Short answer
Quick Results are unofficial and arrive two business days after the exam, for $7.95, if your nursing board takes part. Official results come only from your nursing board, within six weeks. Only the official result allows you to practice.
Two routes to your result
NCLEX results do not have a release date. Instead there are two separate routes, each with its own timeline: the optional Quick Results Service and the official result from your nursing regulatory body (NRB), the board that licenses nurses where you are applying.
Quick Results
- Timing: two business days after the exam. Weekends do not count, and a holiday can push the date back. The business days guide shows how to count.
- Cost: $7.95.
- Who can use it: candidates seeking licensure in the US whose nursing board takes part in the Quick Results Service. Not every board does, so check the participating list on the NCLEX site.
- Status: unofficial. Quick Results do not authorize you to practice as a nurse.
Official results
NCLEX says official results are only available through your nursing board and are sent within six weeks after the exam. That is a limit, not a fixed date, so a result can arrive sooner. The official result is the one that counts for licensure.
NCLEX also asks candidates not to call NCSBN, Pearson candidate services or test centers for results. None of them can release a result; only your board can.
Side by side
| Quick Results | Official results | |
|---|---|---|
| When | Two business days after the exam | Within six weeks after the exam |
| From | The Quick Results Service | Your nursing board |
| Available to | Candidates whose board takes part | Every candidate |
| Lets you practice | No | Yes, as part of your board's licensure process |
If you do not pass
Candidates who do not pass receive an NCLEX Candidate Performance Report. NCLEX describes it as a guide to prepare for a retake.
Official sources
Every fact in this guide comes from these pages, checked on the update date above.
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