How many SNLE attempts you get, and what happens after you pass

Four attempts a year

Every eligible candidate may take the SNLE up to four times a year, starting from the first attempt, until they obtain a pass score.

Scheduling those attempts is your responsibility, and the Commission is not responsible if you leave them to the end of the year and find no seat.

What counts as an attempt

Two things spend an attempt besides sitting the paper, and neither is obvious:

• Arriving more than 30 minutes late, or being absent, against the time on your admission ticket — unless you present acceptable documented grounds that the supervising committee accepts.
• Sitting twice in the same testing window — the first dated result is announced; the second counts as an attempt and its result is void.

Arrival details are on the test-day page.

After you pass

After obtaining a passing score you are eligible for two further attempts to improve your mark, for a better opportunity in residency selection.

And after one calendar year has passed since that second attempt, you are eligible for one further attempt annually to improve your score. This clause appears in the nursing guide and has no counterpart in the medical one, so do not carry one exam’s rule across to the other.

If you do not pass

SCFHS states that its classification and registration rules apply to candidates who fail the SNLE for two years after their graduation date. Take that up with the Commission directly, since the consequence attaches to your professional classification.

Where this comes from

Every figure on this page is transcribed from the Saudi Nursing Licensure Examination (SNLE) Examination Content Guideline, 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.