- Why "Pass Rate" Isn't a Single Number for This Exam
- How Prometric Actually Scores the Written Exam
- The Five Domains and Where Candidates Lose Points
- Connecticut's Unlimited-Attempt Rule and What It Changes
- The August 2026 Fee Update and Retake Costs
- Who Sits for This Exam and When
- Building a Study Plan Around the Real Domain Weights
- Testing Options at a Glance
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The written exam has 60 questions total: 50 scored and 10 unscored pretest items you can't identify.
- Prometric uses an equated passing standard, so the number of correct answers needed can shift between forms.
- Connecticut allows unlimited attempts within 24 months of finishing your DPH-approved training.
- Basic Nursing Care (26%) and Promotion of Function and Health (24%) carry half the total exam weight.
Why "Pass Rate" Isn't a Single Number for This Exam
Every candidate searching for the PROMETRIC-NA pass rate wants a clean percentage to measure themselves against. For the Connecticut Nurse Aide Competency Exam, that number isn't published in a way that lets us report it here, and importing a figure from a different testing program would be misleading - Connecticut's exam is developed and administered specifically by Prometric on behalf of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, and its scoring model is unique to this credential.
What we can do is walk through exactly how the exam is built, scored, and retaken, so you understand which factors actually move your odds of passing. That's more useful than a headline statistic anyway, because your personal outcome depends far more on domain preparation and understanding the scoring rules than on a national average ever could.
How Prometric Actually Scores the Written Exam
The written knowledge exam contains 60 multiple-choice questions delivered by computer in a closed-book, proctored setting. Of those 60 questions, only 50 are scored. The remaining 10 are unscored pretest items being evaluated for future exam forms - and you have no way to tell which ten they are. This matters for two reasons: first, don't panic if a question feels unusually obscure, because it may not count toward your score. Second, treat every question as if it counts, since you genuinely cannot distinguish scored from unscored items during the test.
You have 90 minutes to complete all 60 questions. That works out to roughly a minute and a half per question, which is generous if you know the material but tight if you're second-guessing every answer.
Key Takeaway
Because 10 of 60 questions are unscored and unidentifiable, never skip or rush a question assuming it "doesn't matter" - answer every item with full effort.
The other detail that separates Connecticut's exam from a simple percentage-based test is the equated passing standard. Prometric adjusts the difficulty calibration of each test form so that different candidates sitting different versions of the exam face a comparable bar, even though the raw number of correct answers needed to clear that bar can differ from form to form. In plain terms: there is no fixed "you need 40 out of 50 correct" rule you can bank on. This is exactly why guessing your score based on how many questions "felt hard" is unreliable - for a full breakdown of how the passing standard works, see our PROMETRIC-NA Passing Score guide.
The Five Domains and Where Candidates Lose Points
Connecticut's Candidate Information Bulletin defines five official content domains, each with its own weight on the written exam. Understanding these weights is the single most concrete way to direct your study time, and it's a far better predictor of your outcome than any generic pass-rate figure.
Domain 4: Basic Nursing Care Provided by the Nurse Aide (26%)
The largest domain by far. Expect questions on positioning, transferring, feeding, bathing, vital signs, and basic comfort measures.
- Master proper body mechanics and transfer techniques
- Know normal vital sign ranges and when to report abnormal findings
Domain 3: Promotion of Function and Health of Residents (24%)
Nearly a quarter of the exam. Focus on maintaining independence, range of motion, restorative care, and psychosocial well-being.
- Understand the difference between active and passive range of motion
- Recognize how to support resident dignity and self-care
Domain 1: Role of the Nurse Aide (18%)
Covers scope of practice, ethical and legal responsibilities, communication, and reporting lines within the care team.
- Know what falls inside versus outside a nurse aide's scope
- Study proper chain-of-communication scenarios
Domain 2: Promotion of Safety (18%)
Focuses on infection control, fall prevention, restraint alternatives, and emergency response basics.
- Memorize standard precaution and hand hygiene steps
- Understand fall-risk identification and prevention
Domain 5: Providing Specialized Care for Residents with Changes in Health (14%)
The smallest domain but still worth studying carefully - it covers responding to acute changes in a resident's condition.
- Recognize signs of common medical emergencies
- Know when and how to escalate a change in condition
Together, Basic Nursing Care and Promotion of Function and Health make up exactly half the written exam's content. If your study time isn't weighted toward these two domains, you're likely spending too much energy on lower-yield material. For a deeper walkthrough of every subtopic inside each domain, see the PROMETRIC-NA Exam Domains guide.
Connecticut's Unlimited-Attempt Rule and What It Changes
One factor that meaningfully affects real-world pass outcomes in Connecticut is the state's retake policy. Both the knowledge exam and the clinical skills exam must be passed within 24 months of completing an approved training program, but within that 24-month eligibility window, Connecticut permits unlimited attempts. There is no cap on the number of times you can retest, unlike some states that limit candidates to two or three tries.
If you don't pass on your first try, the smart move is to request your score report's domain-level feedback (if available) and rebuild your study plan around the domains where you struggled most, rather than starting from scratch. Our PROMETRIC-NA Cheat Sheet is designed specifically for this kind of targeted review before a retake.
The August 2026 Fee Update and Retake Costs
Effective August 1, 2026, Connecticut's fee structure for the Nurse Aide Competency Exam changed, and it directly affects how much a retake costs depending on what you need to retest.
- Written plus clinical skills: $125
- Oral plus clinical skills: $125
- Written-only or oral-only: $48
- Clinical-skills-only: $77
This matters for pass-rate planning because if you fail only the written portion but pass clinical skills, you only need to pay $48 to retest the knowledge component - you're not required to pay for the full combined fee again. Understanding this breakdown before you test can reduce financial stress around a retake decision. For the complete cost picture, including training expenses, see our PROMETRIC-NA Certification Cost breakdown.
Who Sits for This Exam and When
Standard Route 1 candidates must complete a Department of Public Health-approved training program with at least 100 combined classroom and clinical hours before they're eligible to test. This training requirement shapes who shows up at the testing center: most candidates are recent program graduates, and their readiness on test day is heavily influenced by how recently they covered material like infection control, transfers, and vital signs during clinical rotations.
Because both the written and clinical components must be passed within 24 months of finishing training, candidates who delay testing risk losing familiarity with domain content - another reason "pass rate" outcomes vary so much by individual timing rather than by any fixed national average. If you're still confirming you meet the training and documentation requirements, review our PROMETRIC-NA Requirements guide before scheduling, and check current testing windows on our PROMETRIC-NA Exam Dates page.
Key Takeaway
Schedule your written exam as soon as reasonably possible after finishing your 100-hour training program - content retention drops the longer you wait inside the 24-month window.
Building a Study Plan Around the Real Domain Weights
Generic study advice - flashcards, timed drills, spaced repetition - only helps if it's pointed at the right material. Below is a domain-weighted four-week structure built specifically around Connecticut's five official content areas, not a generic nursing curriculum.
Basic Nursing Care + Promotion of Function (50% of exam)
- Drill transfer techniques, vital signs, and ADLs daily
- Practice restorative care and range-of-motion scenarios
Promotion of Safety + Role of the Nurse Aide (36% of exam)
- Review infection control and fall-prevention protocols
- Study scope-of-practice and reporting-chain scenarios
Specialized Care for Changes in Health (14% of exam)
- Learn to recognize common emergency indicators
- Practice escalation and documentation scenarios
Full-Length Simulation and Review
- Take timed 60-question practice sets under a 90-minute limit
- Retest weak domains identified in earlier weeks
Notice that weeks 1 and 2 alone cover 86% of the exam's total weight - that's intentional. If your remaining study time is limited before test day, prioritize Basic Nursing Care and Promotion of Function first, every time. For a full walkthrough of pacing and strategy, our PROMETRIC-NA Study Guide expands on each week in detail, and you can run realistic timed sets on our practice test platform to simulate actual exam pacing.
Testing Options at a Glance
| Testing Option | Fee (Effective Aug. 1, 2026) | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Written + Clinical Skills | $125 | Full initial certification path |
| Oral + Clinical Skills | $125 | Full initial certification path, oral format |
| Written-Only Retest | $48 | Knowledge component only |
| Oral-Only Retest | $48 | Knowledge component only, oral format |
| Clinical-Skills-Only Retest | $77 | Skills component only |
Note that the $48 fee covers the knowledge component alone - it is not the total cost of initial certification, which requires passing both the written (or oral) and clinical skills components. Candidates who need translation support should know that translation dictionaries and translators are prohibited during testing; the oral option must be requested during the application process instead, and approved disability accommodations are handled separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Connecticut's Department of Public Health and Prometric do not publish a public pass-rate percentage for this specific written exam that we can confirm and cite. Focus your preparation on the five domain weights and scoring mechanics instead of chasing an unverified number.
Only 50 of the 60 questions are scored. The other 10 are unscored pretest items mixed in randomly, and you cannot identify which ones they are, so answer every question carefully.
Connecticut allows unlimited attempts as long as you complete both the knowledge and clinical skills exams within 24 months of finishing your approved training program.
As of August 1, 2026, a written-only or oral-only retest costs $48. This is separate from the $125 fee that covers a combined written-plus-clinical-skills session.
Basic Nursing Care (26%) and Promotion of Function and Health (24%) together make up half the exam, making them the highest-priority domains for limited study time.
Preparing for the Connecticut Nurse Aide written exam is less about chasing a mythical pass-rate percentage and more about mastering the five domains in proportion to their actual weight, understanding the equated scoring standard, and knowing exactly what a retake will cost if you need one. Combine that domain-specific focus with realistic timed practice on our practice test platform, and you'll walk into the testing center prepared for the format Prometric actually uses - not a generic version of it.