How many times can you take the NCLEX? The NCSBN 8-attempts-per-year and 45-day wait rules, plus why your state board can set stricter limits.
If you're reading this, there's a decent chance you just got a result you didn't want, or you're planning ahead in case you do. Either way, the question is fair and the answer is reassuring: the NCLEX is built to be retaken. You are not locked out after one attempt, and a fail is not the end of your nursing career. But the exact rules come from two different places, and confusing them is where people get tripped up.
The two rule-makers you need to know
Retake eligibility is governed by NCSBN's national policy and by your individual state Board of Nursing (BON). The national policy sets the floor; your state can be stricter. Always confirm the final word with your own BON.
Minimum wait between attempts
45 days
NCSBN national retake policy
NCSBN national policy
- You may take the NCLEX up to 8 times in any 12-month period.
- You must wait a minimum of 45 days between attempts.
- Each attempt requires you to re-register, pay the exam fee again, and receive a new Authorization to Test (ATT) before you can schedule.
8
maximum NCLEX attempts allowed in any 12-month period under NCSBN policy
Your state Board of Nursing
This is the part candidates miss. A number of state boards impose their own caps on top of the national rule, for example, a lifetime limit on total attempts, or a requirement to complete a remediation/refresher course after a certain number of failures before you can re-test. Some boards also set a window (e.g., you must pass within a few years of program completion).
| Rule | NCSBN national policy | Your state board |
|---|---|---|
| Attempts per year | Up to 8 | May be lower |
| Wait between attempts | 45 days minimum | May be longer |
| Lifetime cap | None nationally | Varies, some states cap total attempts |
| Remediation required | No | Some states require it after N fails |
Check your state board before you assume
The single most important step is to look up your own Board of Nursing's retake policy. The national rules let you retake, but your state's rules decide the ceiling. Don't rely on what a classmate in another state was told.
What happens between attempts
A retake is not just "show up again." The process resets:
- Re-register with Pearson VUE and pay the exam fee again.
- Your board re-confirms eligibility and issues a new ATT with a fresh validity window.
- You schedule a new appointment, no sooner than 45 days after your last attempt (or longer, if your state says so).
- You sit a completely new adaptive form, not a replay of your previous test.
Your most valuable document: the CPR
Every candidate who doesn't pass receives a Candidate Performance Report (CPR). It shows, for each content area of the test plan, whether you performed above, near, or below the passing standard. This is gold for a retake: it tells you exactly where to spend your 45+ days instead of re-studying everything equally.
Use that wait period deliberately:
- Map your CPR weak areas to a structured plan, our 30-day NCLEX recovery framework walks through exactly how.
- Rebuild judgment by category, not by cramming facts, using the NCLEX-RN practice bank organized by client-needs area.
- Schedule the retake far enough out to actually close the gaps, but not so far that momentum dies.
A failed attempt feels final in the moment. It isn't. The rules give you room to come back, your CPR tells you where to aim, and most candidates who fail once go on to pass. Confirm your state's specific limits, build a plan around your weakest categories, and treat the 45-day wait as preparation time, not punishment.
