TL;DR: The November 2025 PNLE passed 40,692 of 45,192 examinees, a record 90.04%. The February 2026 cycle passed 3,611 of 8,162, or 44.24%. That gap is about who sits each cycle, not about difficulty. No government agency accredits independent review centers, so every claim they make about themselves is self-reported — this page tells you what is checkable and what is not.
Two Cycles, Two Completely Different Numbers
If you take one thing from this page, take this table.
| Cycle | Passers | Examinees | Passing rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 2025 | 40,692 | 45,192 | 90.04% |
| February 2026 | 3,611 | 8,162 | 44.24% |
Both were given by the Board of Nursing in 21 testing centres nationwide. The November 2025 results came out on 26 November 2025, fifteen working days after the exam; the February 2026 results on 6 March 2026, five working days after.
The difference is the population, not the paper. November is the cycle almost every fresh graduate sits, which is why it is more than five times larger and overwhelmingly first-time takers. February is small and carries a much higher proportion of repeat takers. Quoting a February rate as evidence that "the NLE is getting harder", or a November rate as evidence that it is easy, both miss what the numbers are made of.
There is a third figure worth knowing if you are working abroad: the May 2026 Special Professional Licensure Examination, given in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei, passed 38 of 102 (37.25%). That is a different, much smaller examination for overseas-based Filipinos and is not comparable to the domestic cycles.
What this means for your review plan. If you are graduating and sitting the main cycle, you are entering the cohort that historically performs best, and your competition for a passing mark is nobody — the exam is criterion-referenced, not curved. If you are retaking, you are entering a cycle where the odds published look far worse, largely because of who else is in the room.
Nobody Accredits Review Centers
This is the fact that should reframe how you read every claim below, and almost no review center guide states it.
In 2006 Executive Order 566 placed review centers under the supervision of the Commission on Higher Education. In Review Center Association of the Philippines v. Ermita, decided en banc on 2 April 2009, the Supreme Court declared EO 566 and CHED Memorandum Order No. 30, s. 2007 unconstitutional, holding that the President could not transfer regulation of review centers to CHED without legislation.
So there is no government accreditation, no permit list and no minimum standard for an independent review center. What follows from that:
- The PRC publishes Performance of Schools, not performance of review centers. No center's claimed passing rate can be checked against any official release, because no such release exists. A claim of "100% since 2001" is unfalsifiable by design.
- ISO certification is an audit of a management system, bought by the company being audited. It is a genuine certificate and it is not a quality rating of the teaching.
- A university-run review programme is the partial exception, because the institution running it is regulated even though the review course is not.
- Your enrolment contract is your only protection. Read it.
What This Page No Longer Claims
An earlier version carried a price for every center on this list and a comparison table with a price column. None of those figures were traceable to a center's own published rates. They have been removed rather than restated as vaguer ranges.
Review centers price by branch, by programme, by cycle and by promotion. A figure in a listicle is not a quotation, and a figure that is two years old is worse than none. The only reliable number is the one the branch gives you in writing this week.
The Centers People Ask About Most
Our directory lists 47 review centers offering NLE preparation, spread across Davao City, Manila, Iloilo City, Cebu City and other cities nationwide. These are the names that come up most, with what each one verifiably is.
CEVAS
CEVAS Manila runs nursing review alongside language and other programmes, with branches including Makati and Quezon City. Its distinguishing offer is a retake policy allowing students to repeat the review programme until they pass, and one-to-one coaching as an alternative to group classes. Confirm the terms of the retake policy in writing — that is the whole value of it.
Carl Balita Review Center (CBRC)
CBRC is the largest chain in the country by branch count. On its own site it states 181 domestic branches plus six international ones, ISO 9001:2015 certification issued by SOCOTEC Certification Philippines, and more than forty review programmes. Those are the company's figures. Branches relevant to nursing reviewees include Quezon City, Caloocan and Pasig.
Ray A. Gapuz Review System
RAGRS is a long-established nursing reviewer with the highest Google review count of any review center in our directory, and a branch in Dagupan. It advertises a perfect passing record. Treat that as marketing: as explained above, the PRC publishes no review center performance table, so the claim cannot be checked either way.
Merge Review Center
Merge specialises in health-profession reviews rather than covering every licensure exam, which is the main reason people choose it over a general chain.
St. Louis Review Center
St. Louis Review Center began in Baguio and covers several licensure examinations across a wide branch network. It is the practical choice if branch proximity matters more to you than nursing specialisation.
AHEAD
AHEAD runs review and tutorial programmes across Metro Manila, including a Magallanes branch.
Megareview, Top Rank and Amici
Megareview, Top Rank Review Academy and Amici, with a Quezon City branch, are the other Metro Manila names that recur. Top Rank's Morayta academy sits inside the University Belt, which is the practical draw for graduates already based there.
University-run and online-only programmes
Several nursing schools run internal review programmes for their own graduates. These are the one category where an accreditation question has an answer, because the institution is regulated even if the course is not, and they are often the cheapest option available to you. Ask your own college of nursing first.
Fully online, self-paced providers also exist and are the cheapest format in the market. They suit people who have already proved to themselves that they finish self-directed work.
Comparison Table
Formats, locations and self-published claims are checkable. Prices and passing rates are not, so they are not in this table.
| Review center | Base | Formats | What is checkable |
|---|---|---|---|
| CEVAS | Manila and branches | Classroom, online, one-to-one | Retake-until-you-pass policy, branch list |
| CBRC | Nationwide chain | Classroom, online, final coaching | 181 domestic branches, ISO 9001:2015 (its own figures) |
| RAGRS | Manila, Dagupan | Classroom, small group, online | Longest-running nursing-specialist reviewer |
| Merge | Manila | Classroom, online | Health-profession specialisation |
| St. Louis | Baguio origin, nationwide | Classroom, online | Branch reach across three island groups |
| AHEAD | Metro Manila | Classroom, online, hybrid | Metro Manila branch cluster |
| Top Rank | Manila and branches | Classroom, online | University Belt location |
| Amici | Manila, Quezon City | Classroom, group study | Branch network |
| University-run programmes | Varies | Varies | Run by a regulated institution |
How to Choose Without a Regulator to Lean On
Get the rate in writing, from the branch, this week. Not head office, not a Facebook post, not a guide.
Count the timed mock examinations. This is the part of a review course hardest to reproduce alone and the part most worth paying for. Ask how many, under what conditions, and whether you get item-level feedback.
Ask who teaches, not just what is covered. Every syllabus looks the same on paper.
Read the re-review policy before you need it. Duration, coverage, attendance conditions, materials.
Match the format to your actual life. The commonest reason a paid review fails is non-attendance.
Check your own school first. If your college of nursing runs an internal programme, it is built on the curriculum you were taught and is often the cheapest option you have.
Look at your school's PRC performance, not a review center's claim. The Performance of Schools table is published with every release. Our guides to the best nursing schools and nursing schools by NLE passing rate work from it.
Sources
- PRC — November 2025 Nurses Licensure Examination results, released in fifteen working days (official)
- PRC — February 2026 Nurses Licensure Examination results, released in five working days (official)
- PRC — May 2026 Nurses Special Professional Licensure Examination results (official)
- PRC — Examination results archive
- Review Center Association of the Philippines v. Executive Secretary Ermita, G.R. No. 180046, En Banc, 2 April 2009 (full text)
- Carl Balita Review Center — company profile and branch count (the center's own figures)
- SchoolFinderPH — Best Nursing Schools in the Philippines
- SchoolFinderPH — Top Nursing Schools by NLE Passing Rate
- SchoolFinderPH — Review centers directory
Disclaimer: review center fees, schedules, branches and inclusions are set by each center and change between cycles. Nothing on this page is a quotation. Examination dates and results releases are announced by the PRC; confirm both with the PRC rather than from any secondary source.
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare programmes, tuition and reviews across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH.
