All Nursing Exams

What changed: nursing exam fees, rules and dates

A dated log of nursing exam and licensing changes. Next: the NCLEX fee rises to US$350 (CA$570 in Canada) on February 1, 2027.

Checked November 10, 2026

Short answer: The next change that affects every NCLEX candidate is the registration fee, which rises from US$200 to US$350 in the United States and Australia and from CA$360 to CA$570 in Canada on February 1, 2027. This page logs each exam, fee and licensing change in date order, with the regulator's own notice beside it.

Coming up

Takes effect What changes Who it affects Regulator notice
December 1, 2026 Nova Scotia: licence applicants must be Canadian citizens or legally entitled to work in Canada, and new applicants sign a Declaration of Work Entitlement in Canada Form Applicants to the Nova Scotia regulator, including internationally educated nurses NSNMR, September 1, 2026
January 1, 2027 British Columbia: the Canadian Nurse Practitioner Licensure Examination (CNPLE) becomes the only nurse practitioner exam BCCNM accepts for initial applicants. The first sitting is February 2027 Nurse practitioner applicants in British Columbia, including those educated outside Canada BCCNM, September 18, 2026
February 1, 2027 NCLEX registration fee: US$350 in the United States and Australia, CA$570 in Canada Every NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN candidate, including retakes NCSBN, August 21, 2026
March 1, 2027 Ontario: changes to the Scope of Practice and Medication practice standards All Ontario nurses, most of all those in aesthetic services CNO, November 6, 2026
July 1, 2027 Florida: RN and LPN applicants by examination who apply on or after this date must complete a two-hour human trafficking course before the licensure exam New applicants to the Florida Board of Nursing Florida Board of Nursing

The NCLEX fee change, in detail

NCSBN announced the change on August 21, 2026, after a vote at its Annual Meeting.

  • The date that counts is the day you finish registering, not your exam date. If you complete your registration before February 1, 2027, you pay the current fee.
  • If you register on or after February 1, 2027, you pay the new fee. This includes retakes.
  • The current fee is US$200 in the United States and Australia and CA$360 in Canada.
  • The international scheduling fee and the change fees do not change.

The full cost picture is in How much does the NCLEX cost?.

Already in effect

In effect since What changed Who it affects Regulator notice
September 1, 2026 British Columbia: for supervised practice, the recent practice window for RNs changed from 10 years to 5 years Applicants who need supervised practice in British Columbia BCCNM, July 28, 2026
July 17, 2026 Australia: revised Criminal history registration standard Everyone applying for registration in Australia Ahpra, July 17, 2026
July 1, 2026 Ontario: one nurse practitioner classification replaces the three older certificates, and the CNPLE is the nurse practitioner registration exam Nurse practitioner applicants in Ontario CNO, December 17, 2025
April 1, 2026 New NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN test plans, in effect through March 31, 2029 Every NCLEX candidate NCSBN test plans
April 1, 2026 British Columbia: the non-practising class of registration for nurses ended Nurses in British Columbia who kept registration without practising BCCNM, December 2, 2025
January 1, 2026 Ontario: nurses registered in another Canadian province or territory are registered with CNO in two business days through automatic recognition Canadian nurses moving to Ontario CNO, January 2, 2026

What did not change

Students often ask about these, so we state them plainly.

  • The NCLEX passing standard. It is the same as before: 0.00 logits for the NCLEX-RN and -0.18 logits for the NCLEX-PN. See How is the NCLEX scored?.
  • The Nurse Licensure Compact. NCSBN reported 43 member jurisdictions on November 9, 2026. NCSBN announced no new compact state in the last 12 months.

What to do next

  1. If you plan to take the NCLEX in 2027, check whether you can complete your registration before February 1, 2027.
  2. If you are a nurse practitioner applying in Ontario or British Columbia, confirm with the regulator which exam it accepts on your application date.
  3. Read this week's notices in This week from the regulators.

Common questions

Does the new NCLEX fee apply if my exam is after February 1, 2027?

It depends on when you complete your registration, not on your exam date. NCSBN says that people who complete registration before February 1, 2027 pay the current fee.

Did the NCLEX get harder in 2026?

The passing standard did not change. New test plans took effect on April 1, 2026 and run through March 31, 2029.

How often is this page updated?

We read the regulators' news pages once a week. A change to a fee, an exam or an applicant rule is added here on the day we confirm it on the regulator's own site.

Sources