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NAVLE Retake Policy

Updated December 4, 2009

As indicated in the NAVLE Bulletin of Information for Candidates, the NBVME has recommended to licensing boards that candidates not be approved to take the NAVLE more than five times, and that they not be allowed to sit for the examination at a date that is later than five years after their initial attempt. Each of the final two attempts must be at least one year from the previous attempt.

This policy took effect beginning with the fall 2007 NAVLE administration. Any attempts by a candidate to pass the NAVLE prior to the fall 2007 administration do not count toward the five attempt limit.

The retake policy’s limitation on attempts began to take effect with the April 2009 NAVLE administration, for candidates who took the NAVLE during each of the three previous testing windows (fall 2007, spring 2008, and fall 2008) and failed. For example, under the policy, these candidates were not eligible to take the NAVLE in April 2009, and had to wait until fall 2009 to take the NAVLE for the fourth time (one year from the previous attempt).

The NBVME’s policy is a recommendation to individual licensing boards. Some boards have adopted the policy, some boards do not impose a limit on the number of times a candidate can take the NAVLE, and a few boards have their own retake policy. The following table lists what boards have told us:

    • Licensing board policies on NAVLE retakes

Candidates who have failed the NAVLE at least three times since the fall 2007 administration should refer to their board's policy on retakes.

Although some licensing boards do not presently limit NAVLE attempts, candidates who are subject to the limit under the terms of the NBVME retake policy should consider carefully whether they want to take the NAVLE again in violation of that policy, because if they pass the examination, that score will not be recognized by some licensing boards, as indicated in the above table. 

Candidates who have questions about NAVLE retakes should contact the NBVME office and/or their licensing board.