How many questions are on the NCLEX?
The NCLEX has 85 to 150 questions, on both the RN and the PN exam. 15 of them are unscored pretest questions that look like all the others. You have up to 5 hours, and that includes breaks. In 2025, the average first-time, US-educated candidate answered 103 questions in 2 hours 14 minutes on the RN and 100 questions in 2 hours 18 minutes on the PN.
The exam is adaptive, so its length depends on your answers. Even the shortest exam has a fixed mix: 52 questions from the content areas of the test plan, 18 questions in three clinical judgment case studies of six questions each, and the 15 unscored pretest questions. That adds up to the minimum of 85.
The test stops as soon as the computer is 95% sure that you are clearly above or clearly below the passing standard, which most often happens right at 85 questions. If you stay close to the line, you get up to 150 questions and the decision uses your final ability estimate. If time runs out, you fail if you answered fewer than 85 questions; otherwise your answers so far decide.
So a short exam does not mean you passed, and a long one does not mean you failed. Guides that say 75 to 145 questions describe the older version of the exam. With 150 questions in 5 hours, you have about 2 minutes per question even in the longest case, and almost nobody runs out of time.
| NCLEX-RN | NCLEX-PN | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum questions | 85 | 85 |
| Maximum questions | 150 | 150 |
| Unscored pretest questions | 15 | 15 |
| Time limit | 5 hours, breaks included | 5 hours, breaks included |
| Average length (2025) | 103 questions | 100 questions |
| Average time (2025) | 2 h 14 min | 2 h 18 min |
| Stopped at the minimum (2025) | 59.1% | 64.6% |
| Went to the maximum (2025) | 20.5% | 17.7% |
- 1Plan for the full 150 questions and 5 hours, even though most people finish far sooner.
- 2Practice in blocks of 85 questions, then build up to at least one full 150-question timed session.
- 3Aim for a steady pace of about 1 to 2 minutes per question, and give case studies a little more time.
- 4Treat every question as if it counts, since you cannot tell the 15 pretest questions apart.
- 5Take a short break when your focus drops. The clock keeps running, but a clear head saves more time than it costs.
- 6When the exam stops, do not read anything into the number of questions you got.