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Nursing Entrance Exam (NEX)
The NEX (Nursing Entrance Exam) is the National League for Nursing's entrance exam for applicants to pre-licensure nursing programs: a battery of three computer-based subject tests (verbal, math, science) used by RN and LPN/VN programs to guide admission decisions. It was released February 11, 2024 as the update and rebrand of the former NLN PAX (Pre-Admission Exam).
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Questions163 items: 145 scored plus 18 unscored pilot items (Verbal 50 scored + 8 pilot; Math 40 + 5; Science 55 + 5)
Testing timeThree subject tests timed at 60 minutes each in a single session (3 hours of testing time)
ScoringNo universal passing score — the NLN does not set a cut score; scores are reported as percentile ranks against RN and LPN/VN national norm groups, and each institution sets its own requirements
Exam feeSet by the institution — The official source states or necessarily defines this value at the participating-institution level.
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Study resources for NEX
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Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- NLN
- Category
- Nursing & Allied Health Admissions
- Current version
- NEX released February 11, 2024 (rebrand of the PAX); two-reference-group (RN / LPN-VN) percentile reporting effective November 1, 2025
- Where it applies
- United States — national
- Exam languages
- English
- Score scale
- Composite score on a 0–300 scale (sum of section percentile ranks weighted equally) plus subject-test percentile ranks
- Testing provider
- NLN Assessment Services via its student testing website (nln.assess.com); virtual sessions use a contracted live proctor
- Format
- Computer-based (LOFT), live-proctored either onsite at an approved institutional testing center or virtually with active monitoring
- Availability
- Administered on demand (a Continuous Mode Test — not restricted to fixed administration dates), virtually or onsite
- Results
- Score report produced once all three subject tests are completed (continuous/on-demand administration; no published processing delay)
- Score validity
- Scores kept on file for three years after the exam date; retesting required after that
- Remote testing
- Available
Exam structure
Battery of three computer-based subject tests in one live-proctored session, all items four-option multiple choice, delivered as a Linear-On-The-Fly Test (LOFT): Verbal (Word Knowledge 25 scored, Reading Comprehension 25), Math (Numbers and Operations 12, Measurement 14, Algebra 7, Data and Information 7), Science (Biology 20, Human Anatomy 11, Human Physiology 11, Chemistry 5, Health 8); 145 scored plus 18 unscored pilot items.
Where rules vary
The NEX serves U.S. nursing program admissions; examinees are normed against U.S. Registered Nurse (RN) and Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse (LPN/VN) applicant reference groups. Individual institutions set their own score requirements.
Retake policy
NLN does not limit attempts but requires 30 days between tests unless a school specifies a different frequency; each assessment purchase is one-time