ANCC Exam Scoring: What 350 Means and How to Read Your Results
ANCC certification exams pass at a scaled score of 350 or higher, reported on a scale with a maximum of 500. That doesn't mean you need 70% correct. The handbook doesn't publish the formula that converts right answers to that scale. (ANCC Certification Handbook, "How Are Exams Scored?," pp. 9–10)
The essentials
- Only scored questions count. Every ANCC exam has 125 or 150 scored questions plus 25 unscored pretest questions mixed in. You can't tell which ones are pretest questions.
- Your raw score is the number of scored questions you answered correctly. ANCC turns it into your scaled score using a conversion formula that the handbook doesn't publish.
- There's no curve. You're measured against a fixed standard, not against the other people who tested.
- There's no penalty for guessing. Answer every question.
- A pass is reported as a pass. ANCC's handbook describes a scaled score and a LOW, MEDIUM, or HIGH rating for each content area only on reports that show a fail.
- Results come through Prometric's online score report portal after your exam.
- Didn't pass? You can retest after 60 calendar days, with no more than three attempts in any 12-month period.
(ANCC Certification Handbook, pp. 9–10 and 14; ANCC Examination Results policy; ANCC Retest Application policy)
What your number does and doesn't tell you
Most scoring confusion comes from mixing up three different kinds of numbers. Here's how to read each one.
| What you're looking at | What it tells you | What it doesn't tell you | What to do with it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 right on a 25-question practice set | 18 ÷ 25 = 72% on those 25 practice questions. | Anything about your ANCC scaled score or your chance of passing. | Review the 7 you missed and figure out why you missed each one. Track results by topic, not just the total. |
| "105 out of 150" in ANCC's handbook | It's ANCC's example of what a raw score looks like (105 ÷ 150 = 70%). | The passing cutoff. The handbook doesn't identify 105 as a passing cutoff. | Don't treat it as a target. |
| A failing report showing 340 (made-up example) | You were 10 scaled points under the 350 passing line. | How many more questions you needed. Scaled points aren't questions. | Use the report's content-area ratings to plan your review. |
| A report that says PASS | You met ANCC's passing standard. | A percentage or an area-by-area breakdown. The handbook describes those details only for failing reports. | Save your report and finish any remaining certification steps. |
Why 350 out of 500 isn't 70% correct
350 ÷ 500 does equal 70%. But that math uses two points on ANCC's reporting scale, not your correct answers. The handbook says your raw score is converted "using a conversion formula," but does not give that formula.
The published scoring policy doesn't establish a percentage-correct passing target. And multiplying a practice-test percentage by 500 doesn't give you an ANCC score. (ANCC Certification Handbook, pp. 9–10)
How ANCC scoring works
Raw score first, then the scale
The pretest questions on your exam are being tried out for future exams. They don't affect your score. ANCC mixes them in so you can't spot them, so give every question your full effort.
After the exam, ANCC counts your correct answers on the scored questions only. That count is your raw score. ANCC then converts it to a scaled score, which is the number a failing report shows. (ANCC Certification Handbook, p. 9; ANCC FNP Test Content Outline, p. 1)
Is the ANCC exam graded on a curve?
No. ANCC exams are criterion-referenced. That means your result is compared with a fixed passing standard, not with other candidates. If everyone who tests on your day meets the standard, everyone passes.
For each exam, a panel of subject-matter experts sets the minimum passing score, guided by a measurement expert (a psychometrician). ANCC then reports every exam on the same scale, with 350 as the passing line. (ANCC Certification Handbook, p. 9)
How the Modified Angoff method sets the bar
ANCC says its panels use the Modified Angoff method, a standard-setting approach common in licensure and certification testing. In general, it works like this:
- Panelists picture a minimally competent candidate, meaning someone just good enough to practice safely.
- For each question, they estimate how likely that person is to answer it correctly.
- Those estimates are combined across panelists and questions to inform the cut score.
(ANCC Certification Handbook, p. 9; Lee et al., 2018, introduction and methods: an example of Modified Angoff standard setting)
A made-up example, not ANCC data: Picture a four-question quiz. The panel's average estimates are 0.85, 0.60, 0.70, and 0.45. Added together, that's 2.6. A just-competent candidate would be expected to get about 2.6 of 4 right under those estimates. This illustrates how panel judgments inform a standard; it does not establish an adopted cutoff or a rounding rule for ANCC.
ANCC's handbook does not provide panel ratings, a raw passing cutoff, or a raw-to-scaled conversion table. You cannot derive a 70%-correct passing requirement from its published 350 threshold.
Is there a minimum score in each content area?
The handbook does not describe separate content-area passing scores. It says pass or fail depends on whether you correctly answered the required number of items, and that reporting the result on a scale doesn't change that. The content-area ratings on a failing report point to what pulled your total down. They aren't separate pass/fail gates. (ANCC Certification Handbook, p. 10)
How many questions count on your ANCC exam?
The five advanced practice registered nursing (APRN) exams below score 150 of 175 questions in 3.5 hours. The 12 RN specialty exams score 125 of 150 in 3 hours. On every exam, the extra 25 questions are unscored pretest items.
| Certification | Credential | Total questions | Scored | Pretest (unscored) | Testing time | 2025 first-time pass rate (passed/tested) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner | AGACNP-BC | 175 | 150 | 25 | 3.5 hours | 80% (2,056/2,580) |
| Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist | AGCNS-BC | 175 | 150 | 25 | 3.5 hours | 88% (140/159) |
| Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner | AGPCNP-BC | 175 | 150 | 25 | 3.5 hours | 85% (754/882) |
| Family Nurse Practitioner | FNP-BC | 175 | 150 | 25 | 3.5 hours | 82% (6,358/7,719) |
| Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (Across the Lifespan) | PMHNP-BC | 175 | 150 | 25 | 3.5 hours | 82% (8,840/10,743) |
| Ambulatory Care Nursing | AMB-BC | 150 | 125 | 25 | 3 hours | 77% (1,209/1,562) |
| Cardiac-Vascular Nursing | CV-BC | 150 | 125 | 25 | 3 hours | 67% (754/1,120) |
| Gerontological Nursing | GERO-BC | 150 | 125 | 25 | 3 hours | 63% (380/599) |
| Informatics Nursing | NI-BC | 150 | 125 | 25 | 3 hours | 65% (229/352) |
| Medical-Surgical Nursing | MEDSURG-BC | 150 | 125 | 25 | 3 hours | 71% (3,807/5,330) |
| Nurse Executive | NE-BC | 150 | 125 | 25 | 3 hours | 63% (907/1,443) |
| Nurse Executive, Advanced | NEA-BC | 150 | 125 | 25 | 3 hours | 73% (706/973) |
| Nursing Case Management | CMGT-BC | 150 | 125 | 25 | 3 hours | 66% (188/286) |
| Nursing Professional Development | NPD-BC | 150 | 125 | 25 | 3 hours | 72% (1,064/1,486) |
| Pain Management Nursing | PMGT-BC | 150 | 125 | 25 | 3 hours | 63% (98/156) |
| Pediatric Nursing | PED-BC | 150 | 125 | 25 | 3 hours | 75% (164/218) |
| Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing | PMH-BC | 150 | 125 | 25 | 3 hours | 71% (972/1,366) |
Question counts and testing times come from each certification's ANCC page. Pass rates are ANCC's published 2025 figures for *first-time test takers only ([2025 ANCC Certification Data](https://www.nursingworld.org/globalassets/docs/ancc/ancc-cert-data-website.pdf)). The counts in parentheses are first-time candidates who passed divided by first-time candidates tested; percentages are ANCC's rounded figures. A pass rate describes a group of test takers, not your personal odds. Checked September 17, 2026.*
Changes to know about:
- FNP-BC: The same 175/150 format continues, but the content outline changes.
- ANCC labels the outline effective September 28, 2022 for exams on or before October 18, 2026.
- ANCC labels the revised outline for exams on or after October 30, 2026; the document gives October 30 as its effective date.
- The FNP page also announces a testing suspension, but its notice says "before October 18" and "after October 30." Confirm a boundary-date appointment with ANCC or Prometric rather than inferring availability from these conflicting labels.
- AMB-BC: ANCC's updated outline applies to exams on or after September 11, 2026. The 150/125 format didn't change.
- PED-BC and CMGT-BC: Both programs are moving to renewal only. ANCC is accepting applications through December 31, 2026, and testing through December 31, 2027. (Pediatric Nursing program notice; Nursing Case Management program notice)
How to read your ANCC score report
If you passed, your result is reported as a pass. Your certification start date is the date you passed, as long as ANCC has every required document. For new certificants on or after March 1, 2026, ANCC sends an email invitation to claim the complimentary wall certificate and pin online. Its current wall certificate policy warns that fulfillment and shipping during the vendor transition will take longer than the usual 4–6 weeks.
If you're an APRN candidate who tested in Authorized to Test (ATT) status before your degree was conferred, the rules are different:
- ANCC keeps your passing result on file and issues certification only once your final official transcript and any other required documents are received and reviewed, and all eligibility requirements are met. In that case, certification starts when ANCC receives and reviews the required documents—not on the earlier passing date.
- ANCC must receive that transcript within two years of your passing date. Otherwise, the application is closed as abandoned. The passing score does not carry over to a future application, and certification is not awarded.
(ANCC Certification Handbook, pp. 6 and 17)
If you didn't pass, your report shows three things:
- your scaled score,
- a "fail" status,
- a rating for each content area on your exam's test content outline.
ANCC defines the three ratings this way:
| Rating | What ANCC says it means | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| LOW | Your score in this area is below an acceptable level. ANCC recommends substantial study before retesting. | Start here. |
| MEDIUM | Your score is marginally acceptable. ANCC recommends further study before retesting. | Study it next. Don't read MEDIUM as "almost fine." |
| HIGH | Your score is well above average. ANCC says a review may still help. | Keep it in light rotation so it stays strong. |
Rating definitions: ANCC Certification Handbook, "How Are Exams Scored?," pp. 9–10. The "How to use it" column is our suggestion.
What the ratings can't tell you:
- your exact score inside an area,
- which questions you missed,
- how close you came to passing.
ANCC says the ratings exist to show which content areas contributed to a failing score, so you can target your study. Treat them as a map of where to look, not an exact score.
Where and when to get your ANCC results
- Watch for the email. After your exam ends, you'll get an email with instructions for accessing your results.
- Open the portal. Results are posted on the Prometric Report Validation Portal. The lookup page asks for your confirmation number and last name.
- Don't wait for a call. ANCC doesn't release results by phone, fax, or email.
- Know what "24–48 hours" means. ANCC receives your results from Prometric within 24–48 hours of your exam. That's ANCC's timeline, not a waiting period before you can see your own result.
- Ask ANCC if something's wrong. For questions about your results, email customerservice@ana.org.
Keep your report and confirmation number private. Don't post them in forums or study groups.
(ANCC Examination Results policy; ANCC Certification Handbook, p. 16)
Didn't pass? What to do next
You can retest after 60 calendar days. You'll submit a new retest application and retake the whole exam.
| Rule | What ANCC says |
|---|---|
| Before you apply | Wait 5 days after your exam, then submit a retest application online. |
| How to apply | On your certification's ANCC page, go to Apply → Initial Certification Application → Apply Online. |
| Waiting period | You may retest after 60 calendar days from the date you last tested. |
| Attempt limit | No more than three tests in any 12-month period. That's a rolling window, not January through December. |
| Eligibility | You must meet the eligibility requirements in effect when you submit the retest application. ANCC may ask for documents. |
| What you retake | The entire exam. |
| Fee | ANCC charges retest fees. Its retest policy page doesn't list an amount, so check the fee shown in your application. |
| Passing-standard or item challenges | You can't challenge the passing score, how it was set, the exam, individual questions, or whether the content is valid. This does not prevent contacting ANCC about report access or reporting a test-center problem. |
(ANCC Retest Application policy; ANCC Certification Handbook, p. 16)
Counting your 60 days
Count forward 60 calendar days from your test date. For example, if you tested on March 2, 2026, the 60th calendar day after is May 1, 2026.
ANCC's wording is that you may retest after 60 calendar days. Your new Authorization to Test and Prometric's calendar will show the first date you can actually book. If a single day matters to you, confirm it with ANCC.
Your retest may use a newer outline
You sit whatever outline is in effect on your retest date, not the one from your first attempt.
- FNP: For an August 20, 2026 attempt, 60 elapsed calendar days reaches October 19—past the old outline's listed October 18 endpoint. A retest after the transition uses the outline effective October 30, 2026, not the outline from that first attempt.
- The content-area names are the same.
- The question distribution changes in four areas. Planning stays at 29 scored questions.
- Ambulatory Care: The outline effective September 11, 2026 is current as of this page's September 17, 2026 check. Compare its content areas with your report before you plan.
Check these before you pay again
- APRN candidates: Retest applications must meet the eligibility rules in effect when you submit them. That includes ANCC's rule, effective January 1, 2026, that APRN applicants apply within five years of degree or post-graduate certificate conferral. If you're close to that line, check ANCC's APRN time-limit policy first. (Handbook, pp. 6–7 and 16)
- PED-BC and CMGT-BC candidates: ANCC lists December 31, 2026, as the last day it accepts applications for these programs. Check the PED-BC or CMGT-BC notice before planning a retest application near that deadline.
- Something went wrong at the test center? ANCC says to report it to the test center administrator before you leave. Then call Prometric at 1.800.350.7076 and email certification@ana.org. (Handbook, p. 14)
Turn LOW, MEDIUM, and HIGH into a study plan
Start with LOW areas, then MEDIUM, then HIGH. Within each rating, start with the area that has more scored questions on the outline you'll retest under.
That ordering rule is ours. It combines ANCC's rating definitions with ANCC's official question counts. It is a review starting point, not a validated readiness measure or a formula for study hours.
Worked example. Say you took the FNP exam in September 2026. The report below is invented for this example; the question counts are ANCC's. Your report showed:
- Assessment: MEDIUM
- Diagnosis: LOW
- Planning: HIGH
- Implementation: MEDIUM
- Evaluation: LOW
A September 1, 2026 attempt reaches 60 elapsed calendar days on October 31, so a September candidate's next attempt cannot use the outgoing outline. For a retest while the October 30, 2026 outline is in effect, plan with that outline's counts.
| Study order | Content area | Your rating | Scored questions on your retest outline (Oct. 30, 2026) | On the outline you tested under (Sept. 28, 2022) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diagnosis | LOW | 25 | 26 |
| 2 | Evaluation | LOW | 20 | 23 |
| 3 | Implementation | MEDIUM | 50 | 43 |
| 4 | Assessment | MEDIUM | 26 | 29 |
| 5 | Planning | HIGH | 29 | 29 |
Question counts: ANCC FNP Test Content Outlines effective September 28, 2022 and October 30, 2026.
Why this order:
- Both LOW areas come first, because ANCC calls LOW "below an acceptable level." Diagnosis leads because it has more scored questions.
- Implementation tops the MEDIUM tier because, at 50 questions, it's the biggest area on the revised outline.
- Planning stays in the plan as light review, not a skip.
Then work each area like this:
- Find the gaps. Open your exam's test content outline and list the knowledge and skill statements under the area. Mark the ones you can't explain confidently.
- Practice and diagnose. Use fresh practice questions for that area. For every miss, write down what you'd need to know or notice to get it right, and why the option you picked was weaker.
- Label each miss: didn't know the content, misread the question, reasoned it through wrong, or got the priority wrong. The fix is different for each.
- Keep every area in rotation. Mix in questions from your MEDIUM and HIGH areas. Compare practice results over time under similar conditions, and treat them as feedback, not a prediction.
ANCC scoring claims you'll see online, checked
| Claim | What ANCC's current documents say |
|---|---|
| "The ANCC scale runs from 0 to 500" or "from 100 to 500." | The handbook states a maximum of 500 and a passing score of 350. It does not give a lower scale endpoint. |
| "You need 70% to pass." | The handbook does not provide its conversion formula or a percentage-correct passing target. |
| "The cut score is 105 out of 150." | The handbook uses 105 of 150 only as an example of a raw score. |
| "Everyone gets a detailed score report." | The handbook describes scaled scores and content-area ratings only for failing reports. |
| "You can test three times per calendar year." | ANCC's limit is three tests in any 12-month period. |
| "The retest fee is $270." | ANCC's current retest policy page lists no amount, so it does not verify $270 as the current fee. Check the amount in your application. |
| "ANCC doesn't publish pass rates by specialty." | ANCC publishes first-time pass rates for each certification (see the table above). |
Checked against the ANCC Certification Handbook, ANCC Retest Application policy, and 2025 ANCC Certification Data on September 17, 2026.
ANCC vs. AANPCB (NPCB): don't mix the numbers
Family nurse practitioner candidates can certify through ANCC or through the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB), which does business as the Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (NPCB). Their scoring rules aren't interchangeable.
| Scoring detail | ANCC (FNP-BC) | AANPCB/NPCB (FNP exam for NP-C) |
|---|---|---|
| FNP exam length | 175 questions (150 scored, 25 pretest), 3.5 hours | 150 questions (135 scored, 15 pretest), 3 hours |
| Passing standard | Scaled score of 350 or higher; scale maximum is 500 | Set through a standard-setting method; its June 2026 FNP handbook says scores aren't reported as a percentage correct and doesn't state a numeric scale |
| When you find out | Results through Prometric's portal after the exam | Preliminary pass/fail right after the exam; official results after NPCB reviews eligibility, exam results, and required documents and releases the result |
| FNP retake limit | 3 tests in any 12-month period; 60-day wait | Up to 3 attempts per calendar year |
| Questioning a result | Can't challenge the passing score or individual items | Candidates who don't pass may request a rescore for a fee (it checks score accuracy only) |
Sources: ANCC Certification Handbook; ANCC FNP page; NPCB FNP Candidate Handbook, updated June 2026, pp. 8, 10–11, 13.
If you've seen a 200–800 scale with a 500 passing score attached to AANP or NPCB exams, check it against your NPCB score notification. The current NPCB handbook we reviewed doesn't state that scale.
More questions about ANCC scoring
Will my school or employer see my score? ANCC treats individual candidate information as confidential, with exceptions for certification business and accreditation needs. You may authorize release of scores or application status to approved third parties, including educational institutions. APRN programs receive aggregate reports once at least three of their graduates take the same exam in the reporting period. ANCC sends your individual result to your school only with your written authorization. (ANCC Certification Handbook, p. 22)
Which ANCC handbook should I trust? Use the current ANCC Certification Handbook: effective June 2025, version dated January 23, 2026. It replaced the older "General Testing and Renewal Handbook," and older copies of that document still show up in search results. If the two handbooks disagree, follow the current one. A later, specifically dated ANCC policy update can supersede an individual procedure, as with the March 2026 wall certificate process. (ANCC Certification Handbook, p. iii)
Sources and verification
- ANCC Certification Handbook. Effective June 2025, version dated January 23, 2026. Sections used: APRN application abandonment and the application time limit (pp. 6–7), scoring (pp. 9–10), exam length and guessing (p. 14), results and retesting (p. 16), certification period (p. 17), appeals (p. 21), and confidentiality (p. 22).
- ANCC Examination Results policy
- ANCC Wall Certificates and Pins policy, including the process effective March 1, 2026
- ANCC Retest Application policy
- 2025 ANCC Certification Data
- The 17 ANCC certification pages linked in the table above
- Ambulatory Care Nursing outline, effective September 11, 2026
- ANCC APRN time-limit policy
- ANCC FNP Test Content Outlines effective September 28, 2022 and October 30, 2026
- Prometric Report Validation Portal
- NPCB FNP Candidate Handbook, updated June 2026
- Lee et al., 2018: Competency-based Standard Setting for a High-stakes Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE): Validity Evidence. Introduction and methods support the general method explanation, not ANCC's specific cut score.
By the Castleport Test Prep Editorial Team.
Last verified: September 17, 2026. On that date we checked ANCC's scoring, results, retest, and wall certificate policies, the 2025 certification data, the question counts and testing times on all 17 ANCC certification pages listed above, and the FNP, AMB-BC, PED-BC, and CMGT-BC notices discussed here. The NPCB comparison was checked against its June 2026 FNP handbook.
AI tools assisted research and editing. Source checking is not credentialed professional review. See our editorial standards.
Castleport Test Prep is an independent exam prep publisher. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the American Nurses Association, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB/NPCB), or Prometric. Exam and credential names identify the subjects discussed; trademarks belong to their respective owners. The examples on this page are illustrations, not official score reports. ANCC decides eligibility, results, and certification.