National + State Portions
The Real Estate Broker exam is the upper-tier license that lets you open your own brokerage, hold client funds in escrow, and supervise other agents — a step beyond the salesperson license. Administered for state real estate commissions through Pearson VUE, it pairs a national (general) portion with a state-law portion, and you must clear both to qualify. A failed or expired result can stall a brokerage launch, a managing-broker promotion, or a multistate expansion. This page breaks down exactly how the broker exam is built, how it's delivered, and how to get it done right the first time.
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How the broker licensing exam is built — at a glance
~75–80
Multiple-choice questions on federal and broad real estate principles — agency, contracts, finance, valuation, fair housing, and transaction math — drawn from Pearson VUE's national content outline.
~30–55
Questions on your state's license law, commission rules, brokerage and escrow requirements, disclosure duties, and agency statutes. Count and time vary by commission.
2
Each portion is graded on its own and you must pass both. Pass one and fail the other, and most states let you re-sit only the failed portion within a set window.
Most states give roughly 150 minutes for the national portion and 60–90 minutes for the state portion, for a combined seat time around 3.5–4 hours including check-in. You typically sit both portions in one appointment, and a simple on-screen calculator is provided for finance and proration math.
There is no adaptive engine — every candidate answers a fixed bank of scored questions plus a handful of unscored pretest items mixed in. The pass mark is a raw percentage, usually 70–75% on each portion. In Pennsylvania, for example, the broker exam needs 60 of 80 correct nationally and 30 of 40 on the state portion. You see a pass/fail result and a diagnostic breakdown at the test center.
This page covers Pearson VUE broker licensing exams across these states — portion structure varies by commission
| State Broker Exam | Commission | Structure |
|---|---|---|
| Texas Broker | TREC | National + Texas state portions |
| North Carolina Broker | NCREC | Single combined national + state exam |
| Pennsylvania Broker | PA Real Estate Commission | 80 national + 40 state questions |
| Arizona Broker | ADRE | National + Arizona state portions |
| Nevada Broker | Nevada Real Estate Division | National + Nevada state portions |
| Florida Broker | FREC / DBPR | Single 100-question exam (no national/state split) |
| Indiana Broker | Indiana Real Estate Commission | National + Indiana state portions (in-person) |
Exact question counts, time limits, and OnVUE eligibility differ by state. Florida's broker exam is a single 100-question exam (with a 75% pass mark) rather than a national/state split, and Indiana currently requires in-person testing. Always confirm the structure in your state's Pearson VUE candidate handbook before booking.
Indicative weighting of the national broker content — exact shares vary by state outline
The broker-tier core: agency relationships, fiduciary duties, broker liability for affiliated agents, office policy, and supervising salespersons — material that goes well beyond the salesperson exam.
Purchase agreements, contingencies, breach and remedies, title and deeds, escrow, and settlement statements — including prorations and the documents a closing broker must reconcile.
Mortgages, loan types, RESPA and TILA disclosures, appraisal approaches, and the calculation questions — commission splits, LTV, proration, and area — that trip up the most candidates.
Estates and interests, encumbrances, land use and zoning, the federal Fair Housing Act, disclosure of property condition, and environmental and lead-paint obligations.
Your state's licensing statute, commission rules, trust-account and escrow handling, advertising rules, and disciplinary standards — the entire second portion you must clear separately.
The broker exam reuses much of the salesperson framework but adds depth on brokerage management, escrow handling, and supervisory liability. The math and trust-account questions are where many experienced agents stumble, because day-to-day practice rarely forces you to compute prorations or reconcile a settlement statement from scratch under a clock.
Two ways to sit the exam — and what to expect on test day
You sit the exam in a quiet, monitored room at a Pearson VUE center. Staff verify your government-issued ID, store your belongings in a locker, and watch the room by camera. You receive an erasable noteboard and an on-screen calculator. Most broker candidates take both the national and state portions in a single appointment.
Where your state allows it, you take the exam from a private room at home through OnVUE, monitored by AI plus a live proctor. You install the OnVUE app, run a system test, complete a 360° room scan, and submit ID and headshot photos for greeter check-in. Some states (such as Indiana) do not offer OnVUE for real estate — confirm eligibility first.
A valid, unexpired government photo ID with a name matching your registration exactly. OnVUE captures a headshot and ID images that a live greeter reviews before the exam unlocks.
A cleared desk, no second monitor, no phone or notes within reach, and a full webcam sweep of the room. No one else may enter, and most reference materials are prohibited.
Stay in frame and on-camera throughout. Breaks are usually not allowed on OnVUE, and talking aloud, looking off-screen, or dropping connection can flag or void the session.
The broker license is the path to running a brokerage
Unlike the salesperson exam, there are real gates to sit it
Difficulty: The broker exam is harder than the salesperson test it builds on — denser legal language, brokerage-management scenarios, and more calculation-heavy items, all under a longer clock. Experienced agents often underestimate the trust-account and proration math, then run short on time across two portions. That time-and-detail pressure is exactly the pain point our help is built to remove.
The broker exam is a two-portion, time-boxed gate between you and your own brokerage or managing-broker role. Exam Assist pairs you with a vetted real estate specialist and works on a pay-after-you-pass model — so the risk sits with us, not you. No upfront fee, guaranteed results: Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end, and you settle only after the verified result.
Tell us your state and commission, whether you're sitting at a Pearson VUE center or via OnVUE, your test date, and which portions you still need to clear. A couple of minutes over WhatsApp, Telegram, or Discord.
We review your state's portion structure, OnVUE rules, and timeline and tell you plainly whether it's realistic — before any money is discussed. If it isn't a fit, we say so.
Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end. You're matched with a specialist who maps the work around the national and state portions, the trust-account and proration math, and the OnVUE environment — discreetly and confidentially.
You only pay once your passing result is confirmed on both portions. No verified pass, nothing owed.
Support tailored to OnVUE check-in, room scans, and the at-home monitoring flow for licensing exams.
ServiceGuidance for remotely proctored test sessions, ID verification, and live-greeter environments.
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Straight answers about the real estate broker licensing exam
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