Help your students achieve success when applying for an APRN certification examination with ANCC!

Complete application. Await their Authorization to Test letter, then schedule the exam through Prometric. Study for exam using the study aids available on each APRN certification webpage. Take exam. Results are available immediately after testing. Students become ANCC certified once they pass the exam. Renew their ANCC certification every five years.

Students may apply prior to graduation. If they decide to do so, they must:

Create an ANCC account. Request school to submit unofficial transcripts showing all required courses have been completed along with Validation of Education (VOE) Form. The VOE must be completed by faculty. Be sure to fill out the GAP Analysis form, if necessary. This is needed for post-grad certificates or post-grad doctoral degrees and should be sent together with the student's VOE form.
Complete application. Await their Authorization to Test letter, then schedule the exam through Prometric. Study for exam using the study aids available on each APRN certification webpage. Take exam. Results are available immediately after testing. If a student passes the exam, they will not be ANCC certified until they have submitted their official transcripts with degree conferral information to ANCC headquarters. Renew their ANCC certification every five years.

Recommendation for students:

Apply for verification so it will be ready as soon as they become certified. The first one is free.

Where documents should be sent:

  Mail
ANCC Certification
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 400
Silver Spring, MD 20910

How to Display ANCC Credentials

ANCC recommends the following order for displaying credentials:

Degrees (list highest to lowest) State license ANCC credential
Nurse Practitioner (NP) Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP   AGACNP-BC Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP  AGPCNP-BC Psychiatric-Mental Health NP  PMHNP-BC
(Across the Lifespan) Family NP  FNP-BC Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Adult-Gerontology CNS  AGCNS-BC Specialty Nurse Executive, Advanced  NEA-BC

ANCC offers the APRN nursing certifications in five nurse practitioner (NP) specialties and one clinical nurse specialist (CNS) specialty. Each certification web page delivers eligibility criteria, online application, and exam preparation resources. For more information, please visit the Our Certifications. Each certification provides a number of resources to help students achieve success! Check out the:

Test Content Outline Test References Sample Questions

When ready, students can schedule a time and place most convenient for them to take their ANCC exam through the Prometric website.

Retesting

Students must wait 5 days after examination to submit a restest application online. Students may retake a certification exam as soon as 60 days from the last testing date. All candidates who retake the exam must submit a retest application and meet eligibility requirements in effect at that time. They will be given a new 120-day window for testing.

Students have three opportunities to successfully pass an exam within a 12-month period. Here is how you can help them succeed.

Successful tips for retesting:

Compare the areas that the student needs improvement in to the Test Content Outline in order to determine which areas need additional focus. Encourage your students to use ANCC study resources in areas where improvement is needed. These resources are located on the left hand side of each certification page.

 

Renewing an ANCC Certification

Renewing an ANCC certification demonstrates a continuing commitment to life-long learning. ANCC certifications are renewed every five years. We make every effort to notify certified nurses of upcoming renewal dates. However, it is the responsibility of each nurse to be aware of his or her expiration date and submit renewal documents on time.

Encourage your students to store their professional development activities in their ANCC account. It will make the renewal process easier.

ANCC recommends renewal applications be submitted up to three months before the expiration date to ensure seamless certification.

 

Verifying Student Certifications

Exciting News! ANCC now offers the option for faculty to log in to the APRN Faculty Veriification Portal and check their students certifications for free.

Contact us at certificationoutreach@ana.org to register and set up an account. The following information is required to set-up the initial account:

Full name of primary faculty contact for the school/university
(First name, Last name, Middle initial, if any) School Business Address School Email Address Phone Number

Please Note: The school email address that you provide will be the designated User ID for the APRN Faculty Verification school account. It must not be an email address that is already associated with another ANA/ANCC account (for example a personal account).

 

The aggregate data reports are generated on an annual basis, usually at the end of the 1st quarter the next year.  ANCC has a policy, in order to protect confidentiality, to only generate reports for schools that have had a minimum of 3 or more graduates to (1) graduate and (2) test within a given year.  For example, if your school had fewer than 3 graduates for a calendar year who tested within that calendar year, there will not be a report generated. 

School requests for a copy of their specific program s aggregate data report must be sent in writing to Certificationoutreach@ana.org

ANCC School Code Listing -Request to be Added/Request for School Name Change

Schools/Universities requesting to be added to the school code list,  or for official school name changes/updates, must complete the ANCC School Code Add_Change School Name Form. The completed form must be submitted electronically to CertificationOutreach@ana.org

The school code listing designation makes it easier for your APRN graduate students to correctly select their school name from the scroll list under My Education on the ANCC online application system. The school code designation is also a unique identifier for your ANCC school aggregate data report information.

APRN Faculty Webinars

ANCC extends to APRN Faculty and graduate students complimentary webinars on topics relevant to their APRN certification journey. Please send an email request to CertificationOutreach@ana.org to schedule these complimentary webinars.