"Near the passing standard" on your NCLEX report: what it means and what to study first
Written and reviewed by Rachel Goldberg, MSN, RN, CEN · 4 min read · Updated November 2026
Short answer
"Near the passing standard" on your NCLEX Candidate Performance Report means your ability in that area was close to the passing line, not that you reached it. NCSBN says plainly that near does not mean at or above the standard. You can be near in every area and still have been below the line in all of them.
What NCSBN's own wording says
The Candidate Performance Report (CPR) goes only to candidates who fail. NCSBN's sample report rates each area in one of three ways: above the passing standard, near the passing standard, or below the passing standard. Each rating is based only on your answers to the items from that area.
The report then adds two sentences that answer most of the questions people ask about it. First, near the passing standard does not imply you performed at or above the standard, only in proximity to it. Second, the pass or fail decision is not calculated by adding up the content areas, so a report that reads near in every row can belong to a candidate who sat just under the line in every row.
Can you pass with all near passing?
The question usually comes from a failed candidate who sees no below ratings and assumes the result is a mistake. It is not. NCSBN states that the NCLEX is not graded in sections and that overall performance across the whole exam decides the result. A run of near ratings describes a candidate who was close everywhere and over the line nowhere, which is consistent with a fail.
The opposite also holds. A candidate who passes can have weak areas, because one strong area can offset a weaker one in the overall ability estimate. Passing candidates do not receive a CPR, so they never see those ratings.
Read the item count as well as the ratings
The first page of the CPR states how many items you were given. Under the 2026 NCLEX-RN test plan, every RN candidate answers at least 85 items and at most 150 in the five-hour window. The exam stops early when the computer is 95% certain your ability is clearly above or clearly below the standard.
So the count is a clue to distance. A fail at 85 items means the computer was already confident you were clearly below the line. A fail at the maximum means your ability was very close to the standard, so the exam ran to the end and judged only your final ability estimate. If time runs out before the maximum, the exam is scored on everything you answered, as long as you reached the minimum.
Which areas to study first
Sort your areas by rating, then by size. NCSBN's 2026 RN test plan gives the share of items each area carries: Management of Care 15% to 21%, Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies 13% to 19%, Physiological Adaptation 11% to 17%, Safety and Infection Prevention and Control 10% to 16%, Reduction of Risk Potential 9% to 15%, and 6% to 12% each for Health Promotion and Maintenance, Psychosocial Integrity, and Basic Care and Comfort.
Worked example: a report shows below for Pharmacology and for Psychosocial Integrity, and near for everything else. Pharmacology comes first, because it is rated below and carries up to 19% of items. Psychosocial Integrity comes next. Then work the near areas in size order, starting with Management of Care, because near still means short of the line.
Do not skip the clinical judgment rows. The current CPR also rates clinical judgment and its six steps, from recognize cues to evaluate outcomes. Those steps run through every content area through case studies, so a below there points to how you reason through a scenario rather than to one topic you can memorize.
Timing the retake
NCSBN's 2026 candidate bulletin allows up to eight attempts a year with at least 45 test-free days between exams, and some boards of nursing set longer waits. Check your own board's rule before you book, and use the CPR to set the order of your study for those weeks.
Keep the report. It is the only official breakdown you get, and the ratings show where your answers fell short, not how many points you missed.
Sources
NCSBN: NCLEX-RN Candidate Performance Report sample (March 2026). Three rating levels, near does not mean at or above, pass or fail not calculated by adding areas, clinical judgment rows, item count on the report
NCLEX.com: Candidate Performance Report. CPR is sent to candidates who fail; the NCLEX is not graded in sections; overall performance decides pass or fail
NCSBN: 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan (effective April 2026). Client Needs percentages, 85 to 150 items in five hours, 95% confidence rule, maximum-length and run-out-of-time rules
NCSBN: 2026 NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin. CPR content and delivery by the nursing regulatory body; retake policy of eight times a year with 45 test-free days
Common questions
Does near the passing standard mean I almost passed?
It means you were close in that area, not overall. NCSBN says near does not mean at or above the standard. To judge how close you were overall, look at the number of items: a fail at the 150-item maximum means your ability was very close to the line.
Is it better to have near or below on my CPR?
Near is closer to the line than below, but both are short of passing in that area. Study below areas first, starting with the ones that carry the largest share of items in the test plan, then the near areas.
Do passing candidates get a Candidate Performance Report?
No. NCSBN sends the CPR only to candidates who fail, through the nursing regulatory body, as a guide for the retake.