CCRN Passing Score, Pass Rate, and How Hard it Really Is

Are you getting ready to take the Adult CCRN exam? If you’re hoping to get your hands on all of the information possible about the exam, then knowing the CCRN passing score, the CCRN pass rate, and what to expect in terms of exam difficulty can be a big deal for your mental health. So how many questions does it take to pass the CCRN? We break it down below. 

When you’re done learning these logistics, make sure to familiarize yourself with the CCRN Certification Requirements and read about How I Passed My CCRN Exam On The First Attempt.

What is the CCRN passing score?

If you’re not already familiar with the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (also known as the AACN), now is an excellent time to get reaaaalll friendly with their website. The AACN is the ultimate know-it-all when it comes to the CCRN, and one of the best resources I’ve found is this list of Certification Exam Statistics and Cut Scores. If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you’ll see that while the CCRN contains 150 questions, only 125 of those questions are actually scored. You must get 83 out of 125 (scored) questions correct to pass the exam. 

The AACN also makes the important distinction that

The cut score (also known as the passing score) is the number of scored questions that must be answered correctly on an exam to achieve certification. The passing score is not a percentage but a raw number.

While this number may sound high, keep in mind that this exam is quite different from the NCLEX exam.

• The exam is NOT adaptive, meaning it does not give you questions with varying degrees of difficulty depending on how you are doing. It is only ever 150 questions – no more, no less.
• You are able to move back and forth from one question to the other as you take the exam.
• You can flag questions for review as often as you want.
• You have three (3) hours to complete the exam. (If you recall, the NCLEX gives you five hours to take the exam, which is daunting in itself)!

CCRN Pass rate

Like we said earlier, the AACN rocks when it comes to information about the CCRN. According to their extremely helpful website, the first-time pass rates for the ADULT CCRN exam for the past few years look like this:

• 2022: 81.36% (4,517 out of 14,304 candidates failed the exam the first time)
• 2021: 71.5% (4,259 out of 13,907 candidates failed the exam the first time)
• 2020: 78.5% (3,270 out of 12,381 candidates failed the exam the first time)

So how does this information help you? Why is it good to know the CCRN passing score and the CCRN pass rate? Well, there are a few very important reasons:

1. It reminds you that you don’t have to get all the questions right. Prepare, prepare, and prepare some more and you will be just fine.
2. It shows you that the majority of candidates who take the exam pass it on the first try. So the odds are in your favor!
3. The AACN only lists the first time pass rate. This is important! Just because you don’t pass it on the first try, it does not mean you won’t pass it on your second. You are also provided with a detailed score report after taking the exam, which is extremely helpful when it comes to knowing what you need to focus on before attempting the exam again.

Is the CCRN exam hard?

The short answer is: Yes, the CCRN exam is hard. But keep in mind that the NCLEX exam was also pretty hard, and you obviously passed that just fine or you wouldn’t be thinking about getting your CCRN certification.

The CCRN exam is hard because the material is hard. The level of critical thinking that this exam requires is extremely difficult. I found that the exam rarely asked straightforward questions about content, but rather was heavily situational. For example, instead of asking you what it means to have DKA, you might be given a scenario involving a patient whose clinical picture shows that they have DKA. You would then have to determine that it is indeed DKA, what lab values and diagnostic studies set it apart from other conditions, and then anticipate what interventions you would perform for your DKA patient. While this might sound scary, complicated, or daunting to have to do 150 times, this exam is definitely feasible. The only way to combat the anxiety that comes with taking a difficult test is to prepare, prepare, prepare.

One thing I will note is that in many ways, this exam was much more straightforward than the NCLEX exam. I found that it truly tested your knowledge, and was more about how to answer based on the content as opposed to how to take a standardized test. While I still felt that “what just happened” haze after finishing the exam, I also appreciated that I immediately found out if I passed or failed and didn’t have to resort to stressful things like The Pearson Vue NCLEX Trick.  The overall experience was honestly much more relaxing than passing the NCLEX.

It’s important to remind yourself that you are also taking this exam as an extra certification. Your license, your job, and your career do not depend on you passing this exam for the first time. You’re just taking it because you’re smart! So try not to stress yourself out too much.

If you still have more questions, you can always check out Frequently Asked Questions About CCRN Certification. Good luck on your CCRN exam! I’m confident that you will be one of the passing statistics on the AACN’s CCRN exam passing rate list.