What exactly is the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN)? The Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) will be administered to RN and LPN/LVN candidates in April 2023. The need to adapt to the rising complexity of client care, innovations in healthcare practice, and the necessity for safe clinical decision-making are driving changes in the NCLEX. The NGN intends to address new nursing graduates' decreased capacity to make safe clinical judgments by incorporating clinical judgment as a fundamental competency. Although the NGN test format will remain adaptive, there will be fewer exam items. Candidates will be presented with Unfolding Case Studies and Stand-Alone Items, which will be graded utilizing partial credit and three separate scoring criteria. These revisions to the NGN are intended to test critical thinking and the ability to make safe clinical decisions during various stages of client care. In summary, the significant differences between the prior NCLEX format and the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) are as follows: The adaptive test format remains the same, but the amount of items has been lowered. The adaptive test format, similar to the existing NCLEX, will be retained for the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN), but with fewer test items. Candidates will answer between 85 and 150 questions, with 15 being pretest or unscored. Case studies are examples. All candidates will face three (3) Unfolding Case Studies, each with six test items (for a total of 18). Candidates will be given clinical scenario information in the form of a medical record with a table-like structure. These scenarios are intended to measure their ability to think critically and make safe clinical decisions throughout several stages of client care. Some candidates may have Stand-Alone Items for their NGN test in addition to the case studies. New NGN item kinds have been added. New item types on the NGN test will include questions in unfolding cases and stand-alone items, as well as highlight, cloze, matrix, bow-tie, drag and drop, and extended multiple responses. Differences in scoring. When compared to the present NCLEX, NGN exam items will be scored differently. They will use partial credit scoring with three different scoring rules: 0/1 scoring, +/- scoring, and reasoning scoring. These are discussed further below.