CCRN Passing Score: 83 of 125 Scored Questions, and What That Means

The CCRN (Adult) cut score: 83 correct out of 125 scored items

AACN's statistics and cut-score page lists the CCRN (Adult) exam with 150 total items, 125 scored items and a passing (cut) score of 83, with a score effective date of 11/12/2025. That is the date the current Adult test plan took effect. As checked on October 18, 2026, it is the current value.

AACN defines the cut score as the number of scored questions you must answer correctly. The 25 unscored items on the 150-item exam do not count, which the CCRN exam format guide explains.

Some Passy arithmetic, labeled as such: 83 out of 125 is 66.4% of the scored items, and 125 minus 83 means you can miss up to 42 scored items and still pass. AACN does not state its standard as a percentage, so treat 66.4% only as a way to picture today's number, never as "the CCRN passing percentage." If a book or website gives a different cut score, check AACN's cut-score page, which shows each exam's current value with its effective date.

Why AACN says the CCRN cut score is not a percentage

AACN's policy handbook says the passing point "is not a percentage but a raw number" that may change over time. Two events can move it: an exam update based on a new study of practice, and the periodic replacement of exam forms, which AACN equates for difficulty. A fixed percentage would ignore those differences between forms. A raw cut score tied to a set of equated forms does not.

The standard is also criterion-referenced. Each candidate is measured against a predetermined standard, not ranked against the other people who tested that day, so there is no curve and no quota of passes. AACN says everyone who reaches the cut score, whatever their total, has shown an acceptable level of knowledge.

How the CCRN passing standard is set: the modified Angoff method

AACN uses a standard-setting process called the modified Angoff method. A panel of subject matter experts reviews every question and judges the basic level of knowledge or skill it expects. Under a psychometrician's guidance, their difficulty ratings become a recommended cut score, which AACN Certification Corporation then reviews and approves. AACN's cut-score page says the method is applied with psychometricians from its testing partner, PSI.

AACN's documents name the panel differently. The CCRN exam handbook and the practice analysis page call it the Score Evaluation Committee, while the policy handbook calls it an exam development committee. Either way, it is a panel of subject matter experts working with a psychometrician.

The CCRN cut score is not the pass rate

AACN warns against confusing the two. The cut score is the number of correct answers needed. The pass rate is the share of candidates who pass. For calendar year 2025, AACN reports a first-time pass rate of 72.02% for CCRN (Adult), with 17,151 candidates tested. That year mixes exams taken under the old and new test plans, which changed on November 12, and AACN publishes no split. These historical figures describe a group, not an individual candidate’s chances.

When the CCRN score report arrives

Computer-based results appear on screen when you finish. AACN's own pages differ on when the detailed score report follows by email. The exam handbook, two sections of the policy handbook and AACN's testing-center page say within 24 hours. Another policy handbook section and AACN's live remote proctoring page say within 24 to 48 hours, and the CCRN FAQ says immediately upon completion. Plan on up to 48 hours. If you need another copy later, AACN's policy handbook lists a duplicate score report at $25 per copy, requested within 12 months of the exam (as checked on October 18, 2026).

Reading the per-category "number correct" on a CCRN score report

According to the policy handbook, the report also gives the number of questions you answered correctly in each content area, to show strengths and weaknesses. AACN adds a warning: you could get a high number correct in some areas and still not pass. Only the total counts toward the 83.

The report gives counts, not item totals per area, so you need an estimate of how many scored items each area carries. Multiplying the test plan weights by 125 gives one (a Passy estimate, since AACN publishes only percentages).

A worked example (fictional candidate). Renée finishes with 79 correct, four short of 83. Suppose her report's content areas follow the six test plan categories:

Renée's strongest categories, the cardiovascular and respiratory ones she uses daily, cost her only about six items together. Professional Caring and Category C cost her about 25. Recovering four items from those two would have passed her. If your report's areas are grouped differently, apply the same method to whatever areas it lists. The CCRN retake guide turns this into a study plan.

Why a Passy percentage cannot predict the 83

Passy's free practice set has 20 original items, two to four per category. One item is five percentage points, the items were written by Passy rather than AACN, and they are not equated to an AACN form. A 70% on the set says nothing about whether you would reach 83 of 125, and the set does not claim to.

What the set can show is where your reasoning breaks. After you finish, the result screen breaks your answers down by the six test plan categories, so you can map your misses to the six CCRN test plan categories → and read the explanation for every option you got wrong.