To take an NBME self-assessment for USMLE prep, register at the MyNBME examinee portal, buy the form that matches your exam (or redeem an institutional voucher), launch it in a supported desktop browser within 90 days of purchase, choose standard-paced or self-paced timing, and review the score report that generates as soon as you finish. Each comprehensive assessment costs $62, and the shorter Clinical Science Mastery Series exams cost $21, for the July 2025–June 2026 cycle.1NBME. Self-Assessment Services Your score report stays in your account for two years.2NBME. NBME Self-Assessment Services Voucher Program Guide
Pick the Form That Matches Your Exam
NBME offers four product lines, and each one maps to a specific stage. Buying the wrong one burns both the fee and the 90-day access window.
The Comprehensive Basic Science Self-Assessment (CBSSA) is for Step 1. It covers anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, pharmacology, and the other foundational sciences in four sections of 50 questions.3NBME. Comprehensive Basic Science Self-Assessment Since Step 1 moved to pass/fail-only scoring in January 2022, the CBSSA no longer predicts a three-digit score; it reports an equated percent correct and an estimated probability of passing.4USMLE. USMLE Step 1 Transition to Pass/Fail Only Score Reporting
The Comprehensive Clinical Science Self-Assessment (CCSSA) is built for Step 2 CK, with the same four-section, 50-question structure and a probability-of-passing estimate. NBME notes that the probability is not a guarantee, since your knowledge can shift between the practice test and the real exam.5NBME. Comprehensive Clinical Science Self-Assessment
The Comprehensive Clinical Medicine Self-Assessment (CCMSA) targets Step 3. Same format, with diagnostic feedback by content area and answer explanations for every item.6NBME. Comprehensive Clinical Medicine Self-Assessment
The Clinical Science Mastery Series is a set of shorter, subject-specific exams aligned with the content of NBME Clinical Science Subject Exams. They’re useful during clerkships or for spot-checking a weak rotation. Subjects available include Clinical Neurology, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Medicine (Internal Medicine), Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Surgery.1NBME. Self-Assessment Services
Before you pay, check the NBME site to confirm you’re buying the most current form. NBME occasionally retires older forms and replaces them to keep question pools aligned with current USMLE content specifications, with no fixed calendar.7NBME. New Versions of NBME Self-Assessment Forms Now Available
Set Up Your MyNBME Account
Register at mynbme.org with your name, email, and date of birth. The name you enter must match your government-issued ID exactly. If your ID shows only one name, put it in the Last Name field and leave the other name fields blank.8MyNBME. Register – MyNBME You can link a USMLE ID, AAMC ID, or NBME ID during registration, but those fields are optional.
Create only one account. Multiple accounts can lock you out of past score reports and purchased assessments. Verify your email to activate the account and reach the dashboard.
Pay or Redeem a Voucher
From the dashboard, go to the self-assessment section, select the assessment type and the specific form version, and add it to the cart. A standard credit card completes the purchase. Once the transaction clears, the form shows up under “Purchased Assessments” and the 90-day countdown begins.2NBME. NBME Self-Assessment Services Voucher Program Guide
If your school handed you a voucher, choose “Voucher” as the payment method at checkout and enter the voucher ID.2NBME. NBME Self-Assessment Services Voucher Program Guide One trap worth knowing: vouchers expire one year from the date NBME issued them to your institution, not from the date the school gave them to you.1NBME. Self-Assessment Services If you’ve been sitting on one, check the expiration before you plan around it.
Get Your Computer Ready
Self-assessments run in a web browser on a desktop or laptop. iPads are not supported.9NBME. Standard NBME Web-based Testing Requirements Confirm your setup before launch:
- Operating system: Windows 11 or macOS 13 (Ventura) or higher.
- Browser: Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari 16+. Enable JavaScript, CSS, cookies, and pop-ups.
- Screen: at least 1024 × 768 resolution. NBME recommends 17 inches for desktops and 13 inches for laptops.
- Internet: broadband with at least 25 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up.
- Turn off scheduled Windows updates, virus scanner updates, and any adware or toolbar extensions before you start.
ASUS laptops with a touchpad or touchscreen are blocked, and virtual machines won’t work either.9NBME. Standard NBME Web-based Testing Requirements If your usual machine falls into one of those categories, borrow another one before test day.
Choose Standard-Paced or Self-Paced
You pick a timing mode before you launch.
Standard-paced mode mirrors real USMLE timing: four sections of 50 questions, one hour and 15 minutes per section, with the clock running continuously inside each section.3NBME. Comprehensive Basic Science Self-Assessment Use this mode when you’re within a few weeks of your real exam and want to rehearse pacing along with content.
Self-paced mode extends the limit to five hours per section, which gives you room to think through questions and look things up between sections.6NBME. Comprehensive Clinical Medicine Self-Assessment This mode fits earlier in a study plan, when finding gaps matters more than simulating test-day pressure.
You can pause a session at any point by selecting Pause and confirming. The timer stops and the browser window usually closes. When you return to your assessment list and click Resume, you land on the exact section and question where you left off.10NBME. Examinees Self-Assessments You don’t need a single uninterrupted block, though a full sitting is the more realistic rehearsal.
Read Your Score Report
Results generate immediately after you finish. You get an equated percent correct (ECP) score, which adjusts for the difficulty of the specific form you took so scores stay comparable across versions. For the comprehensive assessments, the report also gives an estimated probability of passing the corresponding Step.5NBME. Comprehensive Clinical Science Self-Assessment
Performance is broken down by content area, and you can review every question, see whether you answered it correctly, and read explanations for both the right answer and each wrong option. The item-level review is where most of the study value sits.
Both the performance profile and the interactive score report stay in your MyNBME account for two years after the assessment. You can print the performance profile during that window.10NBME. Examinees Self-Assessments
Track Multiple Assessments with INSIGHTS
If you plan to take several self-assessments across a study period, INSIGHTS is NBME’s longitudinal dashboard that pulls results together in one place. It shows trends across your assessments: which content areas keep coming up weak, how scores have moved over time, and where your per-question timing is off. Self-assessments started and completed within the last two years appear in the tool. The one exception is the International Foundations of Medicine (IFOM) Clinical Science Self-Assessment, which doesn’t feed into INSIGHTS.11NBME. INSIGHTS Resources
A Note on Testing Accommodations
Formal testing accommodations are for the real USMLE, not for the self-assessment. If you need accommodations for Step 1, Step 2 CK, or Step 3 because of a physical, psychiatric, or learning disability, submit the request through usmle.org. NBME reviews each request individually, and the standard review window is 60 business days (roughly three months), so file well before your planned test date.12NBME. NBME, USMLE and FSMB Release an Informative Testing Accommodations Video For the self-assessment itself, the self-paced mode and the pause feature give you flexible time without a formal request.