SMLE Score
The SMLE passing score, and when results arrive
The SMLE pass mark is 560 on a 200–800 scale. This page explains what that number is, how it was set, and when and in what form your result reaches you.
The number
The SMLE passing score is 560 on a reporting scale of 200 to 800.
Note carefully: the nursing exam, the SNLE, passes at 500 on the same scale, not 560. The two numbers belong to two different exams and cannot be carried across, and this is among the most common errors in second-hand sources.
It is not a percentage of your answers
The 200–800 range is a scaled score, not a count of correct answers and not a percentage of them. You cannot say "560 means I answered so many correctly", because the relationship between raw correct answers and the scaled score is not fixed across forms of the exam.
It is muddier still because up to 10% of the questions may be unscored pilot items in the first place. See the exam format.
How the number was set
SCFHS ran a standard-setting exercise with a diverse panel of Saudi physicians to define an acceptable level of performance, and the resulting score was reviewed and approved by the Central Assessment Committee.
So 560 is not an administrative round number. It is a judgement by practising clinicians about the floor for safe practice, which is why it does not move when one form of the paper happens to be harder than another.
When your result arrives, and what is in it
Results are not provided instantly. Psychometric analysis runs during the window-closing period, and results are announced within two to six weeks of the end of a test window.
You receive two documents: a statement of results, and a feedback report comparing your performance with other test takers. The second is the more useful of the two if you intend to re-sit to improve your mark. See attempts and retakes.
Where this comes from
Every figure on this page is transcribed from the Saudi Medical Licensure Examination (SMLE) Examination Content Guideline, 2026 blueprint, published by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, in the edition on the Commission’s website, read on 31 August 2026.
SCFHS revises these guides from time to time. Before you apply, open the current guide on the Commission’s site and check for yourself: the official PDF. Any page on the internet, this one included, can lag behind the official document, and this is not a substitute for it.
SQB is an independent educational platform, not affiliated with the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties or with Prometric.