- The Official Number: 65% and What It Covers
- How to Read a Single-Year Cohort Statistic
- Why "Pass" Is Not a 70% Raw Score
- Pass-Rate Claims You Should Treat Cautiously
- Where the Blueprint Concentrates Risk
- The Eligibility Filter Behind the Numbers
- Turning the Data Into a Domain-Weighted Plan
- Retake Rules and the Cost of Missing
- Legacy RN-BC Label vs. NI-BC Today
- Frequently Asked Questions
- ANCC's 2025 first-time pass rate for informatics nursing was 65%: 229 passes among 352 first-time candidates.
- Passing requires a scaled score of at least 350 out of 500, not a raw 70%.
- The exam has 150 questions, but only 125 are scored; 25 are unscored pretest items.
- Foundations of Practice is the largest domain at 36%, so it deserves the most study time.
The Official Number: 65% and What It Covers
If you are searching for the Informatics Nursing Certification pass rate, start with the only figure that comes straight from the certifying body. According to the 2025 ANCC Certification Data, 229 of 352 first-time candidates passed, a 65% first-time pass rate. The same dataset records 3,536 total certificants as of December 31, 2025.
That 65% describes one specific group: people who sat for the Informatics Nursing Board Certification Examination for the first time during 2025. It does not include repeat test-takers, and it does not describe the lifetime outcomes of everyone who has ever attempted the exam. For a broader look at how this number fits alongside difficulty, scoring, and preparation, see our companion article on how hard the RN-BC exam really is.
How to Read a Single-Year Cohort Statistic
A pass rate is a descriptive statistic about a past group, not a forecast of your personal result. Several features of the 2025 figure are worth understanding before you decide how nervous to be.
The sample is small
With 352 first-time candidates, the informatics exam is a niche certification compared with large nursing specialties. In a cohort this size, a handful of additional passes or failures shifts the percentage noticeably. Treat the 65% as a reasonable anchor, and expect it to move from year to year rather than treating it as a fixed constant.
The cohort is self-selected
Nobody stumbles into this exam. Candidates must already hold a bachelor's or higher nursing degree, two years of full-time-equivalent RN practice, 30 informatics nursing CE hours, and documented informatics practice or graduate education. The people sitting for the test have therefore cleared several gates. A 65% first-time pass rate among a group that already qualifies tells you the exam is genuinely demanding even for experienced, credentialed nurses.
It is not your individual probability
Your odds depend on your informatics practice background, how closely you study to the current test content outline, and how you handle three hours of scenario-based multiple-choice questions. A nurse who has led EHR optimization projects and studied the blueprint faces a very different situation from one who has only brushed against informatics workflows.
Key Takeaway
Use 65% as proof that preparation matters, not as a prediction. Roughly one in three first-time candidates in 2025 did not pass, and they all met the same eligibility requirements you do. Our RN-BC study guide shows how to close that gap.
Why "Pass" Is Not a 70% Raw Score
Many candidates assume that passing means answering 70% of questions correctly. That is not how ANCC scores this exam. Passing requires a scaled score of at least 350 on a scale with a maximum of 500. Scaled scoring converts your performance to a common scale so that results remain comparable across different exam forms, which may vary slightly in difficulty. Because of this, a scaled 350 should not be read as "70% of 500" or as a fixed number of correct answers. For a fuller explanation, read our breakdown of the RN-BC passing score.
The 150-question structure
The exam contains 150 questions, but only 125 are scored. The other 25 are pretest items that ANCC is evaluating for future use. They are indistinguishable from scored questions, so you cannot identify and skip them. Treat every question as if it counts.
| Exam Feature | Current Specification |
|---|---|
| Total questions | 150 (125 scored + 25 unscored pretest) |
| Format | Multiple-choice, computer-based |
| Testing time | 3 hours (breaks consume testing time) |
| Delivery | Prometric test centers |
| Passing standard | Scaled score of 350 or higher (max 500) |
| Guessing penalty | None; questions can be marked for review |
| Allowed materials | Closed book; no personal calculators or outside resources |
If you have seen older descriptions of this exam as having 175 questions and 3.5 hours, those are outdated. The current test content outline, effective May 3, 2023 and updated August 29, 2025, supports the 150-question, three-hour structure above.
Pass-Rate Claims You Should Treat Cautiously
A quick search turns up a range of pass-rate numbers, and not all of them deserve equal trust. Some practice-test vendors publish estimated pass rates of 85% to 90% for the informatics exam. Those figures are not the official ANCC result. They are not tied to a published cohort count, and they cannot be reconciled with the verified 2025 outcome of 229 passes out of 352 first-time candidates.
The same caution applies to any pass rate that does not name its source, year, and denominator. A trustworthy figure tells you who was counted, in what period, and where the data came from. When a number lacks those details, set it aside and rely on the official ANCC data.
Where the Blueprint Concentrates Risk
The pass rate tells you how many candidates succeed; the blueprint tells you where the points are. The exam objectives come from ANCC's Informatics Nursing Board Certification Examination Test Content Outline. Its three domains carry the following weights, and the scored-item counts show how many of the 125 scored questions each area contributes.
| Domain | Weight | Scored Items |
|---|---|---|
| Foundations of Practice | 36% | 45 |
| System Design Lifecycle | 35% | 44 |
| Data Management and Healthcare Technology | 29% | 36 |
Notice how evenly the exam is distributed. No single domain lets you coast. Foundations of Practice is the largest at 36%, but System Design Lifecycle is only one point behind. A candidate who is strong in project and system work but weak on foundational practice concepts still has to answer 45 scored questions in that domain. Our complete guide to the three RN-BC content areas walks through each one in depth.
Foundations of Practice (36%)
The largest domain, covering the professional and conceptual base of informatics nursing practice.
- 45 of the 125 scored items come from here
- Expect scenario questions about the informatics nurse's role and responsibilities
- The outline's examples are illustrative, not exhaustive, and do not signal relative importance
System Design Lifecycle (35%)
The work of planning, building, implementing, and evaluating clinical information systems.
- 44 scored items, nearly as many as Foundations of Practice
- Rewards candidates with hands-on project, implementation, or optimization experience
- Questions often ask what the informatics nurse should do next in a given project situation
Data Management and Healthcare Technology (29%)
The smallest domain, but still 36 scored items and nearly a third of your score.
- Covers how health data is managed alongside the technologies that generate and use it
- Candidates from non-technical backgrounds often find this the least intuitive area
- Do not skip it because it is the smallest; 36 questions can decide a close result
The Eligibility Filter Behind the Numbers
Because the pass rate reflects only candidates who already qualified, it helps to understand what qualifying involves. Eligibility requires a current active U.S. RN license (or a legally recognized international equivalent), a bachelor's or higher nursing degree, two years of full-time-equivalent RN practice, and 30 informatics nursing CE hours within the previous three years. On top of that, you must satisfy one of three routes:
- 2,000 informatics nursing practice hours within three years.
- 1,000 informatics nursing practice hours within three years, plus 12 semester credits in informatics courses within a graduate-level informatics nursing program.
- Completion of an informatics nursing graduate program that includes at least 200 faculty-supervised informatics practicum hours.
The route you take can influence how you experience the exam. Nurses qualifying through 2,000 practice hours tend to arrive with deep applied experience and may need to shore up formal terminology and framework knowledge. Graduate-program completers often have the opposite profile. Review the full details in our RN-BC requirements guide, and check our exam dates and scheduling article for how the application window works.
Turning the Data Into a Domain-Weighted Plan
With a 65% first-time pass rate and a blueprint that spreads points across three domains, the sensible strategy is to match your study time to both the weights and your own gaps. Here is one way to sequence a six-week plan around the actual domains. Adjust the pacing to your schedule and background.
Foundations of Practice first
- Start here because it is the heaviest domain at 36% and underpins the other two
- Review the official test content outline line by line and mark each objective as strong, shaky, or unfamiliar
- Build a short glossary of informatics nursing terms you hesitate on
System Design Lifecycle
- Work through the phases of a system project and practice answering "what happens next" scenarios
- Connect each concept to a real project you have seen at your own facility
- Do mixed practice sets to check that you can separate lifecycle stages under time pressure
Data Management and Healthcare Technology
- Spend extra time here if your background is clinical rather than technical
- Focus on understanding concepts well enough to apply them, not just recognizing vocabulary
Timed integration
- Take at least one full-length timed practice run to rehearse the three-hour pace
- Remember there is no guessing penalty, so never leave an answer blank
- Use the mark-for-review feature, but remember breaks consume your testing time
For a printable recap of the facts above, our one-page RN-BC cheat sheet is a handy companion, and you can test yourself with realistic questions on the main practice test site.
Retake Rules and the Cost of Missing
Understanding what happens after an unsuccessful attempt makes the pass-rate statistic less intimidating. Under the ANCC Certification Handbook, a retest requires at least 60 calendar days between attempts, with no more than three attempts in any 12-month period. Applications are accepted year-round, and once approved you receive an Eligibility ID by email and have a 120-day authorization window to schedule and sit for the exam through Prometric.
Fees add real stakes. Initial certification costs USD 395 for nonmembers, USD 295 for ANA members, and USD 340 for ANIA members, and each includes a USD 140 nonrefundable administrative fee. That makes thorough preparation a financial decision as well as a professional one. Our full cost article covers renewal pricing too.
Legacy RN-BC Label vs. NI-BC Today
You may notice that official ANCC materials use the NI-BC designation while this site and many job postings still say RN-BC. Both point to the same Informatics Nursing certification administered by ANCC, part of the ANA Enterprise. The certification lasts five years, and renewal typically requires 75 specialty-related CE contact hours plus completion of one additional professional-development category. For applications submitted on or after February 1, 2027, ANCC has announced an updated renewal framework, so check the current ANCC renewal pages before you plan your hours.
If the naming is new to you, our explainers on what RN-BC certification is and what RN-BC stands for give the background, and our RN-BC jobs overview shows where the credential tends to matter to employers.
Key Takeaway
The most defensible way to talk about this exam's difficulty is to cite the verified figure: a 65% first-time pass rate for 2025 (229 of 352). Pair that with the 350-of-500 scaled passing standard and the three-domain blueprint, and you have an accurate picture of what you are preparing for.
Frequently Asked Questions
ANCC's 2025 data reports a 65% first-time pass rate: 229 passes among 352 first-time candidates. This is a cohort statistic for that year, not a guarantee or a lifetime average.
No. Passing requires a scaled score of at least 350 on a scale with a maximum of 500. The scaled score is not a simple raw percentage, so there is no fixed number of correct answers that guarantees a pass.
The exam has 150 questions, but only 125 are scored. The other 25 are unscored pretest items that look identical to scored ones, so you should answer every question carefully.
You must wait at least 60 calendar days before retesting, and you may not attempt the exam more than three times in any 12-month period, per the ANCC Certification Handbook.
Foundations of Practice carries the most weight at 36% (45 scored items), followed closely by System Design Lifecycle at 35% (44 items). Data Management and Healthcare Technology is 29% (36 items). Weight your time by both domain size and your personal weak spots, and avoid ignoring any one domain.