The NCLEX is a standard requirement for aspiring nurses and licensed practical nurses who want to join the medical field industry. After completing your nursing school, the NCLEX is the last hurdle to jump before you can receive your nursing license and begin practicing. However, passing the NCLEX is not an easy task and even an exemplary student may fail the test. One of the most critical steps to successfully pass your NCLEX is to find an NCLEX review course that fits your learning method and schedule!
What’s on the NCLEX-RN Exam?
The NCLEX is a comprehensive exam that’s designed to measure your competency and can last up to six hours. After going through a minimum of 75 to 85 questions, the exam may prompt you to answer additional questions to better gauge your subject knowledge. The ultimate goal is not only to pass the NCLEX, but to avoid having to answer additional questions by first demonstrating your competency after the first stage.
Benefits of Signing Up for The Top NCLEX Review Courses 2023
Efficient and effective studying
The best NCLEX review course offers an effective method for students to study through easy-to-understand concepts and materials.
Identify strengths and weaknesses
The best NCLEX review course helps you quickly identify your strengths and weaknesses in the test subject. This allows you to focus on your weaknesses as you prepare for the actual exam.
Create practice exams and test simulations
Many best NCLEX review courses come equipped with actual test simulations to help you familiarize yourself with the NCLEX examination. This not only helps you gain sufficient test taking strategies but also eases any potential anxiety on the actual day.
What to Consider when Choosing the Best Prep Courses?
There are many different NCLEX prep companies available and picking the right NCLEX prep courses may not be as straightforward. Here are a few factors to look into when choosing the right NCLEX prep course:
Study Discipline
Do you have good self-discipline and motivation to study? If you need help studying, then an NCLEX course is a great solution to keep you on track to pass the NCLEX with good study materials, testing strategies, and computer adaptive tests.
Learning Method
Everyone has different learning methods that work best for them. Some may prefer to learn through reading while others find visuals more effective. Your individual learning style is an important factor to look into as different courses may provide different teaching methods.
Budget
There are different courses available with different price tags. Some courses can be quite expensive and they should be viewed as an investment in your future. Nonetheless, you ought to pick the best course that fits your budget.
Best NCLEX Review Courses
BoardVitals NCLEX Review
When it comes to NCLEX prep courses, BoardVitals has got to be a top choice since the establishment specializes in creating study resources and question banks for medical students, physicians, nurses, and other professionals in the healthcare industry. BoardVitals offers one of the best peer-reviewed question banks for the NCLEX exam with 2,800 NCLEX-RN questions and 900 NCLEX-PN questions written and reviewed by nurses and educators.
On top of that, BoardVitals even takes great steps to keep their questions updated to be representative of what you can expect in the most current NCLEX-RN exam. The NCLEX-RN exam will even have “alternate format” questions such as SATA, graphic items, hot spots, drag and drop ordered responses, fill in the blank, audio, and exhibit questions. By including these different formats of questions in the question bank, the NCLEX prep course is intended to help you reduce test day anxiety with more relevant practice and experience.
Other than that, the BoardVitals NCLEX prep course has their question bank offered in a CAT platform that features an advanced algorithm technology that will present you with test questions according to your individual level of knowledge that’s calculated after each answer is submitted. How this works is that if you are able to answer a medium difficulty question correctly, the system will give you an even more difficult question next. If you got it wrong, then the CAT system will give you an easier question next.
BoardVitals is so confident in their NCLEX prep courses that both of their most popular courses come with a 100% pass guarantee. The company even provides customized practice tests by subject, timed option to simulate real test day, tracking progress with analytics and progress reports, and your score compared with the national average.
Pros
- Questions in multiple choice question and alternate format to mimic the real NCLEX test.
- 100% pass guarantee.
- Practice connection section provides additional key info for easy recall.
- Detailed explanations are provided.
- Company donates one vaccine with every new course purchase.
Cons
- Some may find the questions quite tough.
Kaplan NCLEX Review
Kaplan NCLEX-RN prep course is one of the highest recommended NCLEX prep courses from nursing schools all across the US. The course offers unlimited QBank, QBank + Computer Adaptive Test, Content + Practice Pack with 3 adaptive practice tests plus live and on-demand videos, a live online classroom, self-paced course, or live in-classroom course to suit any learning style.
Their most popular NCLEX-RN study option is the Content + Practice Pack that includes a question bank of 2,100 questions with detailed explanations as well as 3 full-length NCLEX formatted tests to simulate the real NCLEX exam. The subscription even includes Live and On Demand NCLEX videos that are in YouTube style format for topics such as Pharmacology, Diabetes, and Psychology.
The Content + Practice NCLEX course is easily the most well-rounded NCLEX review courses available in terms of content, practice questions, and NCLEX exam simulations. Kaplan even lets you access all these in the comfort of your own home to save you time and money from traveling to and fro In Class lessons.
Students who need NCLEX-PN prep can also utilize Kaplan as the course includes many same features as the NCLEX-RN and costs $279.
Pros
- 3 simulated NCLEX exams with CAT technology.
- Questions in different formats including alternatives.
- More than 2,100 NCLEX questions in their QBank.
- Visual explanations.
- 24/7 access to Live and On Demand videos.
- Full refund if you do not pass the NCLEX exam for the first time.
- Practice with Kaplan’s exclusive Decision Tree.
- Has an NCLEX-PN course.
Cons
- 95% NCLEX-RN passing rate which is lower than competitor’s advertised pass rates.
The Princeton Review NCLEX-RN
The Princeton Review is a popular review course with plenty of online courses. While the establishment is quite new to the NCLEX game, their NCLEX courses come with 2,000 practice questions purchased directly from the NCSBN plus other practice questions from their content developing team, all of whom hold either a doctorate or masters in relevant subjects.
Not only that, but the Princeton Review NCLEX-RN course offers a much longer access duration at 365 days compared to its competitors. The one-year access to the QBank costs only $149 – about 50% of the cost of other NCLEX prep courses.
The Princeton NCLEX review course offers the most realistic practice among all the best NCLEX prep courses simply because they purchased their practice questions directly from NCSBN. For each question, you’ll even receive detailed explanations for both correct and incorrect answers, as well as a full score report on which areas you need to work on.
Pros
- 1,920 NCLEX practice questions purchased directly from ncsbn.
- Money-back pass guarantee.
- 7-day trial with 100% course refund.
- Affordable year-long access option to NCLEX course.
- More practice questions than most NCLEX prep courses.
Cons
- Only invested in their QBank and does not offer a live-online or in-person classes course option as they do with their other test prep categories.
Nursing.com
Well known for their high-quality video lessons, NURSING.com offers more than 300 videos and an extremely high passing rate of 99.86% for nursing students. Most of the establishment’s NCLEX-related study materials are offered in either their 1 or 2-year NCLEX prep course plan at very affordable prices. The 1-year course costs $246 that includes 3 SIMCLEX and the 2-year course is $492 that includes 5 SIMCLEX.
All nursing.com courses are 100% online and self-paced with SIMCLEX exams that use CAT technology to make it a great way for NCLEX students to prepare for the actual exam. Students who take these simulated exams will find that they mimic the actual test very closely. At the end of the exam, the course will give you a review to see which area you did well and which you struggled.
The video lessons can be found under the “Courses” tab and each video consists of an NCLEX tutor or instructor reviewing various slides and making notes as they go. Most of the videos are in bite-sized lengths to make it easier for you to follow along. There are even quizzes after each video lesson to test if you fully understood what was taught.
NURSING.com is not only about video lessons but they have 6,000 practice questions including alternate format questions designed to match the real NCLEX exam. This helps to keep you well-prepared for the actual day as well as to eliminate any anxiety. The NCLEX review course even gives you access to their NCLEX eBook that comes with 400 pages of content review in bullet-point format as a quick study guide.
Pros
- 200% NCLEX Pass Money-Back guarantee.
- 3-5 SIMCLEX attempts.
- Bullet-point style eBook for quick review.
- Free mobile app.
Cons
- No live-online or live in-person lesson options.
Nurse Plus Academy
Another one of the best NCLEX prep courses is from Nurse Plus Academy that offers free NCLEX practice exams that you can try out without any registration or login required. The free mode offered by the NCLEX review gives you a taste of their realistic computer adaptive NCLEX simulator that can save your progress.
In the event that you like the Nurse Plus Academy NCLEX preparation course, you can invest in their Premium course that costs only $49 per month and includes 1600 NCLEX practice questions, 65 realistic practice tests, over 300 SATA questions, and even a pass guarantee! Students who intend to spend more time preparing for their NCLEX test with Nurse Plus Academy can opt for the Bulletproof 1-year access at $99 or The Lifetime access at $139.
The course is split into different topics and subtopics to make it a little more user friendly. The practice questions also have a nice user interface where you get to check your progress on the left-hand side of the page. You even have the flexibility to toggle other features like hints, answer popularity, night more, and more.
Each question comes with detailed explanations to see the rationale behind the right and wrong answers. One cool feature we love is the challenge bank where the course dumps all the questions that you have answered incorrectly. You can then go back and review the things you struggled on.
Pros
- Free mode can save your progress without registration or login.
- Pass guarantee.
- Practice offline with NCLEX Test Genie App.
- Flashcard deck for active recall.
Cons
- No live online course or live in-person option.
Hurst Review
Nursing students with a bigger budget may consider opting for Hurst NCLEX review that many deemed a worthwhile investment. Hurst Review is one of the few NCLEX review courses in our list that specializes in NCLEX and offers features that you will not find in other online NCLEX prep courses.
Unlike some of the top NCLEX review courses, Hurst Review offers live streaming as well as live classroom courses. Those who prefer to live stream their lessons will enjoy the Hurst-N-Stream 4-day event taught by Hurst facility that takes place between 10am to 4pm. In case you were not able to make it to the live stream, the test prep company offers 7 days of online access to core lectures that you may have missed out on.
In addition to Hurst-N-Stream, there’s also the live classroom course. However, this is only practical for those who happen to live in an area where the course is being held. Students who are not interested in a 4-day live streaming or live in-class option can go for their on-demand NCLEX review prep instead.
Regardless of your preferred learning style, the Hurst Review has it all. Their NCLEX review courses even come with a 100% money back guarantee and a NurseCoach online guidance and tech support. Their QBank consists of more than a thousand practice questions and 4 simulated practice tests that look just like the actual NCLEX exam with at least 30% alternate format questions.
Pros
- 4 simulated NCLEX tests with at least 30% alternate format questions.
- High quality support from nursing coaches.
- Flashcards or quiz mode for question review.
- Access to specialty topic lectures.
Cons
- Might be expensive for most.
UWorld
No list of best NCLEX review courses is ever complete without UWorld included. UWorld NCLEX review offers 2,000 practice questions in their QBank with the main intention of challenging you to develop your analysis and critical thinking skills. Each practice question in their question bank comes with in-depth explanations and visuals to help you better understand the rationale and logic behind each question and their answer.
This best NCLEX prep course is pretty cool with the ability for students to customize their practice exams based on their current study needs. The course even includes flashcards and performance graphs for you to check and review along the way. Visual learners will love their vivid illustrations that are designed to help you understand concepts better and digest clinical reasoning behind right and wrong answers.
Similar to Hurst NCLEX Review, the UWorld online NCLEX prep course QBank consists of 30% alternate format questions to prepare you for the actual NCLEX test day. The interface for their questions is even mobile-friendly for you to study anywhere. Another cool feature is that this course offers a flashcard feature where students can customize their study sessions with the enhanced filtering option to study only what they want to focus on for that session.
While UWorld only provides 2 simulated NCLEX exams – half of what you get from Hurst NCLEX Review, they provide superb content and an extremely effective learning method to suit all types of learners. Their online courses are so good that many schools have partnered with UWorld to offer their students a reduced price for the NCLEX course.
Pros
- 2 simulated NCLEX practice tests.
- Visual and content-rich explanations for each answer.
- Effective study methods with multiple rationales per question.
- 30% of QBank questions are alternate format questions.
- More than 2,000 challenging questions.
Cons
- Less comprehensive review course with no video lessons or key concept review.
NCLEX Mastery
The next course on our list of the best NCLEX review courses is NCLEX Mastery. This test prep company offers extremely affordable and even free NCLEX review courses through the best app.
The NCLEX Mastery app is a free app that offers you access to 163 practice questions, 26 quiz questions, as well as the basic progress metrics. While the free study materials are not good stand-alone NCLEX preparation methods, they can be quite useful when paired with the other NCLEX review courses on our list. Or, you can also opt for their paid-for self-paced courses: Standard, Premium or NCLEX Mastery Exam Program that costs as low as $19.99 to $69.99.
The most popular NCLEX prep package is the NCLEX Premium that gives you access to more than 2,000 practice questions with detailed explanations, 250 quizzes, free online access, and audio tracks that allow you to study anywhere. The NCLEX study materials come with must-know terminology and mnemonics to help students remember concepts.
Pros
- Affordably priced NCLEX review courses with a free NCLEX prep version on their mobile app.
- Audio lessons and mobile app for a truly mobile NCLEX prep.
- 1,900 high-yield questions in NCLEX RN Mastery.
- 540 difficult SATA questions.
- 75 questions pre-test and 75 questions post=test with a passing probability.
Cons
- NCLEX simulations are sold separately.
Conclusion
The NCLEX may be a daunting task ahead but as long as you have sufficient test prep and are taking practice tests, you should be able to pass it without a problem. A simple google search will reveal hundreds of different review courses you can engage to help you with your NCLEX. We hope our guide and review of the best NCLEX courses have given you enough information and comparison to decide which is the best choice for you.
Frequently Asked Questions on NCLEX Study Program
How many weeks should I study for the NCLEX?
Each state has a required minimum period before taking the NCLEX after graduation. Depending on your current academic status and due to the extensive range of topics covered in NCLEX, it is recommended for students to dedicate at least 1-2 months studying for the NCLEX-RN test.
How much does the NCLEX review course cost?
The cost of NCLEX review courses can vary based on learning formats, course duration, and included materials. Some companies may offer renewal discounts, reduced total prices for bundled packages or longer subscriptions to help students save more compared to purchasing single products and monthly plans.
What are the important dates for taking the NCLEX?
The NCLEX is offered continuously within a 365-day period. Candidates must first submit applications for licensure/registration to their nursing regulating bodies (NRB) before registering for the exam with Pearson VUE. Once they’re eligible for the exam, registered candidates will receive their Authorization to Test (ATT) emails and to schedule and take the exam within the validity dates written on the ATT.
The average ATT period is 90 days and candidates may schedule their exams with their preferred Pearson VUE testing centers based on the slot availability. In the event where you need to change your schedule, a request needs to be submitted at least 24 hours in advance before the original schedule.
The official test results will be sent by the NRBs up to 6 weeks after taking the exam. A non-passing candidate is allowed to retake the NCLEX up to eight times a year but must take the next exam after 45 days from the last one.