PCCN Passing Score: 82 Correct of 125 Scored Questions, and How Results Arrive

The PCCN passing score is a count, not a percentage: 82 correct answers among the 125 questions that are scored. AACN lists it on its Certification Exam Statistics and Cut Scores page, checked October 27, 2026, with an effective date of January 31, 2024, days before the revised exam launched on February 6, 2024.

The PCCN cut score in plain numbers

Passy's arithmetic on those numbers:

• 82 of 125 is 65.6% of the scored questions.
• You can miss up to 43 scored questions and still pass.
• You can't count your way there during the exam. The 25 unscored questions are mixed in and AACN doesn't identify them, so you never know which of your 150 answers count.

The practical target is therefore not "66%" but a comfortable margin, built in every major category, so that a hard set of scored questions doesn't decide the outcome.

Why AACN won't give a PCCN passing percentage

AACN states that "the passing score is not a percentage but a raw number that may change over time as an exam is updated based on results of the most recent study of practice" or "when the exam forms are periodically changed and equated for difficulty." Two consequences:

• Percentages online are not official. If a website says you need 70% on the PCCN, that figure is not from AACN. Some third-party pages also still describe the pre-2024 exam, which AACN's launch announcement says had 125 items in 2½ hours, so their numbers no longer apply.
• Check the date. The cut score can change, so the statistics page, not a book or forum, is the place to confirm it before you test.

How AACN sets the PCCN passing point

AACN uses a criterion-referenced method called the modified Angoff. A panel of subject matter experts reviews each question to determine the basic level of knowledge or skill expected, and the passing point is based on the panel's difficulty ratings for each question. The panel develops its recommendation under a psychometrician's guidance, and AACN Certification Corporation approves it.

Criterion-referenced means you are measured against that predetermined standard, not against the other people testing that day, so there is no curve. The PCCN handbook adds that everyone who passes, "regardless of their score," has demonstrated an acceptable level of knowledge: an 82 and a 110 earn the same credential.

The PCCN cut score is not the pass rate

AACN warns not to confuse the two. The cut score is the number of correct answers you need; the pass rate is the share of candidates who pass. AACN's statistics page reports PCCN first-time pass rates of:

Roughly seven in ten first-time candidates passed in each of these years. That is a group statistic, not your personal odds: it mixes nurses with very different preparation and experience. Most of 2024 and all of 2025 fall under the current 150-item exam, and the 2023 figure under the earlier one. If you want a sense of where your own accuracy stands by category, you can see how planned PCCN prep that tracks your accuracy in each test plan category would report it.

When PCCN results arrive

From the PCCN handbook, the policy handbook and AACN's FAQ:

1. On screen, immediately. Your pass or fail result appears when you finish a computer-based exam.
2. Score report by email. AACN's documents differ on timing: the PCCN handbook says a detailed score report is emailed within 24 hours, the policy handbook's testing-center section says within 24 to 48 hours, and the PCCN FAQ says you receive it on completion. A practical approach is to allow up to 48 hours before contacting AACN.
3. Verification the next day. If you pass, your certification appears in AACN's online Certification Verification system the day after your exam, and you can have a verification letter emailed to an employer or state board.
4. Certificate. AACN mails a wall certificate about 4 to 6 weeks later, and you can print one sooner from your AACN dashboard.

Scores are not given by phone or fax, and neither PSI nor AACN releases them to an employer without your written consent, except in disciplinary or ethics cases. Paper-and-pencil exams, which AACN offers for groups of nurses testing together, are reported by mail 6 to 8 weeks after testing.

AACN describes a fixed 150-question exam, so there is no early stop or question count to read meaning into while you test. How difficult it felt tells you little, since you can't tell which questions were unscored.

What the PCCN score report tells you

The policy handbook says the report gives "the number of questions answered correctly" for each content area, "to identify areas of weakness." It also warns that because the exam covers every area, "you could achieve a high number of correct responses in some areas but not pass the exam."

Read each area's count against its approximate size. Eight correct means something different in Neurology (about 9 scored questions) than in Respiratory (about 17 to 18); the PCCN exam format guide estimates how many scored questions each category holds. If you did not pass, the PCCN retake guide shows how to turn those counts into a re-study plan.

Can a practice score predict your PCCN result?

No practice score converts into an AACN result. Passy's free PCCN questions are original, not AACN items, and 20 questions are far too few to estimate performance across 12 categories. Use practice to find which topics and question styles cost you points, then check whether those topics carry weight in the test plan. At launch, Weak Spot drills that target your lowest PCCN category are planned for exactly that.

If you believe a PCCN result is wrong

During the exam, use the COMMENT button to flag a question you think is flawed. After the exam, AACN's policy handbook allows a written appeal to certification@aacn.org within 45 days of receiving an adverse decision such as a score report. You must show convincing evidence that you were at a severe disadvantage before or during the exam and state the relief you want. An Appeals Panel of certified peer volunteers decides within 30 days, and its decision is final.

Next step: aim past 82 on the PCCN

Build margin where the points are: Cardiovascular, Multisystem, Respiratory and the 20% professional practice share. Start with the free PCCN practice questions to find your weakest category, then let the PCCN study plan guide and the PCCN exam page, which lists the cut score and planned full prep, help you plan the weeks before your date.