Failed the CNA Exam? Most People Pass the Second Time

Failing the CNA exam is more common than most people realize. National first-attempt pass rates for the written exam hover around 75–80%, which means roughly 1 in 4 candidates does not pass on their first try. For the clinical skills test, pass rates are often lower — closer to 65–70% in many states. You are not alone, and this is not the end. The exam can be retaken, and the vast majority of people who fail once go on to pass the second time — especially when they know exactly what went wrong and how to fix it.

When you fail the NNAAP written exam, your score report breaks down your performance by content area. This is critical information — do not ignore it. The six content areas are: • Physical Care Skills (45% of exam) • Safety & Emergency Procedures (14%) • Infection Control (14%) • Resident Rights (11%) • Psychosocial Care Skills (8%) • Role of the Nurse Aide (8%) Your score report shows your performance in each category. If you failed by a small margin and scored well across most areas, you likely have one or two weak topics dragging you down. If you scored below average across the board, your study approach needs to change — not just your study time. For the clinical skills test, your evaluator's checklist will show exactly which steps you missed. Review it carefully. Missing a required step (like handwashing at the start or end of a skill) can fail an otherwise correct demonstration.

Retake policies vary by state, but most follow the same general framework: • You can retake the exam up to 3 times total within 24 months of completing your training program. After 3 failed attempts or 24 months, most states require you to complete a new CNA training program before testing again. • There is typically a waiting period between attempts — usually a few days to a few weeks depending on your state and testing provider. • If you failed only one part (written or skills), many states allow you to retake just the failed portion — you do not need to redo the part you passed. Confirm this with your state's nurse aide registry. Here are the main testing providers by state: • Prometric administers the exam in Texas, Florida, New York, and many others. Visit prometric.com to schedule a retake. • Credentia administers the exam in North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, California, and others. Visit credentia.com to schedule. • HDmaster (D&S Diversified Technologies) administers the exam in Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, and others. Visit hdmaster.com to schedule. • Some states use specialized vendors — for example, Illinois uses SIUC/nurseaidetesting.com, New Hampshire and Vermont use Excel Testing. • Check your state's Department of Health or nurse aide registry website to confirm your testing vendor. Contact your testing provider directly after receiving your score report. They will tell you the earliest date you can schedule your next attempt.

Candidates who fail once and study the same way almost always fail again. Here is what changes the outcome: **1. Study from your score report, not from scratch.** Do not re-read every chapter of your textbook. Go directly to the topics where you scored weakest and drill those specifically. If Physical Care Skills was your lowest area, spend 80% of your study time there. **2. Use practice tests the right way.** Taking practice questions and checking answers is not enough. For every question — right or wrong — read the explanation and understand why that answer is correct. The real exam will rephrase questions. You need to understand concepts, not memorize answers. **3. Simulate real exam conditions.** Sit down and take a full 70-question timed practice test in one sitting. 2 hours, no breaks, no looking things up. This builds the mental stamina the real exam requires and exposes whether pacing is an issue for you. **4. Aim for 80% on practice tests before you sit again.** The passing score is 70%, but you want a buffer. If you are scoring 72–74% on practice tests, a bad day can fail you. Get to 80% consistently before scheduling your retake. **5. For the skills test: practice the full skill, not just the steps.** Most candidates who fail the clinical skills test know the steps — they lose points on the framing (not announcing what they are about to do, forgetting hand hygiene between tasks, or not maintaining privacy throughout). Practice out loud, start to finish, as if an evaluator is watching.

The minimum waiting period is set by your state and testing provider — usually a few days. But waiting the minimum is not always the right move. A good rule of thumb: reschedule when you are consistently scoring 80% or higher on full-length practice tests — not before. Rushing back too soon without changing your preparation is the most common reason candidates fail a second time. For most people, 2–3 weeks of focused preparation is enough to significantly improve a failed attempt. If you failed by a wide margin or struggled across multiple topic areas, give yourself 4 weeks. For the skills test specifically, practice every day until the steps feel automatic. Physical repetition — actually going through the motions of handwashing, transfers, vital sign measurement — beats reading about them every time.

You do not need to buy anything to prepare for your CNA retake. CertPrepAcademy.com offers a free 70-question NNAAP practice test with 501 total questions spanning all six content areas. Every question includes a detailed explanation so you understand why each answer is correct — not just which one to pick. You can also filter by topic to focus your study time on the areas where you scored lowest. No account required, no paywall on the core content. Additionally, your state's testing provider (Prometric, Credentia, HDmaster, or other vendor) publishes a free candidate handbook that lists every possible clinical skill and the exact steps evaluators use to score them. Download it and practice from the actual checklist. You have already done the hard part — completing a CNA training program and sitting for the exam. You know more than you did on test day. With targeted preparation, the second attempt is yours.

Most states allow candidates to attempt the CNA exam up to 3 times total within a 24-month window from the completion of their training program. After 3 failed attempts or after 24 months, most states require candidates to complete a new approved CNA training program before they are eligible to test again. There are exceptions — a few states allow more attempts or have different windows — so always confirm with your state's nurse aide registry. Your testing provider (Prometric, Credentia, HDmaster) can also tell you how many attempts remain on your account.

The minimum waiting period between attempts is set by your state and testing vendor, and it varies. Most testing vendors impose a wait of at least a few days to a few weeks between attempts. Some states have no mandatory waiting period beyond scheduling availability. The more important question is: how long should you wait? The answer is until you are consistently scoring 80% or higher on full-length practice tests. Candidates who retake the exam before reaching that benchmark are very likely to fail again. Most people need 2–4 weeks of focused study to meaningfully improve from a first failed attempt.

If you exhaust all of your attempts (usually 3) or your 24-month testing window expires, most states require you to re-enroll in and complete an approved CNA training program before you can test again. This typically means completing the full training hours (which range from 75 to 175+ hours depending on the state), not just a refresher. This is why it is critical to prepare thoroughly before each retake rather than sitting again prematurely. If you believe your attempts were exhausted due to circumstances outside your control — such as a testing center error — contact your state's nurse aide registry to discuss your options.

No — in most states, if you fail one part (written exam or clinical skills test) but pass the other, you only need to retake the part you failed. You do not forfeit your passing score on the part you passed, provided you retake the failed portion within the allowed timeframe. However, this varies by state and is subject to your remaining attempt window. Some states require you to pass both parts within the same testing eligibility period. Confirm with your state's nurse aide registry or testing vendor before scheduling a partial retake.

Yes — retake attempts require payment of the standard exam fee, which typically ranges from $90 to $150 depending on your state and testing vendor. If you failed only one part (written or skills), some vendors charge a reduced fee for partial retakes. Check with your testing provider (Prometric, Credentia, HDmaster, or your state's vendor) for the current retake fee schedule before scheduling.

Yes. After failing the NNAAP written exam, you receive a score report that shows your performance broken down by content area: Physical Care Skills, Safety & Emergency Procedures, Infection Control, Resident Rights, Psychosocial Care Skills, and Role of the Nurse Aide. This report is one of the most valuable tools for your retake preparation — it shows exactly which topics pulled your score down. For the clinical skills test, your evaluator's checklist shows which required steps were marked incomplete or incorrect.

Infection Control and Safety & Emergency Procedures are typically the fastest topics to improve because they are highly concrete and rule-based. The PPE donning/doffing order, the RACE fire protocol, the Heimlich maneuver steps, isolation precaution types — these can be memorized accurately with focused review in a few hours. If your score report shows weakness in either of these areas, they are the best place to start because a 2-hour study session can produce immediate, measurable score gains.

You are ready to retake the CNA exam when you are consistently scoring 80% or higher on full-length (70-question) practice tests under timed conditions. Do not schedule your retake based on how long you have studied or how confident you feel — use your practice test scores as the objective benchmark. If you are scoring 72–74%, you are close but not buffered enough. A stressful test day, unfamiliar question phrasing, or a few topics you under-studied can pull you back below 70%. Hit 80% consistently first.