Nclex how is it graded

Need Help? Outside the U. View our International Programs. Candidates cannot reliably identify which items are easy and which are difficult with regard to the NCLEX scale. The candidate's sense of what is easy and what is difficult is relative to their ability. Because the examination is adaptive, both high and low ability candidates will think the items at the end of the exam are challenging. If a candidate fails with 60 items, does this mean they did very poorly?

Are candidates randomly selected to receive maximum length examinations? Items are administered following the principles of CAT. Candidates are NOT randomly selected to receive a designated number of examination items. CAT tailors test questions to your ability level and achieve faster, more accurate and fairer test results.

Passing the NCLEX demonstrates your competency and readiness to begin your carrier as a newly licensed entry level nurse. Understanding how CAT works will better prepare you for the testing experience. The goal of CAT is to identify each candidate's competency by determining the difficulty level of question a candidate can consistently answer correctly. Each question reveals more about the true competency level of the candidate. When you answer a question correctly you provide evidence that you could probably answer easier questions correctly.

For that reason the next question selected will be slightly more difficult, increasingly more difficult questions will be ask until you incorrectly answer a question. At that point the next question asked will be slightly less difficult, if that question is answered correctly then a slightly more difficult question will be asked next and so on throughout the remainder of your NCLEX exam. Everyone will miss some questions because questions are programmed to be increasingly difficult until a question is answered correctly.

Every time you answer a question on the NCLEX-RN exam, the CAT system will re-estimate your ability to test based on the previous answers and the level of difficulty of the questions that you have already answered. Thus, if you get a question right, it is likely that the next question will be slightly more difficult. If you get a question wrong, it is likely that the next question will be slightly more easy.