NCLEX-PN: the licensing exam for practical and vocational nurses
The NCLEX-PN is a separate exam from the NCLEX-RN. It licenses practical nurses (LPNs, called LVNs in California and Texas), it has its own passing standard, and its first-time pass rate for US-educated candidates was 86.6% in 2025. This section covers the PN exam on its own, so you do not have to pick the PN details out of RN guides.
Last checked October 2026. Based on NCSBN’s published statistics, state board instructions and provider listings. Confirm fees and rules with your state board.
NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN compared
| NCLEX-RN | NCLEX-PN | |
|---|---|---|
| Who takes it | Registered nurse candidates | Practical and vocational nurse candidates |
| License you earn | RN | LPN or LVN |
| Questions | 85 to 150 | 85 to 205 |
| Passing standard | 0.00 logits | -0.18 logits |
| First-time US-educated pass rate, 2025 | About 87% | 86.6% |
| Pearson VUE fee | $200 | $200 |
| State license fee | Set by each state | Often lower than the RN fee |
The exams differ in who takes them, how they are scored, and what the license allows. Fees to Pearson VUE are the same.
The two exams are marked against different passing standards, and the PN one is set slightly lower on NCSBN’s logit scale. That does not make the PN exam a lower hurdle in practice. Its scope, question mix and clinical expectations are written for practical nursing, and the cost-of-failure is the same: a new application in many states and a fresh $200 fee.
What is in this section
Eligibility, education rules, and what happens if you took an RN program.
→The $200 exam fee and state PN application fees we could verify.
→2025 NCSBN rates, by candidate type and by state.
→Question counts, timing, the passing standard and Next Gen items.
→Which of the four providers we cover sell PN prep, and what we could confirm.
→PN fees, separate boards and special rules for 35 states.
→State application steps are covered in our state guides, which are written for new RN graduates. Where a state handles practical nurses differently, such as Louisiana and West Virginia, which use separate boards, the state guide says so, and the PN requirements page collects those differences.