no breaks allowed. An on-screen calculator and a per-question comment box replace scratch paper (remote testing page). Of the 175, 150 count and 25 are pretest, scattered through the form without a label. Drugs appear by generic name, sometimes with the trade name (candidate guide, p. 6).

There is no published percentage or raw number to pass. Each form is equated to the others and your answers are placed on one ability scale against a fixed standard, so drawing a tougher form is not a penalty. A wrong answer counts the same as a blank one, so answer every question (candidate guide, p. 20). The longer explanation of this model, used for both of the board's NP exams, is on the WHNP-BC pass rate page.

The score report rates General Assessment, General Management, the systems area, and pharmacology with professional issues combined, each rated on a five-step word scale, Very Weak up to Very Strong. Treat those words as the map for a retake, not as a score.

No result is shown when you finish. NCC posts pass or fail to your account, normally inside 15 business days and longer for a brand-new form (exam page). The credential, NNP-BC, dates from that decision. Prep articles that describe a result in the mail describe an older process.

The board reports the share of all candidates tested each year, repeat takers included (statistics page):

• 2025, 2024 and 2023: in the table above; the newest row says that in 2025, 84% of the 289 candidates tested passed.
• 2022: 83% of 435
• 2021: 92% of 471
• 2020: 93% of 348
• 2018: 86% of 337 · 2017: 87% of 349 · 2016: 84% of 283 (no 2019 row is published)

Two things stand out. The group tested is small and shrinking, from 471 in 2021 to 289 in 2025, so a few dozen candidates move the rate by several points. And the rate has moved by eight or nine points from one year to the next. A single year's figure says little about your odds.

The rule: wait 45 days after the test, then reapply with the full fee; at most 2 attempts in a calendar year. Each try costs the whole fee again, so a second try doubles the bill (candidate guide, p. 4). If you suspect a machine-scoring error, NCC offers hand scoring for a fee, listed under other charges in the table. Missing the appointment loses the fee, though you may still change the testing method.

The cycle starts with a free online Continuing Competency Assessment, which builds a personal education plan by specialty code; the table lists its hour range. Hours logged before you take the assessment are not credited, and the maintenance fee is $100 (maintenance catalog, pp. 7, 14). Skipping the assessment fixes the plan at its maximum and raises the fee.

Two NNP-specific limits in the coding book: NRP or NALS counts once per cycle, for at most 5 CE, under code 3; S.T.A.B.L.E. has the same 5 CE cap; ACLS and BLS do not count at all (coding book, pp. 5, 8). Costs are added up on the cost page.