How many times can you take the NCLEX?

How many times can you take the NCLEX? The national policy sets a yearly ceiling and a minimum wait, and each regulator adds its own conditions on top. A candidate who has just failed usually needs three answers at once: the earliest legal date for the next attempt, what the score report is for, and what the board of nursing requires before a retest is allowed. This article covers each layer and compares how several regulators handle repeat attempts, so the next booking rests on the actual rules rather than on hearsay from a classmate.

What the national policy says

NCSBN's results page describes the national rule in plain terms. The retake policy allows a candidate to retake the exam 45 days after administration, and candidates can take the NCLEX eight times a year with 45 test-free days between each examination. The same page warns that some jurisdictions have stricter limits on the number of NCLEX exams a candidate can take annually, and that some regulatory bodies require longer waits between exams. Where a longer wait applies, it is reflected in the validity dates of the new Authorization to Test (ATT). The 45 days is therefore the minimum set by the national policy, and the candidate's regulator decides whether to add to it.

What the Candidate Performance Report is for

Candidates who do not pass receive a Candidate Performance Report (CPR). NCSBN describes it as a guide to prepare candidates to retake the exam. A candidate should use it to choose what to review before rebooking, rather than repeating the same study plan that produced the first result.

The retake fee

The NCSBN fees page is the reference for what a retake costs. It lists a registration fee of $200 USD for U.S. licensure and $360 CAD for Canadian licensure, excluding local taxes. It does not list a separate, lower retake fee, so a candidate should budget the full registration fee for the next attempt. The fee is set to rise: from February 1, 2027, the page states that the U.S. fee will be $350 and the Canadian fee $570 CAD. A candidate planning a retake after that date should compare the two costs before booking.

How boards of nursing set their own rules

Boards of nursing set their own limits on top of the national policy. The table lists only confirmed rules. Where a page does not state a limit, the table says so instead of assuming one. Several boards whose pages could not be read in full are left out rather than estimated, so a candidate should confirm the current text with the regulator before paying for a retake.

Three clocks that decide when you can retest

Most of the confusion comes from treating every rule as the same clock. There are at least three. The first is the national clock, which is 45 days between administrations under NCSBN policy. The second starts at graduation: Texas requires a retest application within four years of the graduation date, and Georgia requires a pass within three years of graduation, with the three years counted from eligibility for graduates of programs outside the United States. The third starts at eligibility: the CRNA gives applicants two years from the date of eligibility to pass, and for new Canadian graduates that date is the program completion end date. A candidate can be inside the national wait and still be outside a regulator's window, so each clock should be checked separately.

Texas adds a procedural step. Its licensure page says the candidate's Pearson VUE registration must be completed before an Authorization to Test (ATT) can be issued, and that U.S.-educated applicants select an NCLEX retest application in the Texas Nurse Portal. Ontario adds a counting rule. CNO states that each time a candidate starts the registration exam counts as one write, regardless of how much of the exam was completed or how long the candidate sat down to write it. A candidate who starts and stops an attempt should assume that attempt counts.

Practical next steps

• Confirm the earliest legal date. Under the national policy it is 45 days after the last administration, and a regulator may require longer.
• Check the regulator's clock. Texas and Georgia count from graduation, and Alberta counts two years from the date of eligibility.
• Count every previous attempt. Ontario requires all attempts on registration exams to be reported, including attempts written in another jurisdiction.
• Read the Candidate Performance Report and choose review topics from it before rebooking.
• Ask about remediation early. In Florida, a letter from the board is needed to begin the remedial course, and completion is shown by a verification letter from the provider.
• Budget for the fee. The NCSBN fees page lists $200 USD now and $350 USD from February 1, 2027 for U.S. licensure.
• Plan the timing around the regulator's window, not only the 45-day minimum.
• Keep a written log of each attempt, its date and the regulator's reply.

For the wider exam picture, see nclex pass rate standards by state and nclex 2026 test plan what changed, and for a schedule built around a retake date, see build an adaptive six week nclex plan. NGN Simulation Labs builds unscripted AI patient encounters inside an EHR-style chart, adaptive study and quizzing with a placement check, and faculty-facing competency analytics, and it runs alongside an existing LMS. Programs that want to see how that fits their candidates can start at the pilot process.