I just had to look up the stats for myself, after seeing several (differing) posts from various people stating what the pass rate is for first-time test takers! Can get quite confusing, and it's a topic that is much discussed (and obsessed over!). I found that I am also guilty of posting out of date numbers, as I just checked with the NCSBN website, and found the most recently published statistics. The most recent stats are for Year End 2014.
Of the 157,372 US-educated RN applicants who took the NCLEX for the first time, they passed at a rate of 81.78%. For the 55,489 US-educated PN applicants, it was 82.16%. Broken down by type of program/education, the numbers do vary a smidgen, but overall....."82%" is a reasonable working number for first-time US educated NCLEX candidates.
For US-educated RN applicants who repeated the attempt, it was a less-optimistic number at 46.36% passing. For US-educated PN repeaters, it was only 31.26%
First time applicants for the NCLEX-RN who were NOT US-educated passed at the unfortunate rate of just 28.88%. Interestingly, by contrast, a non-US educated applicant for the NCLEX-PN had a 49.91% chance of passing on the first attempt.
For those foreign-educated RN candidates who failed the first time, subsequent attempts had only a 17.7% chance of passing. A foreign-educated PN candidate who failed the first time had a 16.51% chance of passing.
You may be encouraged or discouraged by these statistics based on your own individual circumstance, but at least now you know what's what :)
Just musing on something.....it seems to me that since nursing schools are getting tighter and tighter on admissions, and they have so many more pre-and post-nursing program exams (entry and exit) I would think the rate of passing should be going UP, not DOWN. Tougher criteria to enter seems to me that the graduates should be handling the NCLEX as well as if not better than a years ago. Just thinking out loud on this one.
Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
Just musing on something.....it seems to me that since nursing schools are getting tighter and tighter on admissions, and they have so many more pre-and post-nursing program exams (entry and exit) I would think the rate of passing should be going UP, not DOWN. Tougher criteria to enter seems to me that the graduates should be handling the NCLEX as well as if not better than a years ago. Just thinking out loud on this one.
You forget to account for the for profit corporate owned schools that admit anyone who can fund the tuition. Though their attrition and advancement rates are as telling as the NCLEX pass rates. The county colleges and state universities that have tighter entry criteria due to demand for a finite number of seats often have passing rates >90%. It's more telling if you look at the individual school pass rates in my state that for profit schools that don't change their standards and curriculum have pass rates
Do you have any information on how the students prepared for the NCLEX, ie-what materials they used, the ones that passed?
As JBN said, this is not data that is considered. FWIW, it really doesn't matter: people pass and people fail with EVERY program out there; a better indication of how one will do is the school one graduates from and the understanding of the applicant of the material itself. Review/preps are just that: they do not substitute for having spent years in the process of preparing through a qualified nursing program.
You forget to account for the for profit corporate owned schools that admit anyone who can fund the tuition. Though their attrition and advancement rates are as telling as the NCLEX pass rates. ---.
Ding ding ding! YES, you're right! That would be the piece that I was musing about missing....the recent surge in "colleges" that offer nursing programs that aren't worth much of anything most certainly has elevated the total NCLEX applicant numbers but when they fail.....they also bring down the overall percentages. Duh.
Maybe this will also cause some to take heed of the warning that spending tons of money on a program that is "easy to get into" will be far more expensive in the end than they realized
Just musing on something.....it seems to me that since nursing schools are getting tighter and tighter on admissions, and they have so many more pre-and post-nursing program exams (entry and exit) I would think the rate of passing should be going UP, not DOWN. Tougher criteria to enter seems to me that the graduates should be handling the NCLEX as well as if not better than a years ago. Just thinking out loud on this one.
I definitely agree on the topic of for-profit programs.
I also wonder if the NCLEX pass rate has decreased with the addition of select all that apply questions. I don't have any actual data to support this, but my nursing school instructors were all under the impression that the purpose of adding SATA questions to the NCLEX was to make the exam harder. Those stinking questions certainly made my nursing school exams more difficult.
Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
I definitely agree on the topic of for-profit programs.
I also wonder if the NCLEX pass rate has decreased with the addition of select all that apply questions. I don't have any actual data to support this, but my nursing school instructors were all under the impression that the purpose of adding SATA questions to the NCLEX was to make the exam harder. Those stinking questions certainly made my nursing school exams more difficult.
When they added SATA around 5 years ago the passing rate only dropped scantly ~1%. The test was also updated, other alternate format questions were added and the passing standard was slightly raised as it is every three years when the exams are updated. The purpose of the SATA are to increase critical thinking and practical knowledge of nursing content and knowledge. To correlate background knowledge such as A&P, Nutrition, nursing fundamentals & microbiology to clinical conditions and situations. To know that sometimes there is one best answer but other times there are multiple right answers. IMHO to reduce tunnel vision and encourage looking at the big picture...an extreme example from EMS training was sure the patient doesn't have a pulse but if every time you do a compression brain matter squirts out the patient's ears it's time for a black tag. Look at the overall situation and find what is important
....example from EMS training was sure the patient doesn't have a pulse but if every time you do a compression brain matter squirts out the patient's ears it's time for a black tag. ..
Well they can't really "require" that you take an external prep class now can they??? They can recommend it or offer partial compensation but they can't require it... If they want to keep their stats nice and high just educate their students well rather than try and force them to shell out $500 for a prep class...
I think the lag time between reporting and enrolling can be a problem. My school had fine pass rates, but then when the numbers came out halfway through the year I actually got into the major, they were in the toilet! The next year wasn't much better, but one really doesn't transfer in the middle of a program (one usually has to start over). Numbers are on the rise again, but past success is no guarantee...
i wonder how the for-profit centers retain accreditation. Doesn't the CCNE require a first time pass rate of 80% or something like that?
When they added SATA around 5 years ago the passing rate only dropped scantly ~1%. The test was also updated, other alternate format questions were added and the passing standard was slightly raised as it is every three years when the exams are updated. The purpose of the SATA are to increase critical thinking and practical knowledge of nursing content and knowledge. To correlate background knowledge such as A&P, Nutrition, nursing fundamentals & microbiology to clinical conditions and situations. To know that sometimes there is one best answer but other times there are multiple right answers. IMHO to reduce tunnel vision and encourage looking at the big picture...an extreme example from EMS training was sure the patient doesn't have a pulse but if every time you do a compression brain matter squirts out the patient's ears it's time for a black tag. Look at the overall situation and find what is important
Very interesting stuff, thank you for sharing!
I feel like the whole concept of NCLEX-style questions is pretty contrived relative to the actual critical thinking skills required in the nursing profession, but I suppose that's a discussion all it's own...
RNsRWe, ASN, RN
3 Articles; 10,428 Posts
Just musing on something.....it seems to me that since nursing schools are getting tighter and tighter on admissions, and they have so many more pre-and post-nursing program exams (entry and exit) I would think the rate of passing should be going UP, not DOWN. Tougher criteria to enter seems to me that the graduates should be handling the NCLEX as well as if not better than a years ago. Just thinking out loud on this one.