NNAAP · written exam and skills test · free

CNA Practice Test 2026: Free NNAAP Questions

Free nurse aide questions with every answer explained, plus the skills test as checklists, with the critical steps that fail a skill marked.

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70 questions · 2 hours · then 5 skills in 30 minutes

Written and checked by the QuizCram editorial team · Updated November 10, 2026

WRITTEN EXAMAnswer sheet12345678970 Qs · 2 HOURSSKILLS TEST · SKILL 1 OF 5Hand hygieneCriticalCriticalALL 5 SKILLS MUST PASS

CNA exam format: two tests, both must be passed

The CNA exam is two tests. On the NNAAP, which Credentia runs in many states, the written exam has 70 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours, 60 scored and 10 unscored pretest items. The skills evaluation has you perform 5 randomly chosen skills in 30 minutes in front of a Nurse Aide Evaluator, and all 5 must be rated Satisfactory. You need both to be listed on your state’s nurse aide registry. The pass mark, fees, retake rules and even the vendor differ by state.

Sources: Credentia, the 2024 NNAAP · Credentia exam overview (time limit) · South Carolina candidate handbook

The clipboard

CNA written exam and skills test, side by side

Most practice sites cover only the written test. The evaluator scores the skills test from a checklist, so this guide keeps both on one board.

Part 1

Written (or oral) exam

  • 70 multiple-choice questions; 60 count toward your score, 10 are pretest items being tried out
  • 2 hours for the whole written exam
  • An oral version is offered if reading English is hard for you: 60 questions read aloud plus 10 word-recognition items, and you pass both parts

What the 60 scored questions cover

Where to spend your study time

Basic nursing skills and activities of daily living together are 57% of the scored questions, about 34 of 60. Spiritual and cultural needs is 2%, about one question. Practice in that order, but skip nothing: every area appears.

Weights: the 2024 NNAAP written content outline. Grouped, that is physical care 64%, psychosocial care 10%, role of the nurse aide 26%.

Part 2

Skills evaluation

  • 5 skills, 30 minutes for all of them. In Tennessee’s Credentia handbook, hand washing is always one, and one of the other four is a measurement skill
  • A Nurse Aide Evaluator watches and scores each step; another candidate plays the client
  • Every skill must be Satisfactory. Missing a critical step fails that skill, however well you do the rest
  • Measurement skills are scored against the evaluator’s own reading, within a set margin

What a skill sheet looks like

  1. Turn the water on, then wet your hands and wrists
  2. Use soap and rub every surface of wrists, hands and fingers for at least 20 seconds, hands below your elbows and fingertips pointing downCritical
  3. Clean under the nails by rubbing your fingertips in the opposite palm
  4. Rinse every surface, still with hands below the elbows and fingertips downCritical

Skills format: South Carolina and Tennessee NNAAP handbooks. Credentia’s North Carolina and California handbooks list the same 23 skills; each state tests one of the two blood pressure skills, so 22 can come up on your day.

The pass mark for the written exam is set by each state program, not published as one national percentage. QuizCram’s practice target is 80%. It is an internal target for mixed practice, not an official number.

Practice

Free CNA practice questions with answers

Ten questions from the free set, one outline area at a time. Pick an answer to see whether you are right and why.

CNA practice test booklet10 questions

  1. 1.Basic Nursing Skills

    A nursing assistant gets a resident's blood on her hands through a torn glove. What is the best immediate action?

  2. 2.Activities of Daily Living

    A nursing assistant is giving perineal care to a female resident. Which technique is correct?

  3. 3.Self Care/Independence

    A nursing assistant is helping an unsteady resident walk with a gait belt. Which technique is correct?

  4. 4.Emotional and Mental Health Needs

    A confused resident insists someone is stealing his belongings. What is the best response?

  5. 5.Spiritual and Cultural Needs

    A resident's religion forbids certain foods at meals. How should the nursing assistant respond?

  6. 6.Client Rights

    A visitor asks a nursing assistant for details about another resident's illness. What should the assistant do?

  7. 7.Communication

    When reporting a change in a resident's condition to the nurse, what is the best approach?

  8. 8.Member of the Health Care Team

    Which of these tasks is outside the nursing assistant's scope of practice?

  9. 9.Legal and Ethical Behavior

    Which action by the nursing assistant protects resident confidentiality?

  10. 10.Basic Nursing Skills

    A nursing assistant is helping a resident with range-of-motion exercises. Which technique is correct?

Practice one outline area at a time

  1. 01Basic nursing skills35%7 questions
  2. 02Activities of daily living22%5 questions
  3. 03Self care and independence7%4 questions
  4. 04Emotional and mental health8%4 questions
  5. 05Spiritual and cultural needs2%4 questions
  6. 06Client rights8%4 questions
  7. 07Communication7%4 questions
  8. 08Member of the care team6%4 questions
  9. 09Legal and ethical behavior5%4 questions

Skills test

CNA skills test: the skills list and the critical steps

South Carolina’s NNAAP handbook lists 23 skills; 19 of them have at least one critical step. Each is below with its type. The step-by-step checklists live in the CNA skills test checklist.

  1. 1Hand hygiene (hand washing)Infection control · 2 critical
  2. 2Apply one knee-high elastic stockingPersonal care · 1 critical
  3. 3Help a client walk with a transfer beltMobility and safety · 2 critical
  4. 4Help with a bedpanPersonal care
  5. 5Clean an upper or lower denturePersonal care
  6. 6Count and record a radial pulseMeasurement · 1 critical
  7. 7Count and record respirationsMeasurement · 1 critical
  8. 8Put on and take off a gown and glovesInfection control · 2 critical
  9. 9Dress a client with a weak right armPersonal care · 1 critical
  10. 10Feed a client who cannot feed themselvesPersonal care · 1 critical
  11. 11Modified bed bath (face, one arm, hand, underarm)Personal care · 1 critical
  12. 12Measure and record blood pressure with an electronic machineMeasurement · 1 critical
  13. 13Measure and record urinary outputMeasurement · 1 critical
  14. 14Measure and record the weight of a client who can walkMeasurement · 1 critical
  15. 15Passive range of motion: one knee and anklePersonal care · 2 critical
  16. 16Passive range of motion: one shoulderPersonal care · 2 critical
  17. 17Turn a client onto their sideMobility and safety
  18. 18Catheter care for a female clientInfection control · 2 critical
  19. 19Foot care on one footPersonal care
  20. 20Mouth carePersonal care · 1 critical
  21. 21Perineal care for a female clientInfection control · 2 critical
  22. 22Transfer from bed to wheelchair with a transfer beltMobility and safety · 2 critical
  23. 23Measure and record blood pressure by hand (manual)Measurement · 1 critical · not tested in SC

Try one: hand hygiene

Hand washing is the first skill on the list and the habit every other skill ends with. Tick each step as you practice it out loud; the two critical steps are about where your hands point.

Skill 1 · Infection control

Hand hygiene (hand washing)

7 key steps2 critical

Measurement skills and their margins

For these skills the evaluator takes the same reading. Your recorded number has to fall within this margin of theirs, or the skill fails.

Measurement skills and the margin allowed
SkillRecorded within
Count and record a radial pulse± 4 beats
Count and record respirations± 2 breaths
Measure and record blood pressure with an electronic machineexactly as displayed
Measure and record urinary output± 25 mL
Measure and record the weight of a client who can walk± 2 lb
Measure and record blood pressure by hand (manual)± 8 mm Hg (not tested in SC)

Where the measurement skills go wrong

  • Count a pulse or breathing for one full minute, not 30 seconds doubled
  • Read urine at eye level with the container on a flat surface, rounding up to the next 25 mL line

Each of these 6 skills shows its margin at the top of its sheet in the tick-box checklists.

The steps every skill shares

Before every skill

  1. Greet the client by name and say who you are
  2. Explain what you are going to do, face to face, slowly and clearly
  3. Give privacy: pull the curtain, close the door or use a screen

After every skill

  1. Take gloves off without touching the outside, if you wore them
  2. Leave the call light (signaling device) where the client can reach it
  3. Clean your hands before you record anything or leave

Skills, steps and margins: South Carolina NNAAP skills list (Credentia), summarized in our own words.

By state

Who runs the CNA test in your state

Every state asks for a written test and a skills test, but each state picks the exam and the company that gives it.

NNAAP through Credentia

Many states use the National Nurse Aide Assessment Program, now developed and run by Credentia. South Carolina and North Carolina are two; each has its own Credentia handbook with its own skills list, fees and rules.

South Carolina handbook · North Carolina exam overview

Another vendor or a state exam

Other states contract a different testing company, such as Prometric or Headmaster, or write their own exam. The format is similar (a written test and a hands-on skills test), but the question count, skills list and pass mark can differ.

Your training program and your state’s nurse aide registry page name the vendor. Use that vendor’s candidate handbook as the final word.

Age, hours and the registry

Training hours and minimum age are set by each state. South Carolina, for example, asks for a 100-hour state-approved program with 40 hours of clinical training before you can test.

CNA requirements by state, with each state’s page

Example: South Carolina eligibility criteria.

Test day

CNA test day rules and retakes

These rules come from South Carolina's Credentia handbook. Most NNAAP states have similar ones, but check your own state's handbook.

Arrive early, ready to work

Plan to arrive 30 minutes before your start time, for both the written exam and the skills test. If you are late or missing a required item, you are not allowed to test and the fee is not refunded.

Be fit for the skills test

You must be able to perform every skill. A candidate on light duty or restricted activity for medical reasons may not take the skills evaluation, though they can still take the written or oral exam.

If you do not pass a part

You must pass both parts within 2 years of finishing your training or within 3 attempts, whichever comes first. After that, South Carolina requires you to train again before testing.

What to bring on test day

South Carolina’s handbook lists exactly these items and says no other materials are allowed. You check in separately for the written exam and the skills test, with ID both times.

  • Two forms of proper identification
  • Three sharpened No. 2 pencils and an eraser
  • Your Social Security number (know it)
  • A watch with a second hand
  • Non-skid shoes

Sources: exam day at the test center · testing policies · eligibility criteria · introduction (South Carolina, Credentia).

Mock exam

CNA mock exam, timed like the written test

70 questions mixed by the NNAAP outline weights, on a 2-hour clock, with a score for each area.

  • One question at a time, on the real exam’s clock
  • Flag questions and come back to them
  • A score for every outline area at the end

The free mock is 40 questions. It practices the written exam only; practice the skills out loud with the checklists.

Take the free 40-question mock

CNA study tools

Every free question with its answer, the skills as checklists, and one printable page of numbers.

Your CNA study checklist

CNA study guides

Question check form

How every question is checked

Outline
Written from the 2024 NNAAP content outline, never copied from a real exam
Answer
Each explanation says why the right answer is right and the others are not
Machine
No duplicates, no missing explanations, no answer given away by its length
Date
Sources checked November 10, 2026

Checked byQuizCram editorial team

Spot an error? [email protected] · Editorial policy · Not affiliated with or endorsed by Credentia, NCSBN or any state.

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CNA exam FAQ

Questions, pass mark, skills, retakes and age, with the source for each.

On the NNAAP written exam that Credentia runs, you get 70 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours: 60 are scored and 10 are unscored pretest questions (source: Credentia NNAAP candidate handbook). States that use another vendor, such as Prometric or Headmaster, set their own format.

There is no single national percentage. Each state program and testing vendor sets its own pass mark, so check your state's candidate handbook. QuizCram's 80% is an internal practice target, not an official cut score.

In the Credentia NNAAP skills evaluation (South Carolina handbook), you perform 5 randomly chosen skills in 30 minutes while a Nurse Aide Evaluator watches and a volunteer plays the client. All 5 must be rated Satisfactory, and missing a critical step fails that skill. Skill lists differ by state.

You must pass both the written (or oral) exam and the skills evaluation. In South Carolina's Credentia handbook, you have 2 years from finishing training or 3 attempts, whichever comes first; after that you retrain and test again. Other states set their own retake rules.

Minimum age differs by state and by training program, and some employers set their own. QuizCram's CNA requirements by state guide lists each state's rule with a link to the state's own page.

Yes. Open the exam simulator and sit a timed mock exam of 40 questions built from the free questions, once, with no signup. At the end you see where you stand in each exam area, so you know what to study next.

It splits the questions across the exam's areas using the weights the NNAAP (Credentia) publishes, then picks questions inside each area, favouring ones you missed before and never repeating one within a run. A retake is a new draw, so you will meet different questions. It is a practice mock exam, not an official replica of the real exam.