CMGT-BC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

The Headline Number: 66% for 2025

If you are searching for the Nursing Case Management Certification pass rate, here is the figure that matters: according to the 2025 ANCC Certification Data, 66% of first-time candidates passed. That represents 188 passes among 286 first-time test takers. The same dataset reports 1,961 active certificants as of December 31, 2025.

The credential in question here is the Case Management Nurse - Board Certified designation, abbreviated CMGT-BC, awarded by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Everything in this article refers to that nursing credential and its examination, and nothing else.

Two-thirds sounds comfortable until you flip it: roughly one in three first-time candidates did not pass. For a credential that costs real money and requires documented practice hours, that is a meaningful risk. For a broader view of how demanding the test feels in practice, see our companion piece, How Hard Is the CMGT-BC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.

What the Data Actually Measures

Pass-rate statistics are easy to misread, so it helps to be precise about what the 66% figure does and does not tell you.

What it covers

• First-time candidates only. The figure reflects people sitting the exam for the first time, not repeat takers.
• A single reporting year. The number comes from 2025 data. It is a snapshot, not a long-run average.
• Candidates who already met eligibility. Everyone in the pool had to hold an active RN license, complete 2,000 practice hours in nursing case management, and finish 30 hours of specialty continuing education before being authorized to test.

What it does not tell you

• It does not predict your individual outcome. Your preparation, practice background, and test-taking habits matter far more than the aggregate.
• It does not break results down by domain, work setting, or education level.
• It does not describe how repeat candidates perform, so the all-candidates picture may differ from the first-time figure.

Because the pool is pre-screened for experience, the 66% reflects nurses who were already working in case management. That is worth remembering: even experienced practitioners miss the mark about a third of the time on their first try. Experience helps, but the exam tests defined content from a published outline, and familiarity with your own workplace is not the same as mastery of that outline.

Reading the Sample Size Honestly

With 286 first-time candidates, this is a small examination population compared with large-volume nursing certifications. Small samples can swing from year to year. A few dozen additional failures or passes would move the percentage noticeably.

That has practical consequences for how you use the data:

• Do not over-interpret small year-over-year movements. If next year's figure lands a few points higher or lower, that may be noise rather than a real shift in difficulty.
• Treat 66% as a ballpark. It is a reasonable signal that the exam is passable with solid preparation and not a formality.
• Avoid false precision. Beware of any source quoting pass rates to a decimal place, or quoting a trend, from only one published year.

For the dedicated page on this topic, you can also reference our CMGT-BC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows hub, which tracks how we interpret the published numbers.

Why 350 of 500 Is Not 70%

A common misconception is that you need to answer 70% of questions correctly. That is not how this exam is scored. The credential uses a scaled-score system with a maximum of 500, and you need at least 350 to pass. The passing standard is set using the Modified Angoff method, in which subject-matter experts judge how a minimally competent candidate should perform on each item.

Several implications follow:

• Scaled scores are not percent-correct. A 350 does not translate to a fixed number of right answers you can count on your fingers.
• Pretest items do not count. Of the 150 questions, 125 are scored and 25 are unscored pretest items used to evaluate future questions. You cannot tell which are which, so treat every question seriously.
• Difficulty is accounted for. Scaling exists so that candidates on different question sets are held to the same standard.

For a deeper treatment of how the cut score works, read CMGT-BC Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.

A Domain-by-Domain Lens on Where Candidates Struggle

The published data does not report pass rates by domain, so anyone claiming to know which domain "causes the most failures" is guessing. What we can do is use the official test content outline to see where the exam places its weight, and therefore where a weak spot costs you most. The outline (effective October 23, 2024, updated September 8, 2025) defines four domains. Note that the issuer's rounded percentages add up to 101%, and we report them as published.

The takeaway: because no candidate group is reported to fail one domain more than another, plan around the weights and your own gaps. Our CMGT-BC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas walks through each area in detail.

Exam Format Factors That Shape Results

Format is not trivia. Pass rates reflect how candidates handle the conditions of the test as much as the content. These are the conditions you will face:

• In-person, computer-based delivery at Prometric test centers. The certification exam is not remotely proctored. Remote delivery of an ANCC readiness test does not mean the certification exam can be taken at home.
• Three hours for 150 questions. That is roughly 72 seconds per question on average, and breaks consume your exam time.
• Closed-book, multiple-choice. Personal calculators and paper or electronic resources are prohibited. A dry-erase board is supplied.
• Mark and revisit. You can flag questions and return to them, which is a useful pacing tool.
• No guessing penalty. There is no reason to leave a question blank.

The pacing math is where underprepared candidates often lose points. If you spend too long wrestling with early questions, the final stretch becomes rushed. Because pretest items are indistinguishable from scored ones, you cannot safely skip a question on the theory that it "probably doesn't count."

Retake Rules and the Cost of a Miss

The pass rate matters partly because a failed attempt is expensive in both money and time. The initial exam fee is $395 for nonmembers or $295 for ANA members, and that includes a $140 nonrefundable administrative fee. Your authorization to test lasts 120 days, so you must schedule within that window.

If you do not pass, retesting rules apply:

• You must wait at least 60 calendar days after the previous attempt.
• You need to have renewed eligibility before reapplying.
• You are limited to no more than three attempts in 12 months.
• All retesting is subject to the final testing deadline, discussed below.

For a full cost picture, including membership trade-offs, see CMGT-BC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. The financial argument for preparing thoroughly the first time is simple: a miss means paying again, waiting at least two months, and compressing your schedule against a hard deadline.

The Closing Window: Why Timing Now Matters

This is the section that most pass-rate articles will not include, and it changes how you should read the data. The Nursing Case Management Certification program is being phased out:

• Initial applications are accepted through December 31, 2026.
• Examination and retesting end December 31, 2027.
• After that, the program becomes renewal-only. Nurses actively certified on January 1, 2028 may continue renewing.
• If certification lapses beyond the two-year reactivation window after the exam retires, it cannot be reactivated by taking the retired exam.

For a prospective candidate, the practical meaning is that your retake margin is finite. If you apply late and fail, the 60-day waiting period and the application deadline can leave you with fewer attempts than the three-in-12-months rule technically allows. Our CMGT-BC Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling guide covers how to plan around the calendar.

How Eligibility Requirements Filter the Candidate Pool

The 66% figure comes from a population that already cleared a meaningful experience bar. To be authorized to test, candidates need:

• A current, active RN license (or an accepted international equivalent)
• Two full-time-equivalent years of RN experience
• 2,000 hours of nursing case management practice within the past three years
• 30 hours of specialty continuing education within the past three years

This screening is why the pass rate should not be compared casually with entry-level licensing exams. Candidates here are practicing professionals, and the test measures whether their knowledge aligns with a defined body of case management standards. The full qualification path is laid out in CMGT-BC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.

There is also a long-term maintenance dimension. Certification lasts five years. Renewal requires active licensure, 75 specialty continuing education hours (at least 60 of them formally approved), and one additional professional-development category. Renewal fees are $350 for nonmembers, with ANA-member pricing advertised as low as $250. Exam-based renewal becomes unavailable when the exam retires, which is another reason the credential's value is tied to getting certified within the open window.

Turning the Number Into a Plan

A 66% first-time pass rate argues for a structured plan, not panic. The one place where a schedule is worth spelling out is how to sequence the domains, because the weights tell you where to invest. A sensible approach front-loads the heaviest content and leaves room for timed practice:

Adjust the length to your own background, but keep the logic: weight your time to the outline, then rehearse under real timing. Our CMGT-BC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt expands this into a fuller approach, and the CMGT-BC Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts is useful for last-week review. To test yourself against exam-style questions, try the CMGT-BC practice tests and see where your scores land across the four domains.

If you are weighing whether the effort pays off, our analyses of earnings and return on investment can help you decide before you commit to the fee and the study hours.

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