Saudi Prometric exam (SCFHS) for nurses
The Saudi Prometric exam is the licensing test run by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) and delivered by Prometric. For nurses it is the Saudi Nursing Licensure Examination (SNLE): 200 multiple-choice questions, and you pass with a scaled score of 500 on a 200-800 scale. Here is what SCFHS publishes, and where its own sources disagree.
- Regulator
- Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS), exam dates and rules
- Nurse exam name
- Saudi Nursing Licensure Examination (SNLE)
- Applied for on
- Mumaris+, the SCFHS platform
- Delivered by
- Prometric, at a test centre
- Pass score
- 500 on a scaled range of 200 to 800 (not a percentage)
- Questions
- 200
- Time
- 4 hours (two parts of 120 minutes with a 30-minute break)
- Pass mark
- Scaled score 500 (scale 200 to 800)
- Format
- Single best answer, 4 options
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Original questions across the Saudi Prometric exam for nurses (SNLE) topic areas, with an explanation after every answer and your estimated readiness at the end.
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Original questions for DHA, DOH, MOH, SCFHS, QCHP, OMSB, Kuwait and NHRA, each with a full explanation. Read them on one page or download the PDF. No sign-up.
What people mean by the Saudi Prometric exam
Nurses say "Saudi Prometric exam", "SCFHS exam" and "SNLE" for the same thing. SCFHS sets the exam and decides who may sit it. Prometric only runs the computer test in the test centre. SCFHS says Prometric and Pearson VUE are exam providers and not its platform. Your application, your scheduling permit and your result all sit with SCFHS on Mumaris+.
If you want the shared Prometric picture across countries, see the Prometric exam overview. This page is only about Saudi Arabia.
SNLE format
SCFHS publishes the nurse format in its applicant guide. The questions are single-best-answer: four options, one correct. Up to 10% of the 200 items are pilot questions that do not count towards your score, and you cannot tell which ones they are.
| Item | SNLE |
|---|---|
| Questions | 200 multiple-choice questions, including up to 10% unscored pilot items |
| Structure | Two parts of 100 questions |
| Time | Two blocks of 120 minutes with a 30-minute break |
| Options per question | Four, single best answer |
| Pass score | 500 on the 200-800 reporting scale |
Time per question is tight but fair: 120 minutes for 100 questions is just over a minute each. Practise at that pace before test day. Our timed mocks let you do that.
The published SNLE blueprint
SCFHS publishes how the exam is spread across four areas, with a margin of about 5% either way for each. The same weights appear in its 2024 and 2025 guides.
| Area | Weight | What sits inside |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing Fundamentals | about 20% | Fundamentals, physical assessment, pharmacology, basic sciences |
| Adult Nursing | about 40% | Medical, surgical, critical care, community, mental health and psychiatric |
| Maternal-Child Nursing | about 30% | Maternity, gynaecology, neonatal, paediatric medical and surgical |
| Nursing Management and Leadership | about 10% | Resources, quality and safety, teams, informatics, research and evidence-based practice |
The 2025 guide also lists seven competencies that run across all four areas: professionalism, patient-centred care, evidence-based practice and research, leadership and management, quality and safety, health education and promotion, and communication and information technology. Expect questions about safe, ethical practice in every area, not only in the management section.
Adult Nursing is the biggest block, so a weak medical-surgical foundation costs the most marks.
Who can sit the SNLE
The guide asks for a recognised primary degree (a BSN or equivalent) from an accredited health science programme. It also allows applicants who have started their internship year, or who are one year from graduating. The guide does not set a number of years of experience to sit the exam. Licence classification is a separate step, so check the SCFHS classification pages for your own file.
Booking on Mumaris+ and the test windows
You apply through Mumaris+. When your application is accepted you receive a scheduling permit with an eligibility period, then you book a seat at Prometric. SCFHS notes that scheduling may not be open more than three months ahead.
Exams run in set test windows, 11 periods in the 2026-27 year. The published list includes 1 to 24 November 2026, 1 to 24 December 2026 and 3 to 21 January 2027. Check the SCFHS page for the rest.
- You cannot sit twice in the same window.
- If you are more than 30 minutes late, or you do not turn up, it counts as an attempt.
- Bring the ID you registered with: a passport, or a Saudi national or residence ID.
How many attempts you get: the sources disagree
This is the part most websites get wrong, because three SCFHS-linked documents say three different things.
- Applicant guides: up to four attempts a year, counted from the first attempt until you pass. After a pass you may take two more attempts to improve your score.
- Mumaris+ dates page (the most recent): failing the first attempt gives two additional attempts, and the exam can be repeated one year after the first attempt if you fail.
- Prometric FAQ from 2022: three attempts in total, and an eligibility number that lasts three months.
We cannot tell you which one applies to you today. Read the rules shown on your own Mumaris+ account before you pay for a seat, and plan as though you have fewer attempts than you hope for.
Fees
We did not find an exam fee amount on the SCFHS pages we checked, so we do not quote one. Websites that give a Saudi riyal figure are usually estimates. Prometric's 2022 FAQ says rescheduling 16 to 30 days before the exam costs USD 50, and there is no refund at 15 days or fewer. Treat that as out of date until you see it on your permit.
Rules about exam content
SCFHS forbids recording, memorising or passing on exam questions, including in test-preparation groups. Penalties run from a written warning to permanent disqualification. Gulf Health Exam is independent and not part of SCFHS or Prometric. Our questions are written fresh from the published blueprint. We never use recalled papers, and neither should you.
How to prepare in a few weeks
- Take the free 20-question check (no sign-up) to see which of the four areas is weakest.
- Put most study time into Adult Nursing and Maternal-Child Nursing, which together are about 70% of the exam.
- Use adaptive practice on the weak areas, and read the explanation for every answer, including the ones you got right.
- Two weeks out, sit a full 200-question mock in two 120-minute blocks with a 30-minute break.
If you are a nurse, start with the SNLE guide for nurses. Then see SCFHS exam questions and how results work.
Sample questions with explanations
Community and public health
A community nurse runs a clinic for adults with type 2 diabetes and established peripheral neuropathy. The nurse teaches daily foot inspection, correct footwear and when to seek care for blisters. What is the main aim at this level of prevention?
- To detect diabetes early in people who have no symptoms
- To prevent ulceration and amputation in people who already have complications
- To prevent healthy adults from developing type 2 diabetes
- To reduce population sugar intake through public policy
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: B. These patients already have neuropathy, so the aim is to reduce disability and limb loss. This is tertiary prevention, which limits complications and supports rehabilitation in established disease.
- A. Detecting undiagnosed disease is secondary prevention; these patients are already diagnosed.
- C. Preventing onset in healthy adults is primary prevention.
- D. Policy change on sugar intake is a population-level primary or primordial measure.
Key point: Tertiary prevention reduces complications and disability in established disease.
Based on: IDF Clinical Practice Recommendations on the Diabetic Foot; Stanhope & Lancaster, Public Health Nursing, 10th ed.
Critical care and emergency
A nurse finds a 58-year-old man unresponsive in his hospital bed. He is not breathing normally. The scene is safe and there is no response to shouting or shaking his shoulders. Which action should the nurse take next?
- Shout for help, activate the emergency team and get the defibrillator, checking a pulse for no more than 10 seconds
- Give two rescue breaths with a pocket mask, then go to call the emergency team
- Insert an oropharyngeal airway and attach a pulse oximeter before calling for help
- Check the medical record for the resuscitation status before starting any action
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: A. After confirming unresponsiveness and absent or abnormal breathing, the rescuer shouts for help and activates the emergency response system so that a defibrillator and team arrive quickly. A pulse check of up to 10 seconds is done at the same time, and compressions start immediately if no definite pulse is felt.
- B. Starting with breaths delays recognition of arrest and activation of the team; compressions take priority in adults.
- C. Equipment and monitoring are secondary and delay help and compressions.
- D. Code status should be known by the team, but a delay to check the chart is not appropriate in an unresponsive, non-breathing patient unless a valid DNAR is already known.
Key point: Activate the emergency response and get the defibrillator early; start compressions without delay if there is no definite pulse.
Based on: AHA 2025 Guidelines for CPR and ECC
Fundamentals of nursing
A 46-year-old man is admitted with a 4-week cough with blood-streaked sputum, night sweats and weight loss. His chest X-ray shows an upper-lobe cavity and pulmonary tuberculosis is suspected. Which precaution is most appropriate while results are awaited?
- Single room with the door left open for observation, and staff wearing a surgical mask
- Positive-pressure single room with the door closed, and staff wearing a gown and gloves
- Standard precautions only, with the patient wearing a surgical mask in a shared bay
- Negative-pressure single room, door closed, staff in fit-tested N95 (FFP2) respirators
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: D. Tuberculosis is spread by small airborne droplet nuclei, so the patient needs an airborne infection isolation room (negative pressure, door closed) and staff need a fit-tested particulate respirator. Isolation starts on suspicion, before confirmation.
- A. Surgical masks do not filter airborne droplet nuclei and the door must stay closed.
- B. Positive pressure would push contaminated air out into the corridor; gown and gloves do not protect against inhalation.
- C. Standard precautions are not enough for suspected TB; a bay shares air with other patients.
Key point: Suspected TB, measles or varicella: airborne precautions, negative-pressure room and N95 respirator.
Based on: CDC Guideline for Isolation Precautions (2007, updated); WHO guidelines on TB infection prevention and control (2019)
Common questions
What is the Saudi Prometric exam?
It is the SCFHS licensing exam taken on a computer at a Prometric test centre. For nurses it is called the SNLE, the Saudi Nursing Licensure Examination.
Is the SCFHS exam the same as the Prometric exam?
Yes, in Saudi Arabia they are the same test. SCFHS sets and marks it, and Prometric delivers it. You apply and see your result on Mumaris+.
What is the pass score for the SNLE?
The published pass score is 500 on a scaled range of 200 to 800. It is a scaled score, not a percentage of questions correct.
How many questions are in the SNLE?
200 multiple-choice questions in two parts of 100, with up to 10% unscored pilot items. You get two 120-minute blocks with a 30-minute break.
How many times can I take the SCFHS exam?
SCFHS sources disagree: up to four a year in the applicant guides, three in total in a 2022 Prometric FAQ, and two extra after a first fail on the Mumaris+ page. Check your own account.
How much is the SCFHS exam fee?
We did not find a fee amount on the SCFHS pages we checked, so we do not quote one. Look at your Mumaris+ application for the current figure.
Where is the SNLE blueprint published?
In the SNLE Applicant Guide on the SCFHS website. It lists four areas: Fundamentals about 20%, Adult Nursing about 40%, Maternal-Child about 30%, Management and Leadership about 10%.
Related guides
Sources
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