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. The NHA Line of Service Exam covers the same 4 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 draw from the same 4 domains: Care Services and Supports, Operations, Environment and Quality, and Leadership and Strategy. 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. The interface gives you a flag button so you can mark questions and return to them on review, which matters more to your outcome than any single content fact: it is the difference between one bad stretch and a bad exam.
The figures above reflect the November 2025 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 your effective question time is slightly under the full clock.
Both exams give you the same time budget: 72 seconds per question. That sounds tight until you remember two things. Most questions take far less than 72 seconds, 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, flag what you do not, and select a best guess on every flag before moving on. That pace finishes the first pass in under two hours with roughly half an hour in reserve for a second pass through the flags, and a final five minutes to close out.
Never leave a flagged question blank. There is no guessing penalty, so an answered flag 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 arithmetic scales to the Line of Service exam, which is shorter but runs on the identical 72-second budget.
When you register, you receive an ATT (Authorization to Test) with your date, start time, and testing-center address. 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 reapplication through NAB: 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 November 2025 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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