How the plan sets your priorities
NCCPA's score report shows how you performed in each content area. Mark the content categories where you did worst as your weak areas; the planner doesn't need exact scores. So the planner asks you instead: the content categories you mark as hard start your plan, mixed ones are strengthened, and confident ones get lighter review. Your answers are a self-assessment, not an official result.
Each content category starts from its share of the exam in the official outline, multiplied by its priority: 3× to start, 2× to strengthen, 1.5× if you leave it blank, and 1× to maintain. A quarter of your time is mixed practice across all content categories. This is Passy’s planning method; it doesn’t estimate a score or a chance of passing.
Retake rules for the PANCE
You may take the PANCE once in any 90-day period, or three times in a calendar year, whichever is fewer, with a new application and the $550 fee each time. If you have never been certified, you may test for up to six years after completing your PA program, with no more than six attempts in that time.
- PANCE Policies, Procedures and Authorization (Exam Eligibility & Registration; Scores) (National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA))
Checked against official sources on November 1, 2026.
Next steps
Check your weakest content category with the free PANCE practice set, or use the PANCE study planner for a first attempt.
Passy is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). PANCE is NCCPA's name for its exam, and PA-C® is a mark NCCPA describes as legally protected; both are used here only to identify the exam and the credential. Passy practice questions are original study material and contain no NCCPA exam items or practice exam questions.