How is a mock different from practice?

Practice is untimed and you see the explanation as you go. A mock runs both clocks, holds the explanations back until you submit, and generates the paper to the blueprint's category weightings, so what you get back tells you what a real result would.

Are the two parts timed together?

No, and that is the point. Part A gets thirty minutes and Part B gets two and a half hours, on separate clocks, submitted separately and marked separately. Running out of time on one does not borrow from the other.

Will I get the same questions twice?

Only the ones you have not proved yet. A question you answer correctly in a mock is retired for you and will not come back. Anything you got wrong or left blank stays in your pool and comes round again on a later paper, which is the point: the next mock is built out of what you have not shown yet. Practising does not retire anything, so working through a category never uses up your mock questions. Everything published publicly on this site is held out of the pool as well.

Does a mock score predict my real result?

It cannot, and we will not pretend otherwise. The NMC publishes its pass marks, 13 out of 15 for numeracy and generally 60 to 70 per cent for the clinical paper, but they are set for its own papers and held steady statistically, and our questions are not its questions. So no practice score maps onto a result. What a mock does tell you is which categories you are weak in and whether the timings are comfortable, and both of those are actionable.

NMC CBT mock test, in two timed parts

Written and checked against the NMC’s published sources by The NMCMATE editorial team.Last checked 4 September 2026.

A mock is only useful if it is shaped like the exam, which means two clocks rather than one. Ours generates one hundred and fifteen questions to the NMC's own category weightings, runs Part A for thirty minutes and Part B for two and a half hours, and marks and reports them separately, because that is how your result arrives. Try the sample questions below first, then sit a full one.

One hundred and fifteen questions, weighted to the NMC blueprint
Two independent clocks, submitted and marked separately
A question you get right is retired; one you miss comes round again
Every answer reviewable afterwards with its explanation

Try a free question Create a free account

A few sample questions first

0 of 6 answered

Answer each one and the explanation opens up. These particular questions are held out of the mock papers, so working through them here does not use anything up.

Question 1 of 6
CBT PA010
Convert 1500 micrograms to milligrams. What is the value in mg?

Give your answer in mg.

Your answer
Not this time
Why
1000 micrograms = 1 mg. Therefore 1500 micrograms = 1500 ÷ 1000 = 1.5 mg.

NMC Standards of Proficiency
Question 2 of 6
CBT PA074
Child 22 kg prescribed 5 mg/kg. Available: 250 mg/5 mL. What volume?

Give your answer in mL.

Your answer
Not this time
Why
Dose = 5 x 22 = 110 mg. Volume = (110/250) x 5 = 550/250 = 2.2 mL.

BNF
Question 3 of 6
CBT PA063
A patient is prescribed paracetamol 1 g four times a day. The tablets available are 500 mg. How many tablets will they take in 24 hours?

Give your answer in tablets.

Your answer
Not this time
Why
Calculation: 1 g is two 500 mg tablets, and four doses of two is 8 tablets. That is 4 g in 24 hours, the maximum for an adult, so any further paracetamol in a combination product would take them over it.

BNF
Question 4 of 6
CBT PA040
A patient is prescribed 450 mg of cefuroxime IV. The vial contains 750 mg of cefuroxime powder. After reconstitution with 6 mL water for injection, what volume in mL should be drawn up? (Give answer to one decimal place.)

Give your answer in mL.

Your answer
Not this time
Why
Concentration = 750 ÷ 6 = 125 mg/mL. Volume needed = 450 ÷ 125 = 3.6 mL.

BNF, NMC Standards of Proficiency
Question 5 of 6
CBT PA072
500 mL via micro-drip set (60 drops/mL) over 6 hours. Drip rate in drops/min, to the nearest whole number?

Give your answer in drops/min.

Your answer
Not this time
Why
(500 x 60) / (6 x 60) = 30000/360 = 83.33, rounds to 83.

NMC Standards
Question 6 of 6
CBT PA060
Intake: IV 800 mL, oral 600 mL. Output: urine 1000 mL, drain 100 mL, insensible 400 mL. Balance in mL?

Give your answer in mL.

Your answer
Not this time
Why
In = 1400. Out = 1500. Balance = -100 mL.

NMC Standards

Where the exam facts come from

NMC Test of Competence 2021 (nursing) Test Specification, V1.1, the structure of both parts, the category weightings and the pass marks, link checked 8 October 2026
NMC CBT candidate information booklet for nurses, what happens on the day: arrival, identification, breaks and results, link checked 8 October 2026

See a finished mock report

A worked example: both parts scored separately, every blueprint category broken out, and a question shown the way the review shows it. Nothing to sign up for.

See a finished mock report What the CBT involves

Every account gets 10 new questions a day without a card.

Questions people ask

How is a mock different from practice?: Practice is untimed and you see the explanation as you go. A mock runs both clocks, holds the explanations back until you submit, and generates the paper to the blueprint's category weightings, so what you get back tells you what a real result would.
Are the two parts timed together?: No, and that is the point. Part A gets thirty minutes and Part B gets two and a half hours, on separate clocks, submitted separately and marked separately. Running out of time on one does not borrow from the other.
Will I get the same questions twice?: Only the ones you have not proved yet. A question you answer correctly in a mock is retired for you and will not come back. Anything you got wrong or left blank stays in your pool and comes round again on a later paper, which is the point: the next mock is built out of what you have not shown yet. Practising does not retire anything, so working through a category never uses up your mock questions. Everything published publicly on this site is held out of the pool as well.
Does a mock score predict my real result?: It cannot, and we will not pretend otherwise. The NMC publishes its pass marks, 13 out of 15 for numeracy and generally 60 to 70 per cent for the clinical paper, but they are set for its own papers and held steady statistically, and our questions are not its questions. So no practice score maps onto a result. What a mock does tell you is which categories you are weak in and whether the timings are comfortable, and both of those are actionable.

This page is one part of the exam. Work through the whole thing with the NMC CBT study guide.