The 2026 NCLEX® test plan.
Mapped.
NCSBN publishes exactly what the NCLEX® tests. We read the official 2026 plans, the exam blueprint, and mapped every category and subtopic. Practice is organized around that map. Here is the whole thing.
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The plan at a glance.
Explore the categories that organize RN and PN practice.
What we mapped
What the NCLEX-RN® test plan covers
Eight Client Needs categories, each with an official share of your scored questions. These are the 2026 NCSBN ranges, straight from the plan.
Ranges are the official NCSBN share of scored questions on the NCLEX-RN®. Your exam also includes unscored pretest questions.
The NCLEX-PN® runs on its own plan
Same idea, different weights. Coordinated Care leads the PN exam, and every PN question here maps to the PN plan, never the RN one. Practicing for the PN? Start at NCLEX-PN® prep.
Ranges are the official NCSBN share of scored questions on the NCLEX-PN®.
How the map works
You pick a topic
Start from cardiovascular, pharmacology, mental health, any of the topics you already study in school. No test-plan homework required.
Practice starts where your coursework already lives.
Newer questions start on the map
Newer questions are each written from one path on the test plan map. That path sets the subtopic and Client Needs category. It also names the clinical cues that matter and the wrong-answer traps students fall for.
Cardiovascular → Heart Failure & Cardiac Output → Management of Care.
Your score maps back to the plan
Lily tracks your mastery across the Client Needs categories and steers practice toward your weak spots. The map does the bookkeeping.
See your strongest and weakest categories at a glance.
Curious what happens between the map and the question you see? See how we build questions.
This map becomes your readiness map
Every answer adds another piece to your readiness map across these eight NCSBN test plan categories. Watch the picture sharpen, find the gaps, and choose your next practice session with a purpose.
No timer. Stop whenever you want. Leave with a clearer idea of what to practice next.
Common questions
What is the 2026 NCSBN test plan?
NCSBN publishes a test plan for every NCLEX® cycle. It is the official blueprint for the exam: the Client Needs categories, the share of scored questions each category carries, and the nursing activities they cover. The 2026 plans are the current blueprint for both the NCLEX-RN® and the NCLEX-PN®.
How does Study With Lily use the test plan?
We mapped the plan into a study structure with 8 Client Needs categories, 44 subtopics, and 149 activity statements. Practice is organized around the 2026 NCSBN test plan. Newer questions are each written from one path on the test plan map. That path sets the subtopic and Client Needs category. It also names the clinical cues that matter and the wrong-answer traps students fall for.
Is the PN test plan different from the RN test plan?
Yes. The categories look similar, but the weights differ, and the PN plan centers Coordinated Care, the practical nurse version of Management of Care. Lily keeps PN questions on the PN plan and RN questions on the RN plan, so you never practice against the wrong blueprint.
Do I need to memorize the test plan?
No. You practice by topic, the way you learned it in school. Lily keeps score across the Client Needs categories for you and steers your practice toward your weak spots.
Practice the plan,
not around it.
Adaptive practice organized around the official 2026 test plans, with instant rationales. Free includes SBA, SATA, Matrix, and Drop-Down Cloze, with 50 questions a month. Full Access is $15/month and adds unlimited NGN questions (BowTie and Unfolding Case Studies).
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