Study Groups: Practice NCLEX Questions Together in Real Time

Study Groups: Practice NCLEX Questions Together in Real Time

You've been staring at the same question bank for three weeks. Alone. In your room. At midnight. Sound familiar?

Most nursing students study for NCLEX the same way: solo, grinding through hundreds of practice questions with no one to talk through the hard ones. But the research says that's not how you learn best. Students scored an average of 84.1% on group-format nursing exams versus 75.5% when testing individually (Sandahl, 2010). That's 8.6 points just from having other people in the room.

Study Groups brings that to Lily. Think Kahoot, but built for NCLEX. Create a room, share a code, and quiz your classmates on NCLEX questions in real time. Everyone sees the same question, answers independently, and competes on a live podium. No scheduling apps. No group chats. Just one link and you're in.

TL;DR: Study Groups is a real-time multiplayer NCLEX quiz mode in Lily. A Full Access subscriber creates a room, picks the topic and difficulty, and shares a 6-character code. Up to 30 students join and answer synchronized questions together, competing on a live podium. Joining is free.

How Do You Start a Study Group?

Three steps. That's it.

Step 1: Create a room. Go to studywithlily.com/study/cohort and hit "Create Room." You'll pick a topic focus (Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Pharmacology — any of the 21 NCLEX-aligned body systems), set the difficulty from 1 to 5, and choose how many questions you want: anywhere from 5 to 15.

Step 2: Share the code. Lily generates a unique 6-character room code. Text it to your study group, drop it in your class GroupMe, or share the invite link directly.

Step 3: Quiz together. Once everyone joins, the session starts. Every participant sees the same question at the same time, answers independently, and sees results together.

That's the whole flow. If you've ever played Kahoot in a lecture hall, you already know what this feels like — except every question is an NCLEX-style clinical scenario with a full rationale after. No downloads, no extra apps. It runs in your browser on any device.

What Happens During a Session?

Everyone in the room gets the same NCLEX-style question simultaneously. You read the stem, pick your answer, and lock it in. You can't see anyone else's answer until the reveal.

After each question, you get:

• The correct answer with a full rationale explaining why it's right and why each distractor is wrong
• Who got it right and how fast they answered
• Your running score updated in real time on the podium

Then the next question drops. The whole room moves together — no one falls behind, no one skips ahead. It's synchronized, so the experience feels like you're actually sitting in the same room even if you're studying from different apartments.

Questions come from Lily's NCLEX question bank and align with the 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan. If you picked a topic focus when creating the room, every question targets that system. If you left it open, you'll get a mix across Client Needs categories.

The Podium: Friendly Competition That Actually Helps

Here's where it gets fun. Study Groups tracks three things per participant: correct answers, response speed, and current streak.

The podium updates after every question. You'll see exactly where you stand against your classmates. Get three in a row? Your streak climbs and so does your score.

Why does this matter for learning? It's not just bragging rights. A 2025 study in BMC Nursing found that 90% of nursing students considered collaborative testing more effective than traditional solo methods, and 96% reported that it improved communication and peer discussion of clinical concepts (El-Monshed et al., 2025).

When you see a classmate get a question right that you missed, you pay attention to the rationale differently. You want to know what they knew that you didn't. That's the testing effect amplified by social pressure — and it works.

Who Can Create and Join a Study Group?

Creating a room requires a Full Access subscription. You're the host. You pick the settings, generate the room code, and kick things off.

Joining a room is free. Your classmates just need a Lily account and the room code. No subscription required to participate.

This means one person with Full Access can run a study session for an entire friend group. Split a study session across your lunch break, set one up the night before a pharmacology final, or run a quick 5-question warm-up before clinicals.

Why Does Studying Together Actually Work?

It's not just more fun. The evidence is specific to nursing students.

Nursing students who took exams collaboratively scored an average of 84.1% compared to 75.5% for students testing individually — an 8.6-point improvement from the same course material (Sandahl, 2010). The study used a quasi-experimental design with senior baccalaureate nursing students in Medical-Surgical Nursing II.

And it's not only about scores. The collaborative group reported reduced test anxiety and stronger group process skills. When you talk through a question with someone else, you're forced to articulate why you chose an answer — and that's a different cognitive task than just selecting it.

This maps directly to how the NCLEX tests you. Clinical judgment questions don't ask you to recall a fact. They ask you to reason through a scenario. Explaining your reasoning to a study partner is rehearsal for exactly that kind of thinking.

If you're already using spaced repetition for solo review, Study Groups adds the social layer that solo practice can't replicate. Use them together: spaced repetition for daily retention, Study Groups for weekly deep practice with your classmates.

Start a Study Group Today

Go to studywithlily.com/study/cohort, create a room, and text the code to your classmates.

Five questions takes about ten minutes. Do it during lunch. Do it in the library before your next lecture. Do it the night before your exam when everyone's already staring at their phones anyway.

You're going to study for NCLEX regardless. You might as well do it together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it free to join a Study Group?

Yes. Joining a room requires only a free Lily account and the 6-character room code. Creating a room requires a Full Access subscription. One subscriber can host a session for up to 30 classmates at no cost to them.

How many people can join a session?

Up to 30 participants per room. That's enough for a full study group, a clinical cohort, or even a small class section. The room accepts new joins until the cap is reached or the session expires.

What happens if someone disconnects?

Their status updates to disconnected on the participant list, but their score and progress are saved. If they reconnect before the room expires, they pick up where they left off. Rooms stay active for 15 minutes after the last activity.

Can I pick specific NCLEX topics?

Yes. When creating a room, you can select from 21 NCLEX-aligned body systems — Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Neurological, Gastrointestinal, and more. Each system includes 6-8 subtopics. Leave it blank for a mixed session across all Client Needs categories from the 2026 test plan.

Do I need to download anything?

No. Study Groups runs in your browser at studywithlily.com/study/cohort. It works on your phone, tablet, or laptop. No app required.

About the Author: Harrison is the founder of Study with Lily, an NCLEX prep platform built for the 2026 test plan. After watching his wife and her classmates struggle with the gap between coursework and boards prep, he built Lily to close it.