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United States · Licensing exams

The veterinary licensing exam: how the NAVLE works

The North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE) is the veterinary licensing exam for the United States and Canada, and every licensing jurisdiction there requires it, says its owner, the International Council for Veterinary Assessment (ICVA). It’s 360 multiple-choice questions on computer at a Prometric test center. It tests what you need for entry-level private clinical practice, across all the species private practitioners see in North America.

  • 360Multiple-choice questions
  • 12 blocksOf 30 questions, 33 minutes each
  • 7 hours 36 minutesExam day length, with breaks
Read ICVA’s NAVLE overview

Updated November 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

How long is the veterinary licensing exam?

ICVA gives the exam day as 7 hours 36 minutes. By our sum that’s the 12 blocks of 33 minutes, 50 minutes of breaks and a 10-minute tutorial. Starting with the October to November 2026 window, the NAVLE moved from six blocks of 60 questions to 12 blocks of 30, with the same content and number of questions.

  • Tutorial: 10 minutes, optional. It counts as the start of your exam, even if you don’t finish it.
  • Questions: each gives a clinical scenario and one best answer. Some answers may be partly correct, so you pick the most accurate.
  • Graphics: about 15% to 20% of questions include photos or radiographs, with zoom, contrast and pan tools.
  • Breaks: 50 minutes in total, only between blocks. Finishing a block early adds to your break time.
  • Language: English or French.

You can skip and mark questions inside a block. Once you submit it or its time runs out, those answers are final.

ICVA: NAVLE structure update ↗ICVA: Get ready for exam day ↗

What the NAVLE tests

ICVA publishes two outlines and says neither is a closed list, so a question can cover something they don’t name. The first weights the competency domains:

Competency domainShare
Clinical practice70%
Preventive medicine and animal welfare15%
Communication8%
Professionalism, management, wellness7%

The second weights species. Canine is 25.6% and feline 24.3%, then equine 14.7% and bovine 13.3%. Porcine is 5%, and the other categories are smaller.

ICVA: Prepare for the NAVLE ↗ICVA: Competency Domains (PDF) ↗ICVA: Species and Diagnoses (PDF) ↗

Exam day at Prometric

Arrive at least 30 minutes before your appointment. You need your Scheduling and Admission Permit and a valid government-issued photo ID, and the permit can be on paper or on your phone. ICVA’s FAQ says electronic IDs aren’t accepted. You can’t test without both, and you’d pay Prometric’s rescheduling fee to book again inside your window.

Lockers hold your things. Phones, watches, bags and personal calculators stay out of the room, and an on-screen calculator is provided. The NAVLE can’t be taken online.

Prometric: NAVLE test centers ↗

NAVLE passing score and results

Your score is a three-digit scaled score from 200 to 800, and ICVA recommends 425 as the minimum to pass. It isn’t a percentage. A correct answer earns one point and anything else earns none, and your right answers are then converted to the scale. Licensing authorities may accept ICVA’s result or set a different passing score for their own jurisdiction, ICVA’s sample score report says.

Scores come about four to five weeks after the testing window closes, not after your test date. NBME, the National Board of Medical Examiners, emails you how to open your report in its online portal. The report shows pass or fail, your scaled score and how you did in each content area. You can’t review your exam, and there are no rescores or appeals.

ICVA: Receive your results ↗ICVA: How the NAVLE is created and scored ↗

NAVLE pass rates, as ICVA publishes them

ICVA reports failure rates. These are from its 2024‑2025 technical report, for the November to December 2024 and April 2025 administrations combined, before the move to three windows and shorter blocks:

GroupTakersFailed
First-time accredited-school seniors4,97718.4%
Repeat, accommodated or graduates2,55145.3%
Non-accredited schools1,77362.5%
All candidates9,30134.2%

The first two groups come from accredited schools. ICVA also lists an “ultimate performance passing rate” of 89% for 2024‑2025, for senior students from schools accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), and its annual report says that figure includes only second take information for repeat candidates. In June 2026, ICVA said an independent audit of the NAVLE was underway and expected to finish in the first quarter of 2027.

ICVA: 2024-2025 NAVLE Technical Report (PDF) ↗ICVA: 2025 Report to Licensing Boards (PDF) ↗ICVA: 2024-2025 Annual Report (PDF) ↗ICVA: Progress on the NAVLE audit ↗

How many times can you take the NAVLE?

Five. From the March 2026 window, every candidate gets five attempts, and attempts made before December 1, 2025 don’t count toward that limit. ICVA also ended its old waiver process.

Senior students can take the exam up to two times before graduating. Canceling before your exam date doesn’t use an attempt, but starting the tutorial does. Each retake needs a new application and the full fee.

ICVA: NAVLE retake policy ↗Apply for the NAVLE →NAVLE Self-Assessments and other study options →
Sources: ICVA and 11 more. Checked November 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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