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National Counselor Examination (NCE)
The National Counselor Examination (NCE) is NBCC's 200-item multiple-choice examination (160 scored items, 40 unscored field-test items; 3 hours 45 minutes of exam time) assessing the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for effective counseling services. It is a requirement for counselor licensure in many states and one of two examination options for the National Certified Counselor (NCC) certification. Candidates register either through the NCC application (NBCC) or, for state licensure, through NBCC's affiliate the Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE), and test at a Pearson VUE test center or online via Pearson VUE's OnVUE platform.
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Questions200 questions, 160 scored (40 unscored field-test items)
Testing time3 hours 45 minutes (225 minutes) of examination time; total test session 255 minutes including a 5-minute agreement, a 10-minute tutorial, and one scheduled 15-minute break after question #100
ScoringPass determined by a modified Angoff standard-setting cut score for each exam form; passing scores may vary slightly by form (statistical equating), and no fixed numeric pass score is published for current forms
Exam feeUSD 375 for the NCC application with exam registration included (USD 250 without exam registration) on the NBCC certification path; the state-licensure registration fee is paid through CCE's Credentialing Gateway but no dollar amount is published on official pages. Other published amounts: USD 150 reregistration fee (NCC path deferral/missed cycle) and USD 50 Pearson VUE rescheduling fee
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Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- NBCC
- Category
- Counseling & Addiction
- Current version
- Current specification; no public version label (200-item form per Candidate Handbooks revised September 24, 2024; a revised 170-item NCE with three-option items takes effect July 1, 2027)
- Where it applies
- United States — national
- Exam languages
- English
- Score scale
- Raw-scored: each scored question is worth one point, maximum possible score 160 on current forms (the revised NCE effective July 1, 2027 will report scaled scores of 100–500 with a passing point of 360)
- Testing provider
- Pearson VUE
- Format
- Computer-based: in person at a Pearson VUE test center, or online-proctored via Pearson VUE's OnVUE platform
- Availability
- Year-round by appointment within a month-long approved test authorization window (in-person during advertised business hours; online via OnVUE); examinations are not offered on listed holidays
- Results
- Unofficial score report received at the test center (or via the Pearson dashboard for OnVUE) upon completion; pass/fail status updated in the Credentialing Gateway within 8 weeks after the examination (NCC path)
- Remote testing
- Available
Exam structure
Single non-sectioned 200-item multiple-choice examination with one scheduled 15-minute break after question #100; scored items align to six work-behavior domains — Professional Practice and Ethics (19 scored items), Intake, Assessment, and Diagnosis (19), Areas of Clinical Focus (47), Treatment Planning (14), Counseling Skills and Interventions (48), Core Counseling Attributes (13) — and to the eight CACREP curriculum areas
Where rules vary
A single national examination used for counselor licensure across U.S. states/territories and for national certification; state boards set eligibility and attempt rules but the exam form and pass determination are uniform.
Eligibility
State licensure: state board approval plus a graduate-level degree (or well-advanced graduate student status) from a CACREP-accredited counseling program or one housed in an institutionally accredited college or university; states may allow candidates of comparable education levels from other related helping degrees. NCC path: NBCC application through the Credentialing Gateway
Retake policy
30-day waiting period after an unsuccessful attempt; one test per authorized window; on the NCC path a candidate may take the examination a maximum of three times within 2 years in a single application; on the state-licensure path the number of attempts is determined by the state board. A separate reregistration fee applies each time