NCLEX scoring system

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i want to confirm about the NCLEX scoring system. i am so nervous about the result. i took my test last week and i finished 265 questions. i heard from others saying that if i get the correct answer on my last question that means i automatically pass the exam. is that true? I know i put down the correct answer and i checked for my name everyday but don't see anything yet. Does that mean i failed the test? i am so confused. i would like to have an idea about my result before i receive the actual letter mail to me. :cry:.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the NCLEX forum

There is nothing to say that get last question right/wrong means pass/fail. We have had members on here who know they got the last question wrong pass. All you can do is wait for results and depending on BON will depend on how quick you get results. If BRN then you are looking anything from 3 days to 4 weeks for results depending on whether you have a SSN or not.

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That's a myth. Fifteen of the questions on every NCLEX exam are pilot questions that don't count toward the taker's score. You have no way of knowing which questions are pilots or when in the course of the test they will be posed. If the last 15 questions you're asked are the pilot questions, and you get all of them wrong, it has no impact on your score.

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Specializes in Cardiac PICU, PICU, NICU.
That's a myth. Fifteen of the questions on every NCLEX exam are pilot questions that don't count toward the taker's score. You have no way of knowing which questions are pilots or when in the course of the test they will be posed. If the last 15 questions you're asked are the pilot questions, and you get all of them wrong, it has no impact on your score.

I always heard that the fifteen pilot questions have to be included in the first 75 questions because not everyone will have questions above that number but everyone has to have those fifteen pilot questions.

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They can put the pilot questions anywhere since the computer keeps a running tally of where you are on the passing standard. Think of it this way, there is a minimum of 60 and a maximum of 250 questions on the NCLEX with 15 pilot questions. If at question 60 the computer "knows" with 95% certainty that you are above the passing standard and hasn't asked any pilot questions yet, it can still ask all 15 and you will be at the minimum. If at 250 the computer still doesn't "know" if you are above or below, it still has to ask the pilot questions so those are the only questions you'll get to hit the max of 265. The "max question" rules then apply and the computer acts as if you didn't answer those last 15 questions at all.

There's no way to know for sure if you have passed or failed by the number of questions or by getting the last question correct. Perhaps the Pearson Vue trick will help with your anxiety?

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Specializes in Cardiac PICU, PICU, NICU.
They can put the pilot questions anywhere since the computer keeps a running tally of where you are on the passing standard. Think of it this way, there is a minimum of 60 and a maximum of 250 questions on the NCLEX with 15 pilot questions. If at question 60 the computer "knows" with 95% certainty that you are above the passing standard and hasn't asked any pilot questions yet, it can still ask all 15 and you will be at the minimum. If at 250 the computer still doesn't "know" if you are above or below, it still has to ask the pilot questions so those are the only questions you'll get to hit the max of 265. The "max question" rules then apply and the computer acts as if you didn't answer those last 15 questions at all.

There's no way to know for sure if you have passed or failed by the number of questions or by getting the last question correct. Perhaps the Pearson Vue trick will help with your anxiety?

Ah, ok I see!

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