Your NCLEX Candidate Performance Report (CPR) is a starting point for choosing what to study after an unsuccessful attempt. Read each rating as feedback about an area of performance, then turn it into a small, checkable learning task. Do not add the ratings together or use them to calculate how many questions you were away from passing.
The useful question is: “What should I investigate and practice next?” This guide explains the report, then gives you a worksheet and a fictional example you can adapt without sharing your personal report.
What the NCLEX Candidate Performance Report tells you
Candidates who do not pass receive a CPR. It describes performance across test-plan content and clinical judgment areas. It is intended to help identify strengths and weaknesses; the NCLEX pass/fail decision comes from the examination as a whole, not separate section grades. If you answered fewer than the required minimum number of items, the abbreviated report does not provide the usual diagnostic detail. See the official CPR explanation.
Treat a broad category as a place to investigate. A rating cannot, by itself, tell you whether your difficulty came from unfamiliar content, misreading a task, or applying a concept incorrectly. You need fresh practice and a review of your reasoning to identify a useful next step.
What the three ratings mean
The report uses Below the Passing Standard, Near the Passing Standard, and Above the Passing Standard. Here is how to use them when organizing your review:
| Rating | Practical study response |
|---|---|
| Below | Start investigating this area. Pick one specific topic and check what you can explain or apply. |
| Near | Keep it in active review. Do not mark the area complete. |
| Above | Maintain it with periodic practice while addressing weaker areas. |
That order follows NCSBN's guidance for using a CPR: begin with weaker areas, move into those near the standard, and continue maintaining stronger ones. The table is a planning aid, not a formula for allocating study hours.
“Near” does not mean you passed that section. NCSBN's NCLEX FAQs explain that the performance estimate in that domain is not clearly on either side of the standard. There is no reason to translate that word into a percentage or an exact number of missed questions.
The official RN sample report also explains why all-near ratings can accompany an unsuccessful result: each could be near the standard on its lower side. Counting reassuring labels cannot reconstruct the overall decision.
Read both content and clinical judgment rows
Start with the report for your examination. RN and PN content labels are not identical: for example, the RN sample includes Management of Care, while the PN sample includes Coordinated Care. Both samples also show clinical judgment and its component skills.
For study planning, ask two different questions:
- Content: Which subject needs closer review?
- Reasoning: What part of working through a case needs practice?
Suppose you know a definition but struggle to explain why a piece of information matters in a case. Recopying the definition may not address the problem you observed. Try explaining the connection in your own words, then compare it with your course reference and the practice rationale.
Conversely, if you cannot explain a basic concept, begin there before attempting to reason through increasingly complicated cases. These are study suggestions, not diagnoses of why you failed.
Use the current official NCLEX test plan for your exam to unpack broad categories into content examples and nursing activities. The 2026 RN and PN plans apply from April 1, 2026, through March 31, 2029. Choose the plan applicable to your next examination rather than relying on a screenshot of an older blueprint.
A worksheet that turns one rating into a task
Make one entry at a time. You do not need a new spreadsheet or an elaborate schedule. Copy these five lines into a notebook:
- Report area and rating: Copy the exact wording from your own CPR.
- Specific topic to investigate: Choose one topic within that area using your test plan and course materials.
- What I can explain now: Write a short explanation without looking at notes. Leave uncertainties visible.
- Next learning task: Name the material to review and what you will do with it.
- Evidence to revisit: Record a later practice task that will help you see whether the same confusion persists.
Keep the fourth line concrete. “Study more pharmacology” is difficult to finish. “Compare two medication classes in my assigned reference, explain their differences, and review a small related practice set” gives you an observable task. Avoid copying unverified medication facts into your plan.
Fictional example: from a broad rating to a useful question
Imagine an RN candidate whose report places medication-related content in Below and analysis of case information in Near. This is an invented planning example, not an official question or a real student's record.
The student chooses one medication class already covered in their course. During a practice case, they can name the class but cannot explain why two details in the scenario change their reasoning.
Their next task becomes:
Revisit the assigned reference for this class. Write what information I would need to interpret a practice scenario. Work through a new educational case and explain which details matter before reading the rationale.
At the next review, they ask whether they can explain those connections without copying the answer. If not, they bring the exact conceptual question to an instructor or tutor. The goal is to find and address a learning gap; one successful case does not establish exam readiness.
What to do if every area looks similar
If most ratings are Near, avoid trying to rank them by an imaginary hidden score. Begin with a small mixed practice set and inspect your explanations. Choose one recurring uncertainty as your first task, then revisit other areas as you gather more evidence.
If many ratings are Below, make the first task smaller rather than building a punishing daily quota. A course instructor can help you break broad content into manageable prerequisites. Keep stronger areas in the rotation, too.
For question-by-question follow-through, use GoodNurse's practice-question error log. The CPR helps choose a starting area; the log records what happens during new practice. They serve different purposes.
Use a tutor to clarify a concept, not predict your result
You can bring a focused learning question to the GoodNurse AI tutor, such as:
Help me study one concept from my nursing course. Ask me to explain it first, then help identify gaps in my explanation. Use an original educational example, and distinguish any uncertain information that I should verify in my course reference.
You do not need to upload your CPR or include your name, candidate number, birth date, or recalled exam questions. Check clinical explanations against authoritative course materials and ask an instructor about unresolved conflicts. An AI response or a practice score is not an official NCLEX readiness decision.
Finish your first review with one clear task and one way to check it later. That is enough to make the report useful without asking it to predict your next result.
AI-assistance note: This article was written with AI assistance and checked against the linked sources in an automated editorial review. The cover image is AI-generated. No human or clinical review is claimed.
