75 or 265. what about questions in between?

[time4mydream]

hi. i notice that many people say that they passed the NCLEX with 75 or that they had all 265 and passed. i am curious as to what other scores people passed with. is there hope for people who get 190-230 questions? just wonderin'.

[jeshav27]

Meghan is right again, but let me see if this helps anyone. The test is given to determine if a candidate is competent to safely enter nursing practice. Once you have answered the minimum number of questions, the computer performs a statistical calculation that is basically predicting if, given the questions you have answered, you are competent to practice nursing at an entry level. It does this with 95% confidence. This means that 95 times out of 100, the prediction is correct. And yes, it also means that 5 times out of 100 it is wrong. However, before anyone gets upset, that is a pretty standard error rate. If after the minimum number of questions the prediction can't be made with 95% accuracy, then you get another question, and the calculation is repeated and so on. 75 questions (for the RN exam) is the minimum number of questions that are needed for the calculation to be performed AND hit all areas of the test plan. 265 questions is the cut off, because after that number of questions, the computer can determine that no matter how many more questions you answer, the outcome at that point won't differ. This is a very simplified explanation, but is the basic gist.

Thank you this makes a lot more sense now! :)

[bettyboop]

I passed at 75

A dear friend failed at 265 the 1st time, then passed on 265 second time.

Another friend failed 1st and 2nd time with 120 & 146 then passed third time with 240.

You never can predict.

Gale

[MelRN21]

I have taken the NCLEX twice... failed the first time with 75, passed the 2nd with 130. Good luck!