NMC CBT Paper Pattern 2026

NMC CBT subject weightage 2026

How many MCQs each subject contributes to the NMC CBT paper. This is the order to revise in. Medical Surgical Nursing is worth 28 MCQs against Midwifery and Obstetric Nursing's 3, so an hour spent fixing a weak chapter in Medical Surgical Nursing is worth more marks than the same hour anywhere else on the paper.

NMC CBT marking scheme 2026

Every NMC CBT MCQ carries one mark, for a total of 115 marks, one per question. Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, so an unanswered question and a wrong answer score exactly the same: zero. That makes leaving anything blank a pure loss. Attempt all 115 MCQs, and in the last few minutes fill in every remaining bubble even if you are guessing outright.

NMC CBT time per subject

190 minutes across 115 MCQs is about 99 seconds a question. Split by weightage, that is the time each subject is worth. Going over on one subject is borrowed from another, not from spare time, because there is none.

How to prepare for the NMC CBT 2026 pattern

The pattern tells you where the marks are, not where you are losing them. Start with Medical Surgical Nursing, because it carries 24 percent of the paper and a weak chapter there is the most expensive weak chapter you can have. Inside each subject, work chapter by chapter and stay on a chapter until you are consistently above 80 percent before moving on.

Then practise at the real pace. Untimed revision hides the problem that actually costs marks in the hall, which is spending three minutes on a question worth 99 seconds and running out of paper before you run out of time. Sit full papers under the clock, and mark them honestly.