What You Can and Can’t Bring to a Pearson VUE Testing Center
Bring only your government-issued, non-expired physical ID with a name matching your Pearson registration exactly, plus your ATT information; everything else either goes in a locker or stays home. All electronic devices (including smart watches, smart rings, and smart glasses) must be powered off and sealed in a bag, and study materials of any kind are grounds for dismissal.
This is the article to read two days before your exam, not two hours before. Some of these rules require planning — you cannot fix a smartwatch problem in the parking lot if you drove there wearing your only watch.
The short version: bring your ID, bring your ATT information, bring a small bag of things you will only touch during breaks, and leave everything else at home.
Category 1: Required
Your identification. Government-issued, non-expired, physical, in Roman characters, with a recent photo and your signature. The name must match your Pearson registration exactly.
US and Canadian centers accept a passport book or card, driver’s license, state or provincial ID, permanent residence card, or military ID. International centers, including Puerto Rico, accept only a passport book or card.
If your ID has no signature, bring a second ID that matches. If your legal name changed, bring the original marriage license, divorce decree, or court order.
Without acceptable ID you will be turned away and your fee is gone. Photograph your ID the night before as a check, then physically put it in your bag.
Category 2: Absolutely prohibited — zero tolerance
These items must be powered off and sealed in a plastic bag provided by the test center. You cannot access them at any point, including during breaks.
All electronic devices. NCSBN’s current list names cell phones, mobile phones, smartphones, smart watches, smart glasses, smart rings, MP3 players, fitness bands, jump drives, and cameras.
The inclusion of smart glasses and smart rings is a recent addition to the prohibited list, and it catches people out. A smart ring looks like jewelry and is easy to forget you are wearing. Take it off at home.
Study materials of any kind. Notes, flashcards, review books, printed cheat sheets, any test-prep material. Bringing NCLEX study aids into the test center is grounds for dismissal — not just confiscation.
Your own calculator. An on-screen calculator is provided.
Dictionaries and conversion tables. Including translation dictionaries.
Weapons of any kind.
The sealed-bag rule is worth emphasizing. Unlike your other belongings, prohibited electronics are not merely stored — they are sealed, and reaching for them at any point during the exam session, including on a break, is a serious problem.
Category 3: Stored in your locker, accessible during breaks
These are allowed at the test center but not in the testing room. You can get to them when you step out on a break.
- Bags, purses, wallets
- Watches — including ordinary analog watches. There is a clock on your screen.
- Coats, hats, outerwear, including fleece jackets
- Scarves and gloves
- Medical aids and devices not on the approved comfort aid list
- Food and drink
- Gum, candy, cough drops, mints
- Lip balm
Two things that surprise people: you cannot bring water to your seat, and you cannot have gum or a mint during the exam. Both live in the locker.
Jewelry larger than roughly a quarter inch must go in the locker. Wedding bands and small stud earrings are fine. Large statement pieces are not.
Hats, scarves, gloves, and outerwear are excluded from the testing room with exceptions for religious and cultural dress. If you wear a hijab, turban, kippah, or similar, you are accommodated — expect a visual inspection, which is standard and not personal.
Category 4: Provided to you
An erasable note board and marker. Handed to you before you enter. Raise your hand for a fresh one.
An on-screen calculator.
Earplugs, on request — but you cannot bring your own. Ask at check-in if noise is a concern for you.
Category 5: Comfort aids — allowed without pre-approval
Pearson VUE maintains a published Comfort Aid List of items permitted into the testing room after visual inspection, with no advance approval required. This is separate from formal testing accommodations.
Commonly included: eyeglasses, hearing aids, inhalers, casts, braces, bandages, cough drops, eye drops, glucose tablets, auto-injectors such as EpiPens, medical alert bracelets, canes, crutches, walkers, wheelchairs, scooters, and non-electronic handheld magnifiers.
Conditions apply: devices must be attached to your body, must be inaudible to others, and nothing may be plugged into the workstation.
If you have a medical need not covered by that list — a glucose monitor with a phone-linked reader, a device requiring power, medication requiring specific timing — that is a formal accommodation request through your nursing regulatory body, and it must be arranged well before your exam. See the accommodations article.
Check the current Comfort Aid List directly rather than relying on any summary, including this one. It is updated.
What to actually pack
In your pocket: ID. That is the only thing that has to be on you.
In a small bag for the locker: a water bottle, a compact snack that is easy to eat standing up, any medication, a light layer for a cold room, your phone powered off.
Leave at home: every study material, your smartwatch, your smart ring, and anything you would be upset to have sitting in a shared locker area for five hours.
Three failure modes worth naming
The smartwatch. People wear them reflexively. Check your wrist in the car.
The expired license. Check the expiration date this week, not on exam day. A renewal is not something you can arrange in an hour.
The name mismatch. Recently married or divorced candidates most often. Compare your ATT name to your ID name today. If they differ, bring the legal document — or better, resolve the discrepancy before your appointment.
References
- National Council of State Boards of Nursing. NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin, April 2026. https://www.ncsbn.org/public-files/NCLEX_Examination_Candidate_Bulletin_April_2026.pdf
- National Council of State Boards of Nursing. NCLEX Rules. https://www.nclex.com/nclex-rules.page
- National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Exam Day. https://www.nclex.com/exam-day.page
- National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Acceptable Identification. https://www.nclex.com/acceptable-id.page
- National Council of State Boards of Nursing. NCLEX Examination Candidate Rules. https://www.nclex.com/files/2024%20NCLEX%20Examination%20Candidate%20Rules_English.pdf
- Pearson VUE. Comfort Aid List. https://www.pearsonvue.com/us/en/test-takers/accommodations/comfort-aid-list.html
All sources accessed August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Common follow-up questions on Exam Basics & Logistics.
What ID do I need for the NCLEX?
A government-issued, non-expired, physical ID in Roman characters with a recent photo and your signature, and the name must match your Pearson registration exactly. US and Canadian centers accept a passport, driver's license, state or provincial ID, permanent residence card, or military ID; international centers accept only a passport. Without acceptable ID you are turned away and your fee is gone.
Can I bring my phone or smartwatch into the exam?
No. All electronic devices (cell phones, smart watches, smart glasses, smart rings, fitness bands, and more) must be powered off and sealed in a plastic bag provided by the center, and you cannot access them at any point, including during breaks. The article singles out the smartwatch and smart ring as items people forget they are wearing, so take them off at home.
Can I bring water or gum to my seat?
No. Water, gum, candy, mints, and cough drops are allowed at the test center but must stay in your locker, accessible only when you step out on a break. The article notes these two surprise people because you cannot bring water to your seat and cannot have gum or a mint during the exam.
What is provided at the test center?
An erasable note board and marker, handed to you before you enter (raise your hand for a fresh one) and an on-screen calculator. Earplugs are available on request, but you cannot bring your own; ask at check-in if noise is a concern for you.
What are comfort aids and do I need approval?
Comfort aids are items on Pearson VUE's published Comfort Aid List permitted into the testing room after visual inspection with no advance approval, such as eyeglasses, hearing aids, inhalers, glucose tablets, EpiPens, and medical alert bracelets. Devices must be attached to your body, inaudible to others, and nothing may be plugged into the workstation; a medical need not on that list is a formal accommodation arranged well before your exam.
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