Here is the most useful thing anyone can tell you about NAB exam logistics: exam length, question counts, timing, break rules, ID requirements, and testing-center policies are set by NAB and its testing vendor, and they change. Your NAB Candidate Handbook and your ATT (Authorization to Test) are the final word on every logistical fact. This page tells you how the exams are structured, how to build a pacing plan around the numbers in your handbook, and exactly what to verify before test day.
Licensure as a nursing home administrator runs through two NAB exams. The Core of Knowledge Exam tests foundational knowledge applicable across all lines of long-term care and is required for all candidates except those who completed the NHA or RC/AL exam before July 1, 2017. The NHA Line of Service Exam uses the same 4-domain outline but tests only the first 3 domains, with nursing-home-specific weighting and scenarios. You must pass both. Some states also require additional state-specific exams or licensing steps; check with your state licensing board.
Both exams are built on the same 4 domains: Care, Services, and Supports; Operations; Environment and Quality; and Leadership and Strategy. In the September 2026 handbook, Leadership and Strategy carries 0% of the NHA exam, so the NHA exam tests the first three. We break down what each one covers in The Core Domains Explained.
Both exams are computer-based, multiple choice with four answer options, and delivered at a Pearson VUE testing center. The Core of Knowledge Exam has 125 questions, of which 100 are scored and 25 are unscored pretest items, with 2 hours 30 minutes to complete it. The NHA Line of Service Exam has 75 questions (60 scored, 15 unscored pretest) in 1 hour 30 minutes. The pretest items are not marked, so treat every question as real. You can move forward and backward through the exam and leave a question unanswered to return to it later. Using that well is the difference between one bad stretch and a bad exam.
The figures above reflect the September 2026 edition of the NAB Candidate Handbook. NAB and Pearson VUE update these on their own schedule, and the handbook edition in force when you sit is the final word. One timing nuance from the handbook itself: the total time includes reading the welcome message and non-disclosure agreement and answering post-exam questions, so you have 2 hours 10 minutes to answer questions on the Core exam and 1 hour 10 minutes on the NHA exam.
Your answering time works out to about 62 seconds per question on the Core exam (130 minutes for 125 questions) and about 56 seconds per question on the NHA exam (70 minutes for 75 questions). That sounds tight until you remember two things. Many questions take less time than that, and there is no penalty for guessing, so an answered best-guess on a hard question costs you nothing and banks the possibility of a point.
Plan a first pass at roughly 55 seconds per question: answer what you know, select a best guess on the rest, and note those question numbers on your noteboard before moving on. That pace finishes the first pass in about 115 minutes, leaving about 15 minutes of your 130 answering minutes for a second pass through the questions you noted.
Never leave a question blank. There is no guessing penalty, so an answered guess can only get better on review; a blank one is a point thrown away if time runs out.
Check yourself at the quarter marks: a quarter of the way through the questions, you should have roughly three quarters of your time left. The same check works on the NHA Line of Service exam, but its budget is tighter: about 56 seconds per question, so a first pass at 50 seconds leaves only about 7 minutes of your 70 answering minutes for review.
Once your application is approved, you receive an ATT (Authorization to Test) email. You then schedule with Pearson VUE, and you must schedule and complete the exam within 90 days of that email. From there, the logistics are a checklist, not a mystery:
You leave the testing center with a preliminary score report in hand, marked pass or fail, and scores are reported to your state licensing board. The score report's domain-level breakdown is the single most useful study document you will ever get: if you need a second attempt, it tells you exactly where the points went missing.
Scoring is scaled, not a raw percentage. Your raw score is converted through a statistical equating process to a scale running from 50 to 150, and NAB designates a scaled score of 113 as passing for the state boards on all Core and Line of Service exams. There is no penalty for guessing, so answer everything. The practical implication for study: build a margin above the passing standard in practice, and stop asking "what percent do I need?" The honest answer is "enough that the question stops mattering."
If one exam does not go your way, you retake only the failed exam unless your state says otherwise. The process is a new exam application, with its fees, to the same state board, NAB, or certification body that handled your original application, followed by a new Authorization to Test and a new 90-day window to schedule. NAB caps attempts at four per exam cycle (July 1 to June 30) for the Core and NHA exams, effective January 1, 2026, and your state's policy may allow fewer.
The passing scaled score, retake rules, and attempt limits above come from the September 2026 handbook edition and can change between editions. Each state board also retains authority over its own licensure requirements. Confirm against the current handbook and your state board rather than relying on secondhand accounts, including this page.
No study product can promise you a passing score, including this one. What disciplined preparation does control is whether the score you earn reflects everything you actually know: steady daily reps across every domain, calculation methods you can produce under time pressure, and a pacing plan you have already rehearsed. The exam-day screen should look exactly like the thousands of practice questions that came before it.
A guided daily path of 100 NAB-style questions across all 4 domains, automatic weak-spot training, and a weekly timed Checkpoint Exam that rehearses exam conditions before the day that counts.
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