Updated 2026 · Dubai Health Authority rules
The short answer: 50 percent
For the Registered Nurse (RNT0312) and Assistant Nurse (ARN5061) categories, the DHA computer-based assessment is passed at 50 percent. The paper is 150 questions, so that is 75 correct answers.
The three-hour appointment covers registration, the introduction to the process and the exam itself — the time you actually spend answering is less than three clean hours, which is why timed practice matters more than raw reading hours.
Why you keep seeing other numbers
DHA sets the pass score by role. Across the full list of licensed healthcare professions the requirement ranges roughly 45–70%, so a page written about dentists, pharmacists or a specialist physician will quote a mark that has nothing to do with nursing. When you compare advice online, check which category it describes before you trust the number.
50 percent is the floor, not the target
A 50 percent pass mark sounds generous until you sit a real paper. The DHA question style is scenario-led: you are given a patient situation and asked for the first, best or safest nursing action, and two of the four options are usually defensible. Small misreadings cost marks quickly.
Aim for these before you book
- Consistently 70 percent or better on timed, full-length mock tests — not on untimed practice sets
- No single domain sitting below 60 percent accuracy
- Stable scores across two mocks a week apart, so you know the result is not a good day
- Comfortable finishing 150 questions with time left to review flagged items
How to close the gap
Score plateaus almost always come from the same handful of domains: prioritisation, pharmacology safety and maternal-newborn. Work from your mock analytics rather than starting the syllabus again from page one — reviewing rationales for the questions you got wrong is the single highest-return hour in DHA preparation.
Source
Figures on this page come from the Dubai Health Authority's published licensing assessment guideline and licensing manual. DHA can revise them, so confirm on dha.gov.ae before you pay or book.
Check the current rules on dha.gov.ae
Preparing for the DHA exam?
Our self study track includes around 6,000 questions with rationale and full-length mocks in the real Prometric format — the fastest way to see whether you are safely above 50 percent.