Hi Claudia,
The NCS exam will be curved. After the exam window closes, a careful analysis of all exam questions will be completed. Here are some details provided by the ABPTS:
“What happens between my test completion and notification?
Although there is a time lapse between the close of the examination window and the availability of examination results, there is a lot activity occurring during this period of time. Key validation takes place after the exam window closes in March. Key validation is a process of preliminary scoring and item analysis of the exam data, followed by careful evaluation of the item-level data, to identify potentially flawed or incorrect items prior to final scoring. During April and early May, standard setting committees are convened at PSI to participate in content-based standard setting studies. The outcome of each committee’s standard setting meeting is the recommendation of a passing standard of each of the specialty examinations during their May meeting. PSI then scores the specialist certification examinations and candidates are notified of their exam results as soon as this information is received by the specialist certification office.”