NCE Test Dates: How Scheduling Works When There Are No Fixed Exam Days

There is no national NCE test date

Some exams publish fixed testing days each year. The NCE doesn't, so there's no 2026 or 2027 calendar of NCE dates to look up. NBCC's State Licensure page says the exam is given by appointment only, on dates authorized by CCE, and that you pick from the available dates when you schedule. The NCC-route handbook puts it plainly: the exam is administered throughout the year.

Two things set your real dates: the window you're authorized to test in, and the appointments open inside it.

When your NCE window opens and closes

Every candidate tests inside an authorization window, and six months is the standard length on both routes. What differs is when the clock starts.

CCE's state licensure policy, effective January 1, 2022, sorts jurisdictions this way:

• Pre-approval (the board reviews and approves your application before you're eligible to test): Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
• Non-approval (you register and test without prior board review): Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Guam.

The policy covers both the NCE and the NCMHCE, so a state on this list may still want the NCMHCE for your license. Delaware and the U.S. Virgin Islands don't appear on either list, and board rules change, so confirm with your board. The state licensure handbook also says you can't test past the end of your board's approval if it's shorter than six months.

One wording trap: the same handbook calls the window "month-long" in one section and "up to a 6-month" window in another. The dates in your Authorization to Test are the ones that count.

Booking an NCE appointment inside your window

You can schedule only after the Authorization to Test arrives. CCE's scheduling page describes two ways:

1. Online (CCE's preferred method). On the state route, sign in to the Credentialing Gateway at my.cce-global.org, select the State Licensure tile marked "Approved to Sit," and choose "Go to Pearson." On the NCC route, the handbook says to sign in at my.nbcc.org, open your NCC application and choose "Go To Pearson" under NCC Options.
2. By phone. Call Pearson VUE at 866-904-4432, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Time, Monday to Friday. CCE warns about long hold times.

If you have approved accommodations, the handbooks say you must schedule by phone at 800-466-0450, option 3, and only after you receive written approval; booking first can cost you the accommodation or the appointment. Pearson VUE then emails a Confirmation of Examination Registration with the date, time, appointment length and location. Check every line.

Because test-center seats go first come, first served, booking as soon as the window opens gives you the widest choice of dates and times, even if the date you pick is weeks away. While you wait, sitting a timed 100-question NCE mock at the same hour as your appointment shows whether that time of day suits your concentration.

Dates the NCE isn't offered, and changes you can still make

Both handbooks list the same holidays with no testing: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the Friday after, and Christmas Day, with limited hours on Christmas Eve. The NCE exam day guide covers the session itself.

Moving a date inside your window:

• Rescheduling. Both handbooks allow it up to 24 hours before the appointment through Pearson VUE. The state licensure handbook charges US$50.
• Deferring on the NCC route. NBCC lets you defer to the next administration without penalty if you ask more than 30 days before your exam cycle opens. Later than that, or after a missed date, the NCC handbook sets a US$150 reregistration fee.
• Missing it. Missing an appointment without rescheduling at least 24 hours ahead, or arriving more than 15 minutes late, forfeits your fees.

Extending an NCE window before it closes

Both policies allow an extension for good cause, such as circumstances that make testing within six months impossible or very difficult, with supporting documents like a letter from a health care provider or employer. Requests go in writing before the window expires: on the NCC route to certification@nbcc.org (the handbook asks for at least 7 days before the last day), and on the state route to extensionrequest@cce-global.org. Nothing is considered after expiry, and decisions are final.

If the window lapses without a test, you forfeit the fees and register again. In a pre-approval state, where CCE's policy says the exam is given only to candidates the board has approved, check with your board whether its approval still stands.

NCE dates around the Summer 2027 switch

NBCC's New Examination FAQ, as checked on October 28, 2026, says:

• If you're scheduled before the Summer 2027 implementation date, you take the current version; on or after it, the new one.
• The current version runs until the implementation date, and specific final testing dates will be announced well in advance.
• There's typically a clear transition date rather than a period when both versions run.

The specifications for the new exam carry a July 1, 2027 effective date, and the six-month windows mean a window opened in early 2027 can straddle the change. The day you sit decides your version, not the day you registered. The before-or-after July 2027 guide helps you decide which side to aim for, and practice built for the current 200-question NCE only fits appointments before the switch.

Work backward from your NCE appointment

A dated plan is a Passy suggestion, not an NBCC rule. It helps to see how the pieces stack:

If a license start date or a job offer depends on passing, leave room for that second attempt. The NCE retake policy guide has the rules by route, and the free NCE study planner counts your study weeks back from the date you book. If you want prep that lasts as long as your window, full NCE access comes in 30-, 90- or 180-day periods, paid once.