1.1 Current Exam Facts

Why This Section Matters

Nursing programs use the NLN Nursing Entrance Exam (NEX) to gauge whether applicants have the academic foundation to succeed in coursework—especially dosage math, pathophysiology, and clinical reasoning later. Within that battery, the Science subject test is often the most content-heavy section. Applicants who study the wrong topics (for example, physics from old PAX prep books), misallocate time across content areas, or treat Science as a casual review waste hours and leave points on the table.

This guide focuses only on the Science subject test. You still must take Verbal, Math, and Science in the full NEX sitting to receive a complete score report; Science is not purchased or scored as a free-standing product for most applicants.

Quick facts: Science = 60 questions, 60 minutes, four-option MCQ, no physics, administered by the National League for Nursing (NLN). NLN's published price for the full NEX is $59.00 on campus or $80.00 virtually through Proctor360.

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What the NEX Is (and What Science Is Within It)

The NEX is the NLN’s current nursing-school entrance exam. It replaced the older NLN PAX and is designed to measure readiness for nursing education—not professional nursing practice (that comes later with NCLEX after graduation).

Science sits last in the usual order. That matters psychologically: fatigue is real after Verbal and Math, so pacing and automatic recall of high-yield science facts pay off more than last-minute cramming of obscure details.

Who Uses NEX Scores

Individual RN and LPN/VN nursing programs decide whether they require the NEX, what minimums they set, and how they weight Science versus other sections. The NLN does not publish a single national “pass” cut score. Your job is to maximize percent correct (and therefore percentile) relative to the applicants your program compares you against—while hitting any school-specific floor your admissions office publishes.

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Science Content Blueprint (Scored Items)

The Science section presents 60 total items: 55 scored operational items plus 5 unscored pilot items. You cannot tell which five are pilots during the test, so treat every item as scored.

Blueprint weights below are for the 55 scored items (NLN NEX Technical Brief, Science Subject Test Blueprint):

How to Read the Weights for Study Planning

• Biology + Anatomy + Physiology ≈ 76% of scored Science (20 + 11 + 11 = 42 of 55). That cluster is your primary study investment.
• Health (15%) is larger than Chemistry and often under-studied—prevention levels, immunity concepts, and safety are high-yield and relatively discrete.
• Chemistry (9%) is real but small: atomic structure, bonding, states of matter, mixtures, reactions/pH—not organic chemistry depth or physics-style quantitative mechanics.

What Each Area Typically Covers (Orientation)

Biology (20): cell structure and function; diffusion and osmosis; mitosis and meiosis; genetics/DNA; plants and photosynthesis; evolution and classification; ecology; microbiology; lab procedures and scientific inquiry.

Human Anatomy (11): structural organization—directional terms and planes, major organs and systems (cardiovascular, endocrine, GI, integumentary, lymphatic/immune, musculoskeletal, nervous, reproductive, respiratory, urinary, senses).

Human Physiology (11): how those systems function—homeostasis, feedback, gas exchange, filtration, hormone action, nerve impulses, and related processes at an introductory level.

Chemistry (5): atomic structure (isotopes, ions, elements, compounds); bonding (ionic, covalent, polar); states of matter and basic gas ideas; mixtures (solutions, emulsions, etc.); reactions, pH, catalysts, equilibrium concepts at intro level.

Health (8): dimensions and levels of health; influencing factors and health threats; prevention and safety (primary/secondary/tertiary; home/food safety; first aid concepts); screenings; vaccinations and immunity (active/passive/community).

Later chapters of this guide map each of those outline topics into full teaching sections.

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Difficulty Level: High School Plus Some Intro College

NLN materials position Science content as primarily high-school level, with some introductory college (roughly 100–200 level) depth. That means:

• You are expected to define, identify, and apply core vocabulary (e.g., mitosis vs meiosis, artery vs vein, acid vs base).
• You may see application and interpretation items (scenarios, graphs, or simple experimental logic), not only pure recall.
• You are not expected to memorize graduate-level pathways, clinical dosing algorithms, or advanced organic mechanisms.

Many applicants find Science the densest section simply because five content domains and multiple body systems create a large fact surface area, even when individual facts are manageable.

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No Physics: The PAX → NEX Shift You Must Internalize

When the NEX replaced the PAX, physics was removed entirely from Science. Old PAX study guides, third-party “nursing entrance” books, and random online quizzes often still include force, motion, optics, electricity, or density-heavy physics. Studying that material for NEX Science is a direct misallocation of time.

Exam trap: A prep set labeled “PAX/NEX” may still carry physics chapters. Cross-check every resource against the five areas above. If a chapter is pure physics, skip it for Science.

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Administration, Delivery Context, and Fees

• Body: National League for Nursing (NLN).
• Format (preview): computer-based, live proctored (in-person or virtual), LOFT delivery—details in the next section.
• Fee: The NLN Assessment Services pricing sheet effective March 1, 2026 lists the NEX at $59.00 for school-paid administration on campus and $80.00 for virtual administration on Proctor360. Your school may add its own registration or proctoring charge, and Proctor360 adds $30 for on-demand (under 48-hour) scheduling or a late reschedule. Science is not sold separately; your registration is for the full three-section exam.
• Calculator: Built-in calculator is available for the Science section (and Math); use it for simple quantitative chemistry or unit-style items when needed, but most Science items are conceptual.

Relation to Other Nursing Entrance Exams

Programs may require NEX, TEAS, HESI A2, or another tool. Those are not interchangeable. If your school requires NEX, TEAS science prep is only partially overlapping and will not match NEX weights or the no-physics rule. Always confirm the required exam with admissions before buying materials.

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Exam Scenario: Choosing What to Study First

Scenario: You have six weeks. Your last biology class was years ago; you are strong in chemistry from recent coursework; a friend says “just memorize the periodic table and some physics formulas.”

Better plan: Put the majority of weekly hours into Biology + Anatomy + Physiology, schedule a smaller recurring block for Health, and use Chemistry as maintenance (short, frequent reviews of bonding, pH, and solutions). Skip physics entirely. That plan matches the blueprint: roughly three-quarters of scored items live in bio and A&P.

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Bottom Line for Section 1.1

Memorize the operational facts: NLN NEX Science, 60 items / 60 minutes, 55 scored + 5 pilot, five content areas with Biology largest, no physics, full NEX fee $59 on campus / $80 virtual, all three sections required for a standard score report. Use those facts to audit every study resource you open and every hour you schedule.