The CEN exam, by the numbers

Each question has four options and one best answer. Before the clock starts, a few practice items show how the test screen works.

The 25 pretest items sit among the scored ones without a label; BCEN collects data on them for later forms. Nothing marks them, so give each question full effort.

The board sets the cut with a modified Angoff study: a panel of emergency nurses rates each item by how a just-competent candidate would fare, and equating keeps forms comparable, so the cut can shift slightly between forms.

Your score is simply the number right, with no curve. All scored items count equally, and guessing carries no penalty, so answer all of them. Prep material that quotes a higher cut predates the July 2026 outline.

The verdict comes the moment you submit: on a printed report at a test center, on screen with remote proctoring. A failing report lists your raw score in each content area, the most useful part of the report. Compare each one with the area's item count on the study guide to see where the missing points sit.

BCEN's disclosure lists raw counts rather than a percentage. The figure in the table divides passes by passes plus fails from its 2025 disclosure, which comes to about half; measured against every exam delivered, including those with no result, the share is lower.

The statistic counts exams, not people: a nurse who sat twice in the year appears twice. Read it as a property of the exam, not a forecast for you; your own score on the practice test, taken against the clock, says more.

• Wait: 90 days after a fail.
• Attempts: no cap, but each one needs a new retest application.
• Fee: $200 for a retest booked inside twelve months of the first sitting.

A second attempt can also be bought upfront with Test Assurance; prices are on registration and cost.