How Many Times Can You Take the NCLEX? The Sourced Rules

Reviewed June 1, 2026 by the ScrubScope editorial team.

There are two limits on how many times you can take the NCLEX, and you have to satisfy both. The national NCSBN retake policy allows up to eight attempts in a twelve-month period with a mandated wait between tries, and that policy applies everywhere. On top of it, your state board of nursing can impose a stricter cap, including a lifetime limit on attempts or a requirement to do remediation after a certain number of failures. So the honest answer is "up to eight per year nationally, but possibly fewer in your state." This guide explains both layers and the waiting period that paces them.

The short answer

NCSBN's retake policy permits a candidate to test no more than eight times in a twelve-month period, and candidates must wait a set period between attempts^[1]. That national policy is the ceiling, but individual state boards of nursing can and do set tighter rules, such as a lifetime cap on attempts or required additional education after repeated failures^[2]. So your real limit is whichever is stricter: the NCSBN per-year cap or your state board's rule. The mandated waiting period and how it varies are detailed in the NCLEX retake rules guide, and the exam itself is in the NCLEX explainer.

The national NCSBN limit

The national rule is the floor everyone shares, and it has two parts: a per-year cap and a wait between attempts.

NCSBN's retake policy sets the maximum at eight attempts within a twelve-month window, counted on a rolling basis rather than per calendar year^[1]. The second part is the wait: candidates must wait a defined period, commonly 45 days, before retesting after a failed attempt^[1]. Together those two rules mean that even the maximum eight attempts cannot all be crammed into a short span; the waiting period naturally spreads them across the year.

This national policy applies to every candidate regardless of state. It is the part of the answer that does not change. What changes is what your state adds on top, which is why the national cap is the starting point but not always the final word.

The state board layer

State boards of nursing license nurses, and several of them set retake rules stricter than the NCSBN national policy.

A state board can limit total lifetime attempts, require that you complete additional nursing coursework or a remediation program after a set number of failures, or impose a time limit within which you must pass after graduating^[2]. These rules vary by state, so two candidates with identical NCLEX histories can face different limits depending on where they are seeking licensure. Because the board grants the license, its rule controls whether you can keep testing in that state.

The practical consequence is that you cannot rely on the national "eight per year" figure alone. If your state caps lifetime attempts or requires remediation, that requirement governs your situation even though the national policy is more permissive. The state-by-state variation is laid out in the NCLEX retake rules guide.

How the two limits interact

Because both limits apply, the rule that binds you is whichever is more restrictive, and it helps to see how that plays out.

Suppose the national policy would let you test eight times this year, but your state requires remediation after three failures. In that case the state requirement is what stops you at three until you complete the remediation, regardless of the national allowance. Conversely, if your state has no extra cap, the national eight-per-year policy is your effective limit. You never get more attempts than the national policy allows, and you may get fewer than that if your state restricts further. The honest planning rule is to look up your specific state board's policy rather than assuming the national number applies cleanly.

There is also the practical reality that each attempt costs the NCLEX registration fee again, and a state may require a new application or eligibility verification before a retake. So "how many times can you take it" has a cost and process dimension on top of the hard caps.

What a retake actually involves

If you do need to retest, the process is administrative and predictable, which is worth knowing so a failure does not feel like a dead end.

After an unsuccessful attempt, you receive a Candidate Performance Report that shows how you performed across the test's content areas, which is the official tool for focusing your preparation^[3]. You then wait out the mandated period, re-register and pay the fee, obtain a new Authorization to Test once your eligibility is confirmed, and schedule the retake. The exam format and standard are the same on a retake; nothing about the test changes because it is your second or third attempt. The format and pass standard are covered in the NCLEX explainer.

The Candidate Performance Report is the useful part here. It is the only official feedback you get, and it points you at the content areas where you were below the standard, which is more actionable than simply retaking blind.

The eligibility window most people overlook

Beyond the attempt cap and the waiting period, there is a third constraint that catches candidates off guard: the eligibility window tied to your Authorization to Test.

When your state board approves you to test, it issues an Authorization to Test that is valid only for a limited window, commonly around 90 days, during which you must schedule and sit the exam^[3]. If you let that window expire without testing, the authorization lapses and you have to re-register and pay again to get a new one. So even though the national policy allows multiple attempts per year, each attempt has to fall inside a valid authorization window, and missing one is a self-inflicted delay that has nothing to do with passing or failing.

There is also a state-set time horizon to watch. Some boards require you to pass the NCLEX within a certain period after graduating, after which they may require additional coursework before you can test again^[2]. That is different from the per-attempt limit; it is a clock on how long your graduation stays "fresh" for licensure purposes. The combined effect is that the real constraints on retaking are not just the eight-per-year cap and the 45-day wait, but also the authorization window and any state graduation-to-licensure time limit. Reading all four is what gives you the true picture of how many real attempts you have and by when, rather than the headline number alone.

What the limits are actually for

It helps to understand why these caps exist, because the reasoning shapes how a state board treats repeated attempts and what your options are if you near a limit.

The retake structure, the per-year cap, the waiting period, and the state remediation requirements, exists to balance giving candidates fair chances against the public-protection purpose of licensure. The waiting period in particular is built so a candidate uses the time to prepare rather than re-testing immediately on the same gaps, which is why the Candidate Performance Report you receive after a failure is the intended companion to the wait^[3]. State remediation requirements after several failures follow the same logic: at some point a board concludes that more preparation, not more attempts, is what a candidate needs, and it requires coursework before allowing further testing^[2].

Knowing this reframes a near-limit situation. If you are approaching a state's remediation trigger or lifetime cap, the productive move is not to scramble for one more quick attempt but to treat the board's structure as designed: use the Candidate Performance Report to find your weak content areas, complete any required remediation deliberately, and re-test when you are genuinely prepared rather than just eligible. The limits are not arbitrary obstacles; they are the board's way of pushing candidates toward preparation over repetition, and working with that logic gives you better odds than fighting the clock.

How to find your real limit

Because the binding number is state-specific, the reliable answer comes from one place.

Look up the retake policy on your own state board of nursing's website, because that board sets any limit stricter than the national policy and grants your license^[2]. Read for three things: any lifetime cap on attempts, any remediation requirement triggered by failures, and any time window within which you must pass after graduating. Cross-check that against the national eight-per-year and waiting-period policy, and the stricter of the two is your actual limit. The detailed state-variation breakdown is in the NCLEX retake rules guide.

Bottom line

Nationally, NCSBN allows up to eight NCLEX attempts in a twelve-month period with a mandated wait, commonly 45 days, between tries^[1]. But your state board of nursing can set a stricter limit, including a lifetime cap or a remediation requirement, and that state rule governs your situation when it is more restrictive^[2]. So your real limit is whichever is stricter. Check your own state board's policy for any lifetime cap, remediation trigger, or time window, and use your Candidate Performance Report to focus a retake rather than testing blind.

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