PANCE Score Release Dates 2026

PANCE scores in 2026 are posted to your NCCPA online record approximately two weeks after your test date, and NCCPA emails you when the report is up. There is no fixed release calendar: PANCE runs year-round at Pearson VUE centers, so results roll out per examinee. NCCPA's Key Dates page lists the 2026 administration window as January 2 through December 18, 2026, and publishes no score-delay exceptions for the year. If nothing has appeared after two weeks, the cause is usually an unpaid fee or a stale email address, not your score.

PANCE score release timing in 2026

The official wording in the PANCE Policies, Procedures and Authorization document, echoed in the NCCPA FAQs, is that NCCPA "will notify you by e-mail as soon as your exam results have been received and posted to your personal certification record (approximately two weeks after your test date)." Test-prep companies such as Blueprint Prep report that most candidates hear back sooner, around four business days, but NCCPA does not commit to that, so plan around two weeks.

Because there is no per-date schedule, the useful table is the expected report date for common fall 2026 test days, plus the earliest day you could retest under the once-per-90-days rule. These are calculated from the official guidance, not published dates.

Test date	Report expected by (~2 weeks)	Earliest retake (90 days)
September 8, 2026	September 22, 2026	December 7, 2026
September 22, 2026	October 6, 2026	December 21, 2026
October 6, 2026	October 20, 2026	January 4, 2027
October 20, 2026	November 3, 2026	January 18, 2027
November 3, 2026	November 17, 2026	February 1, 2027
November 17, 2026	December 1, 2026	February 15, 2027
December 1, 2026	December 15, 2026	March 1, 2027
December 18, 2026	January 1, 2027	March 18, 2027

Source: NCCPA FAQs, PANCE Policies and Procedures, and Key Dates page, checked September 3, 2026. The retake column is a calendar calculation; your exact eligibility date appears in your NCCPA record, and a retake after a December 2026 exam falls in the 2027 window.

How to check your PANCE score

1. Wait for the NCCPA email. It goes to the address on your NCCPA account, which may not be the one you check daily. Search that inbox and its spam folder first.
2. Sign in to the NCCPA portal at portal.nccpa.net. Sign-in uses two-factor authentication with a code sent to your email or phone, so keep both current. The score report sits in your personal certification record.
3. Clear any outstanding fees. NCCPA states that your score "will not be provided to you until payment for all current, outstanding, and past due fees" has been received.

NCCPA does not give out scores by phone. It can verify certification status at 678-417-8100, but releasing a score to a third party requires an online Certification Info Release or a written request. Your PA program receives your score automatically through the NCCPA Program Portal. If two weeks have passed and your record is still empty, email nccpa@nccpa.net with your NCCPA ID and test date.

What the score report means

PANCE is scored on a scale from 200 to 800, and the passing score is 350. Every examinee sees a different form, so NCCPA uses scale scores to "adjust for small differences in difficulty," and the number of correct answers needed to reach 350 varies slightly from form to form. The exam is 300 multiple-choice questions in five 60-minute blocks, some of them unscored pretest items you cannot identify.

For context, NCCPA's published five-year pass rates show that in 2025, 91.5% of first-time takers passed and 88.4% of all exams administered were passing, with a mean score of 458.65. A score well above 350 is the norm.

The content-area subscores are the part worth studying. They follow the PANCE blueprint effective January 2025, with cardiovascular (11%), pulmonary (9%), gastrointestinal/nutrition (8%), and musculoskeletal (8%) the largest. Each bar carries a standard error of measurement, and NCCPA warns that bars for small categories are wider because they rest on fewer questions, so read a dip in a 4% category as a hint rather than a verdict.

Retake rules if you did not pass

• Frequency. You may take PANCE "one time in any single 90-day period or three times in a calendar year, whichever is fewer."
• Lifetime limit. Graduates of ARC-PA accredited programs on or after January 1, 2003 are eligible for six years after completing graduation requirements, with a maximum of six attempts. Whichever runs out first ends eligibility, and only completing another accredited PA program restores it.
• Application and fee. Each attempt is a new application with the $550 fee and a 180-day timeframe to schedule, shortened if you apply late in your six-year window.
• Grievances. A grievance about testing conditions must be filed within three business days of the exam and "may not be used to challenge exam design, content or a failing score."

After passing: state licensure, then PANRE or PANRE-LA

Passing PANCE makes you NCCPA board certified and entitled to use PA-C. Licensure is a separate step handled by your state board. All 50 states, DC, the US territories, and the military rely on NCCPA certification as one criterion for licensure, and boards verify your status through NCCPA's online verification; other requirements and fees vary by state, so start your board application while you wait. If your state offers a temporary or graduate license before your score posts, NCCPA can issue an eligibility letter through Certification Info Release in your record.

Certification maintenance is a 10-year cycle of five two-year CME periods, 100 CME credits per period, and a recertifying exam by the end of year 10. You will choose between PANRE, a 240-question test-center exam in four 60-minute blocks, and PANRE-LA, the take-at-home alternative launched in 2023: 25 questions per quarter with five minutes each and immediate feedback, taken over 12 quarters in years 7 to 9, with your best eight counting. The 2026 PANRE-LA quarters run January 2 to March 10, April 1 to June 10, July 1 to September 10, and October 1 to December 10. None of that is due for a decade, but CME logging starts with your first two-year cycle.

Studying for a retake with your own notes

If the subscores point to two or three weak systems, work from the notes you already have rather than restarting a question bank from page one.

• Upload the relevant chapters of your program notes, your Rosh Review or PANCE Prep Pearls notes, or your practice-exam error log, and turn the weak content areas into review decks with the AI flashcard maker. Scholarly schedules reviews with SM-2 spaced repetition.
• Build timed sets from the same files with the practice test generator to mirror the 60-questions-in-60-minutes block pacing.
• For commute or clinic-shift review, the AI podcast generator turns a chapter into an audio walkthrough.

Scholarly is a source-grounded workspace: you bring the PDFs and notes, it produces the flashcards, quizzes, podcasts, and a chat that answers only from those sources. For a wider roundup, see best AI tools for certification exam prep.

FAQ

How long after the PANCE do you get your score in 2026?

Approximately two weeks after your test date, per NCCPA. You get an email when the report is posted to your online record. Some candidates report results within a few business days, but NCCPA does not promise that.

Are there any PANCE score delays scheduled for 2026?

No. As of September 3, 2026, NCCPA's Key Dates page lists only the January 2 to December 18, 2026 administration window and no score-delay periods.

What is a passing PANCE score?

350 on a 200 to 800 scale. The raw number of correct answers needed varies slightly by exam form because scores are scaled for difficulty.

How do I see my PANCE score?

Sign in to the NCCPA portal after the notification email arrives and open your certification record. Two-factor authentication is required, and scores are not released by phone.

How soon can I retake the PANCE if I fail?

Not within 90 days of your last attempt, and no more than three times in a calendar year. You have six attempts across six years from graduation, each with a new application and $550 fee.

Sources

• NCCPA, FAQs: https://www.nccpa.net/faqs/
• NCCPA, Become Certified: https://www.nccpa.net/become-certified/
• NCCPA, PANCE Policies, Procedures and Authorization (PDF): https://www.nccpa.net/wp-content/uploads/PANCE-Policy-Procedures-and-Authorization.pdf
• NCCPA, Key Dates 2026: https://www.nccpa.net/key-dates/
• NCCPA, Exam Development and Scoring: https://www.nccpa.net/examdevelopmentscoring/
• NCCPA, PANCE Performance Guide: https://www.nccpa.net/pance-performance-guide/
• NCCPA, Five Year Pass Rates for PANCE (PDF): https://www.nccpa.net/wp-content/uploads/PANCEPassRates.pdf
• NCCPA, PANCE Blueprint effective January 2025: https://www.nccpa.net/become-certified/pance-blueprint/
• NCCPA, Maintain Certification: https://www.nccpa.net/maintain-certification/
• NCCPA, PANRE-LA announcement: https://www.nccpa.net/news/panre-la/
• NCCPA, Exam Grievances: https://www.nccpa.net/resources/exam-grievances/
• NCCPA portal sign-in: https://portal.nccpa.net/signin
• Blueprint Prep, How long does it take to get PANCE results: https://blog.blueprintprep.com/pa/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-pance-exam-results-what-to-do-while-you-wait/

Last verified: September 3, 2026. NCCPA publishes a rolling two-week estimate rather than fixed release dates, so confirm against the official pages above before planning around a specific day.