- What Is the NACE I Certification?
- Who Develops and Administers NACE I
- Exam Format and Testing Platform
- The Four NACE I Domains
- Scoring, Passing Standards, and Retakes
- Registration, Fees, and Retest Rules
- Approved Testing Materials for Virtual Proctoring
- Who Takes the NACE I and Why
- Building a Domain-Based Prep Schedule
- Frequently Asked Questions
- NACE-FON Version 1.2 has 100 scored items and a 150-minute time limit.
- Implementation carries the heaviest domain weight at 29%, ahead of Assessment and Planning at 24% each.
- NLN sets no national passing score - your program decides its own acceptance or placement threshold.
- Virtual exams run through Proctor360 on the NLN Assess platform and cost $96, versus $75 for a school-paid campus exam.
What Is the NACE I Certification?
The Nursing Acceleration Challenge Examination: Foundations of Nursing, commonly shortened to NACE I or NACE-FON, is an educational assessment built for licensed practical and vocational nurses who are seeking admission into - or are already enrolled in - an accredited professional nursing program. It is not a licensure exam and not a renewable certification with continuing education requirements. Instead, it functions as a checkpoint that measures whether an LPN/LVN candidate has the foundational nursing knowledge a bridge or advanced-placement program expects before granting admission, transfer credit, or course placement.
The current official version, 1.2, was documented in 2023 and remains the active form candidates sit for today. If you're still trying to pin down exactly what this credential covers before you commit to a study plan, the overview at What Is NACE I? and the plain-language breakdown in NACE I Meaning are useful starting points alongside this page.
Who Develops and Administers NACE I
The National League for Nursing (NLN) develops and owns the NACE-FON exam. Testing itself is delivered through the NLN Assess platform, branded Assess.ai, which supports two delivery modes: faculty-administered campus exams at your nursing program's testing site, or virtual exams proctored one-on-one through Proctor360. Both paths use the same 100-item, 150-minute Version 1.2 form - the difference is logistics and price, not content.
Because your nursing program - not NLN - sets the acceptance or placement standard tied to your score, it's worth clarifying with your program's admissions or progression office exactly how they use the Coaching Report before you register. For a deeper walkthrough of eligibility rules and prerequisite coursework, see NACE I Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Exam Format and Testing Platform
NACE-FON Version 1.2 consists of 100 scored content items delivered within a 150-minute window. That works out to an average of 1.5 minutes per item, which is a manageable pace if you're not stuck re-reading long stems - a skill worth practicing deliberately rather than assuming will develop on its own.
After you finish, the Coaching Report breaks your results into percentage-correct scores for the overall exam and for each of the four nursing-process domains individually. That domain-level breakdown is the most actionable part of the report: it tells you precisely where a retake (if your program allows or requires one) should focus. If you want a granular look at how the report reads and what "good" looks like on each section, the NACE I Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas goes item by item.
Key Takeaway
The Coaching Report's per-domain percentages - not just your total score - are what your program will likely scrutinize most, so review your weakest domain first when planning any retest.
The Four NACE I Domains
NACE-FON is organized around the nursing process, split into four content domains. Understanding the weight of each domain lets you allocate study time proportionally instead of spreading effort evenly across topics that aren't equally represented on the exam.
Domain 1: Assessment (24%)
Covers data collection and the foundational skills of gathering accurate patient information before intervention.
- Subjective versus objective data recognition
- Baseline vital sign and history-taking patterns
- Recognizing cues that warrant further investigation
Domain 2: Evaluation (23%)
Tests whether a candidate can judge the effectiveness of nursing care already delivered.
- Comparing patient outcomes against expected goals
- Identifying when a care plan needs revision
- Recognizing incomplete or inaccurate documentation of outcomes
Domain 3: Implementation (29%)
The largest single domain, focused on carrying out nursing interventions safely and correctly.
- Prioritizing interventions across multiple patients
- Delegation and scope-of-practice boundaries for LPN/LVN roles
- Applying safety and infection-control principles during care delivery
Domain 4: Planning (24%)
Assesses the ability to translate assessment data into a coherent, prioritized plan of care.
- Setting measurable, patient-centered goals
- Sequencing interventions by urgency and Maslow-based priority
- Coordinating planned care with the broader care team
Notice that Implementation alone accounts for nearly three in ten scored items. That single fact should reshape how you build a review calendar - a topic covered in more depth in NACE I Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.
Scoring, Passing Standards, and Retakes
One detail trips up a lot of candidates: NLN does not set a national passing score for NACE-FON. There is no universal "70% to pass" threshold published by NLN. Instead, each nursing program establishes its own acceptance, placement, or credit standard using the Coaching Report's percentage-correct results. That means the exact score you need depends entirely on which program you're applying to or already enrolled in - always confirm the standard directly with your program before test day.
For a more detailed discussion of how programs typically interpret Coaching Report percentages, see NACE I Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Registration, Fees, and Retest Rules
Pricing effective March 1, 2026 breaks down as follows:
| Option | Price | Delivery Detail |
|---|---|---|
| School-paid campus exam | $75 | Administered by program faculty on-site via NLN Assess |
| Virtual exam | $96 | One-on-one proctoring through Proctor360 |
| Official Foundations prep product | $62 | NLN's own preparation resource |
Because your program - not NLN - often decides whether it covers the campus exam fee, confirm payment responsibility before scheduling. For a full cost breakdown, including how the prep product factors into your total spend, see NACE I Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. If you're weighing whether the investment is worthwhile given your career plans, Is the NACE I Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 covers that decision in more detail.
Scheduling windows are set largely by your program and by campus or Proctor360 availability rather than by fixed national test dates. Check NACE I Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling for guidance on planning around your program's admissions cycle.
Approved Testing Materials for Virtual Proctoring
If you're testing virtually through Proctor360, the list of permitted materials is short and strictly enforced. You may have:
- A basic four-function calculator
- A dry-erase board no larger than 8.5 by 11 inches
- A dry-erase marker
- An eraser
Nothing else is allowed on your desk or within camera view. Scratch paper, textbooks, phones, and smartwatches are not on the approved list, so clear your testing space completely before your Proctor360 session begins. Campus exams administered directly by faculty may follow slightly different room protocols, so confirm the specifics with your proctoring faculty member ahead of time.
Who Takes the NACE I and Why
NACE-FON is aimed squarely at LPN/LVN nurses pursuing an accredited professional (RN-track) nursing program, whether they're applying for admission or already enrolled and working toward placement or credit within that program. Nursing schools use the exam's Coaching Report as an internal decision tool - to admit candidates into a bridge program, to place them at the right point in the curriculum, or to award course credit for foundational content they've already mastered as practicing LPN/LVNs.
Because the "employer" for this exam is really the nursing program's admissions or progression committee rather than a hospital HR department, questions about jobs and salary are better framed around what completing the bridge program itself unlocks. If you're researching how this fits into a broader LPN-to-RN career path, NACE I Jobs and NACE I Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis discuss how program completion connects to career progression.
Key Takeaway
Your target audience for this exam is a nursing program's admissions committee, not a hospital recruiter - study and register with that program's specific standards in mind.
Building a Domain-Based Prep Schedule
Generic study techniques only help if they're mapped onto NACE-FON's actual domain weights. Because Implementation makes up 29% of the exam - more than any other single domain - it deserves the largest block of dedicated review time, followed by Assessment and Planning at 24% each, then Evaluation at 23%.
Implementation Foundations
- Review delegation and scope-of-practice scenarios for LPN/LVN roles
- Drill prioritization questions across multiple simulated patients
- Work through safety and infection-control application items
Assessment and Planning
- Practice distinguishing subjective versus objective data
- Sequence interventions by urgency and priority frameworks
- Draft sample care plans tied to specific assessment findings
Evaluation and Timed Practice
- Review outcome-comparison and documentation-accuracy items
- Run full-length timed sets to build toward the 150-minute pace
- Revisit any domain where practice scores lag behind the rest
Use short, spaced review sessions rather than single long cram blocks, especially for Implementation given its weight. For a complete walkthrough of pacing, resource selection, and common pitfalls specific to this exam, the NACE I Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt expands on this schedule in detail, and How Hard Is the NACE I Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 is worth reading if you're trying to gauge realistic prep time. You can also build timed practice habits early using the full-length simulations at our practice test platform, which mirror the 100-item, 150-minute structure candidates face on test day.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. NACE-FON is an educational assessment used by nursing programs for admission, placement, or credit decisions for LPN/LVN candidates - it does not grant or replace a nursing license.
There is no single national passing score. NLN reports percentage-correct results overall and by domain, and each nursing program sets its own acceptance, placement, or credit standard based on those percentages.
NLN does not cap the number of attempts, though your institution may set its own limit. Any retest requires a 30-day wait unless your school specifies a different interval, and all scores are reported and retained for three years.
Both use the same 100-item, 150-minute Version 1.2 exam on the NLN Assess platform. Campus exams, administered by faculty, cost $75; virtual exams, proctored one-on-one through Proctor360, cost $96.
Implementation, at 29% of the exam, carries the heaviest weight, followed by Assessment and Planning at 24% each and Evaluation at 23%. Allocate review time proportionally to these weights.