NCLEX Quick Results and Official NCLEX Results: When You Get Them and What Comes Next

Quick Results fee

$7.95

Your card is charged only if your results are available

Quick Results wait

48+ hours

Two business days, 48 hours or 48 business hours, depending on the NCSBN page

Official result

6 weeks

Within six weeks, from your board; the time varies by board

Before a retake

45 days

At least; NCSBN words it several ways, and your new Authorization to Test’s dates show it

Sources: NCSBN, Quick Results (NCLEX.com), 2026 NCLEX Candidate Bulletin, NCSBN, Exam Results (NCLEX.com), NCSBN, NCLEX FAQs, NCSBN, You’ve Completed the NCLEX, But You Still Have Questions (brochure, updated March 2024), NCSBN Help Center, How do I get my Quick Results?, NCSBN Help Center, How many times can I take the NCLEX? and NCSBN Help Center, What is the process to retake the NCLEX?.

1. 01Scored twiceThe computer scores each answer as you go, and the result is checked again after your exam record reaches Pearson. Nothing is released at the test center, and its staff cannot see results.
2. 02Sent to your boardThe result goes electronically to the nursing regulatory body (NRB) where you applied for your license or registration.
3. 03Quick Results, if your board takes partAn unofficial pass or fail you can buy for $7.95 in your Pearson VUE account, from 48 hours or more after the exam (see the table below).
4. 04The official resultOnly your board releases it, within six weeks; the time varies by board. Each board has its own way of telling you, and it may simply issue your license.
5. 05The performance report, if you did not passYour board also sends a Candidate Performance Report, which can take up to six weeks to arrive.

NCSBN asks candidates not to phone for results. The Candidate Bulletin names Pearson NCLEX Candidate Services, the test center and NCSBN (NCLEX.com’s Exam Results page says Pearson Candidate Services, the test centers and NCSBN), and NCSBN’s post-exam brochure names Pearson VUE, NCSBN and your board, saying results are not released over the telephone. If more than six weeks have passed and you have no result, the Bulletin and the Exam Results page say to contact your board. Once your board has released your result, it is available to all nursing regulatory bodies.

Sources: 2026 NCLEX Candidate Bulletin, NCSBN, Exam Results (NCLEX.com), NCSBN, You’ve Completed the NCLEX, But You Still Have Questions (brochure, updated March 2024), NCSBN, Quick Results (NCLEX.com), NCSBN Help Center, When will I get my results?, NCSBN Help Center, Proof of Passing Examination and NCSBN Help Center, What is the Candidate Performance Report (CPR)?.

1. 01Sign inSign in to your Pearson VUE account with the username and password from your NCLEX registration.
2. 02Open Quick ResultsUnder My Account, select Quick Results.
3. 03Buy them, if they are readyIf your results are available, select Purchase, enter your card details and select Next.
4. 04Submit the orderConfirm with Submit Order. The result appears on the receipt page.

Cost. $7.95, shown on NCSBN’s Quick Results page on October 19, 2026. You enter a card, and it is charged only if your results are available. NCSBN’s help center adds that the result appears on the receipt page only once, when you buy it.

Who can get them. Only candidates seeking licensure in the U.S. whose board takes part. On October 19, 2026, NCSBN’s list of participating boards named 49 states (every state except Delaware), the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Guam and American Samoa, both NCSBN U.S. member boards, are not on it either. The 2026 Candidate Bulletin says the service is not available to candidates seeking licensure or registration in Canada or Australia. If your board is not on the list, your result comes only from your board.

Are they accurate? NCSBN publishes no accuracy figure. Its help center answers the question by explaining that every exam is scored twice, once at the test center and again after the record reaches Pearson, and that Quick Results are unofficial. Your account on Pearson’s site shows the exam as Taken whatever the result, so the status there tells you nothing either way.

Sources: NCSBN, Quick Results (NCLEX.com), 2026 NCLEX Candidate Bulletin, NCSBN, U.S. member boards and their contact details, NCSBN Help Center, How do I get my Quick Results?, NCSBN Help Center, How accurate are the Quick Results?, NCSBN Help Center, Why does my result show as Taken instead of passing? and NCSBN Help Center, Proof of Passing Examination.

Sources: NCSBN, Quick Results (NCLEX.com); NCSBN, Exam Results (NCLEX.com); 2026 NCLEX Candidate Bulletin; NCSBN, NCLEX FAQs; NCSBN Help Center, How accurate are the Quick Results?; NCSBN Help Center, How do I get my Quick Results?; NCSBN Help Center, When will I get my results?; NCSBN, You’ve Completed the NCLEX, But You Still Have Questions (brochure, updated March 2024).

Each board has its own procedure for sending results. NCSBN’s help center says the board decides whether to release the result and whether to issue a license, and how the result reaches you, and that what it sends will not necessarily include a pass confirmation: it may simply issue the license.

Sources: NCSBN Help Center, When will I get my results?, NCSBN Help Center, Proof of Passing Examination, NCSBN, Quick Results (NCLEX.com), NCSBN, You’ve Completed the NCLEX, But You Still Have Questions (brochure, updated March 2024) and 2026 NCLEX Candidate Bulletin.

The exam can end as soon as the scoring has enough information to decide, or run to the maximum when your ability estimate stays close to the passing standard, so a short exam can be a pass or a fail and so can a long one. NCSBN’s post-exam brochure says the length is determined solely by your performance. NCSBN says a fail at the minimum length means it took only the minimum number of questions for the scoring to be 95% certain that the candidate’s ability was below the passing standard. How hard the last questions felt is no clue either: NCSBN says both high- and low-ability candidates find the questions at the end of the exam challenging.

The one thing the count does settle: if the five hours ran out before you answered the minimum 85 questions, the result is a fail. If time ran out after that, your final ability estimate decides.

Sources: NCSBN, NCLEX FAQs, NCSBN, You’ve Completed the NCLEX, But You Still Have Questions (brochure, updated March 2024) and 2026 NCLEX Candidate Bulletin.

• Official exam results are available only from nursing regulatory bodies. NCSBN’s FAQ says Pearson and NCSBN do not provide exam results.
• Once you have taken the exam, your exam status on Pearson shows Taken, whatever the result, and Pearson does not confirm or verify official results.
• One NCSBN help center article says candidates who want to retake the exam may begin registering again once they have received their official results. (NCSBN’s post-exam brochure, still linked from NCLEX.com, words this differently; see the retake section below.)
• NCSBN’s FAQ says there are no refunds of NCLEX fees for any reason, and the refund policy on NCLEX.com’s Fees & Payment page names duplicate registrations among them: a candidate cannot have more than one active registration for the same exam. The U.S. registration fee is $200 on registrations completed before February 1, 2027, and $350 from that date.

Sources: NCSBN, NCLEX FAQs, NCSBN Help Center, Why does my result show as Taken instead of passing?, NCSBN Help Center, How many times can I take the NCLEX?, NCSBN, You’ve Completed the NCLEX, But You Still Have Questions (brochure, updated March 2024), NCSBN, Exam Results (NCLEX.com) and NCSBN, Fees & Payment (NCLEX.com).

The report shows how you performed in each content area of the NCLEX test plan and in clinical judgment, each marked Below, Near or Above the Passing Standard. Near means your result in that area was not clearly above or below the standard. The exam is not graded in sections, though: only your overall performance decides a pass or a fail, and the report is meant to show your relative strengths and weaknesses. NCSBN’s advice is to work first on the areas below the passing standard, then those near it, and to keep studying the areas above it.

If you did not answer the minimum number of questions, you receive a shorter report instead. It gives how many questions you answered and how many are needed for an evaluation, with no further diagnostic information. Your board sends the report, which can take up to six weeks to arrive; questions about it go to your board. NCSBN’s FAQ explains why candidates only get performance reports if they fail: the detail is meant to help them direct their remediation, and feedback for people who do not need remediation would serve no purpose and could be misused by candidates or by employers in making employment decisions. Sample reports are on NCSBN’s Candidate Performance Report page.

Sources: NCSBN, Candidate Performance Report, NCSBN Help Center, What is the Candidate Performance Report (CPR)?, NCSBN, NCLEX FAQs and 2026 NCLEX Candidate Bulletin.

• Wait for your board. It decides how it tells you, and NCSBN says it may send a letter or simply issue your license.
• Check your license with the free Nursys QuickConfirm lookup, which shows licenses from the boards that take part in it.
• Tested for and originally licensed by a U.S. board, ever issued a permanent license by a U.S. board, and now applying to another U.S. board (all three must apply): NCSBN’s help center points you to a Nursys Nurse Verification for Endorsement, which includes proof of examination.
• Passed but not licensed by the board you tested for: ask the board that owns your result for a score transfer to the NCLEX board you are applying to or, if either board does not take part in transfers, for proof of examination sent directly to that board. NCSBN’s help center lists the boards that neither send nor accept transfers, among them those of Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio and Tennessee.

Sources: NCSBN Help Center, Proof of Passing Examination, NCSBN Help Center, How do I do a Nursys license search?, NCSBN Help Center, How do I transfer my NCLEX score? and NCSBN, Quick Results (NCLEX.com).

1. 01Tell your boardContact your nursing regulatory body and tell it you plan to retake the exam.
2. 02Meet its requirementsYour board tells you any fees or materials it needs before it makes you eligible again.
3. 03Register again with PearsonA retake is a new registration with the full registration fee.
4. 04Wait for a new Authorization to TestIts dates reflect the waiting period between attempts, including any longer wait your board sets.
5. 05Schedule the examRepeat candidates are offered an appointment after 45 days.

The fee is the same for a retake as for any registration and depends on the date you register: $200 for U.S. licensure on registrations completed before February 1, 2027, and $350 from that date. NCSBN words the wait in several ways: at least 45 test-free days between exams (the Bulletin, the post-exam brochure and the help center’s retake-process article); 45 test-free days between exams and, in another sentence, a retake 45 days after the exam (NCLEX.com’s Exam Results page); and a mandatory 45-day waiting period (the help center’s article on how many times you can take the NCLEX). The dates on your new Authorization to Test show the wait that applies to you. On when to begin, NCSBN’s pages differ too. One help center article says you may begin registering again once you have received your official results. NCSBN’s post-exam brochure (March 2024, still linked from NCLEX.com) says to contact your board to obtain the necessary forms and information to register again at any time, and that once your board declares you eligible, the new Authorization to Test is not valid until the required number of days between exams has passed. The retake steps on the Exam Results page set no timing. Ask your board which applies to you.

Each attempt starts afresh: the adaptive exam does not pick up where your last one left off. Start your plan from the report. Mark the areas it lists below the passing standard as your weakest in the NCLEX study plan builder, which puts them first and brings them back later in plans of six weeks or more. If the report has not arrived yet, start from a practice exam’s score report and change the areas when it comes.

Sources: NCSBN, Exam Results (NCLEX.com), 2026 NCLEX Candidate Bulletin, NCSBN Help Center, How many times can I take the NCLEX?, NCSBN Help Center, What is the process to retake the NCLEX?, NCSBN, You’ve Completed the NCLEX, But You Still Have Questions (brochure, updated March 2024), NCSBN, NCLEX FAQs and NCSBN, Fees & Payment (NCLEX.com).

The practice exams here adapt like the real exam, but their difficulty levels are this site's own ratings, not NCSBN's calibration, so their estimate and score report show where to study, not whether you would pass.