Illinois real estate exam FAQ

It is the licensing examination for Illinois broker candidates. PSI administers it for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Standard broker candidates take a national real estate principles portion and an Illinois state-law portion.

PSI administers the examination under contract with IDFPR’s Division of Real Estate. PSI handles eligibility processing, scheduling, testing, and score reporting. IDFPR controls licensure.

There are 140 scored questions: 100 national and 40 Illinois state questions. PSI may add 5 to 10 unscored experimental questions. Experimental items are not identified and use exam time.

Yes. PSI describes the ILREP exam as computer-based and multiple-choice. The special weighted scenario format described in the booklet applies to the Instructor and Managing Broker National portion, not the standard broker exam.

Current official sources conflict. PSI’s June 24, 2026 Candidate Information Booklet allows 150 minutes for national and 90 minutes for state, totaling four hours. PSI’s Illinois exam landing page displays 3.5 hours. Confirm the duration in your PSI account and appointment confirmation before test day.

You need 70% on the national portion and 75% on the Illinois portion. That corresponds to 70 of 100 scored national points and 30 of 40 scored Illinois points.

Yes. PSI scores national and Illinois separately. A high result on one portion cannot offset a failing result on the other.

PSI now states the national broker standard as 70% raw. The booklet says that this is equivalent to the former scaled score of 75 and that the underlying passing standard did not change.

No. PSI may add 5 to 10 experimental questions, but they do not affect your score. They are not labeled and they count against the available time, so answer every question as if it is scored.

The 11 national areas are Property Ownership, Land Use Controls, Valuation, Financing, Contracts, Agency, Property Disclosures, Property Management, Transfer of Title, Practice of Real Estate, and Real Estate Calculations. Contracts is the largest at 19%.

The current broker state outline has four areas: Licensing Requirements, 10%; Illinois Real Estate License Act, 40%; Additional Illinois Laws and Regulations, 25%; and Disclosures, 25%. Older three-area summaries are outdated.

The standard 75-hour path requires a candidate to be at least 18, have a high school diploma or equivalent, and complete the required education through an IDFPR-approved provider. PSI also lists attorney and endorsement paths.

The standard path requires 75 class hours: 60 hours of Broker Pre-License Topics and 15 hours of Broker Pre-License Applied Real Estate Principles Interactive.

PSI says the education used for the standard 75-hour qualification is valid for two years after satisfactory completion.

The attorney qualification route requires the candidate to be at least 18 and admitted to practice law by the Illinois Supreme Court. The booklet says attorney candidates do not need prior eligibility approval or document upload before scheduling.

PSI lists a broker endorsement route for a person licensed as a broker or equivalent in another jurisdiction, active and in good standing, who completes the approved 30-hour Broker Pre-License Endorsement Course. Applicants must be prepared to prove good standing in every jurisdiction where an equivalent license is held.

The current PSI booklet lists the broker examination fee as $58. Exam fees are nonrefundable and nontransferable.

Create an account through PSI’s Illinois real estate program, upload the required course certificate for the standard education path, wait for eligibility approval, select the exam and delivery format, choose an appointment, and pay.

Yes. PSI offers both test-center and remote-proctored appointments. Remote testing requires a compatible computer, webcam, microphone, stable internet connection, and completion of PSI’s system checks.

The booklet says PSI has examination centers in many regions across the United States and that Illinois candidates may test at those locations. Available sites appear when you search after payment.

PSI requires cancellation or rescheduling notice at least two days before the appointment to avoid forfeiting the fee. For a Monday appointment, the booklet gives the previous Saturday as the deadline. Voicemail is not accepted as cancellation.

Yes. The booklet says you forfeit the examination fee if you do not test within one year of the date PSI receives it.

PSI directs candidates who need accommodations or alternative arrangements to use the accommodation request process linked in the Candidate Information Booklet. Submit the request early enough for review before scheduling or testing.

PSI tells candidates to arrive 30 minutes before the appointment for sign-in, identification, and orientation. Late arrival can result in denial of admission and forfeiture of the exam fee.

Bring one current, valid, unexpired government-issued ID with a photo and signature. The name must match the name used to schedule. The booklet lists a driver’s license, state ID, passport, military ID, alien registration card, and qualifying foreign government ID among accepted examples, with a remote-testing restriction on military ID.

The booklet allows physical calculators at test centers but not during remote-proctored exams. Phones, smartwatches, and other electronic devices are prohibited. Use only the tools PSI authorizes for your appointment format.

Test-center candidates receive scratch paper and a pencil and must return them at checkout. Remote candidates may not use scratch paper.

Remote-proctored exams do not allow breaks. At a test center, a candidate may leave the room only to use the restroom after obtaining proctor permission, and no extra time is added.

No. PSI provides an introductory tutorial of up to 15 minutes before the examination. The booklet says tutorial time does not count toward exam time.

PSI says your score appears on screen when the examination ends and a score report is emailed. If you fail, the emailed report includes diagnostic information by examination type.

Before the standard fourth-failure reset, follow PSI's instructions for repeating only the failed portion. Check your attempt count and remaining eligibility, then use the failed diagnostic to plan your study.

A standard broker candidate may attempt the examination up to four times during the two-year eligibility period. PSI’s landing-page FAQ describes that as the initial attempt plus up to three retakes.

The PSI booklet says a standard broker candidate must repeat the 75-hour broker pre-license education and the entire examination after failing the fourth attempt. Education-exempt candidates follow the exception stated in the booklet.

Passing does not issue a license automatically. Follow the score-report instructions and check the application and score-validity requirements for your route. If you passed portions on different dates, confirm the deadline that applies to your record instead of treating a general one-year summary as a personal deadline calculation.

Passing the exam and receiving a license are separate from being authorized to perform brokerage activity. Illinois brokers generally conduct licensed activity under a sponsoring broker. Follow the IDFPR application and sponsorship instructions for your situation.

IDFPR's November 2025 table reports first-time broker pass rates of 58% national and 55% Illinois state, with 340 and 399 takers respectively. These are historical, separate portion results. They do not give a combined first-sitting pass rate or a current 2026 rate.

The table is attached to the December 11, 2025 board minutes, PDF page 11. We found no 2026 broker rate table in the January through September 2026 minutes linked from the board directory when checked October 29, 2026.

No. A pass rate measures the share of a specified group that passed in a stated period. The broker passing standards are 70% raw national and 75% Illinois. The historical 55% first-time Illinois pass rate does not lower its 75% score requirement.

The published table does not link the same candidates across portions. Averaging or multiplying its separate percentages cannot tell you how many people passed both portions on their first sitting. Read the reporting period, group and taker counts with each rate.

A school rate concerns its defined group. Check whether it counts all enrolled students, exam takers or only respondents; first-time or eventual results; one portion or both; and which dates and sample size apply. Different definitions can make school rates unsuitable for direct comparison. They are not automatically statewide figures or your personal chance of passing.

Use diagnostic performance rather than question count alone. National has 100 scored questions, but Illinois requires the higher 75% passing score and tests state-specific rules. Study both every week, then give extra time to the larger weak area.

PSI assigns seven scored national questions, or 7%, to Real Estate Calculations. Number-based concepts can also appear in Property Ownership and Financing.

Yes. Pass Illinois offers a free eight-question diagnostic and a free five-problem math drill. The questions are original study material, not copied or reconstructed live exam items.