How many times can you take the Texas real estate exam?

You may attempt each portion three times. After a third failure of either portion you must complete 30 additional classroom hours of qualifying education for each failed portion before registering again, all within the one year your application remains valid.

When can I schedule the Texas real estate exam?

Only after TREC has reviewed the education uploaded with your application. TREC then emails scheduling instructions from no-reply@notices.trec.texas.gov, and Pearson VUE takes appointments up to one calendar day in advance, subject to availability.

The Texas Real Estate Exam: How You Get a Seat, the Odds, and Retakes

Updated October 16, 2026 from Texas Real Estate Commission records.

Statewide, 56.12% of sales-agent candidates pass both portions on the first attempt — 16,824 of 29,980 in TREC's current reporting window. Nearly half of candidates fail at least one portion first time, so the rules for retakes matter as much as the rules for booking.

56.12%

pass first time

16,824 of 29,980, statewide

$43

per attempt

paid to Pearson VUE

portions

national and state

attempts per portion

then 30 more hours before a fourth

You cannot book it when you like

The exam is administered by Pearson VUE, but the order of events is set by TREC. You file your application with your course certificates uploaded; TREC reviews that education; and only then does an email arrive from no-reply@notices.trec.texas.gov with instructions for scheduling the state and national portions. Filing before your coursework is finished does not get you a seat sooner. Once authorised, Pearson VUE takes appointments up to one calendar day before the day you want to test, subject to availability.

Pearson VUE also asks you to check that your registered name matches your government-issued ID exactly. If it does not, contact TREC to correct it before exam day.

What is on it

Two portions: a national portion on general real estate principles and a state portion on Texas law and practice. Pass both to be licensed; TREC's pass rates count a candidate as passing only when both are passed on the first attempt. The number of questions, the time allowed and the passing score for each portion are set out in Pearson VUE's candidate handbook and content outline, linked from its Texas real estate page — read the current edition there rather than a figure copied onto a course site.

The odds, and why the school matters

By school the spread is wide. Among providers with at least 100 exams, Learn Texas Real Estate Online has the highest rate, and 12 of 30 reported providers sit below TREC's own minimum of 44.94%. (Disclosure: AceableAgent and Colibri Real Estate, both in that table, pay this site commission.) A provider's rate is the single best public signal of how well its course prepares people for this exam, and TREC publishes it for every approved provider — though its own table is alphabetical and hidden from search engines. Every provider's pass rate, sorted by exam volume, with sample sizes

If you fail

Each retake is another $43 and another wait for an appointment.
After three failures of either portion, you must complete 30 additional classroom hours of qualifying education for each portion you failed before you may register again. Pearson VUE's instructions are to send the course certificates with a copy of your third failed score report to documents@trec.texas.gov, and to allow 5–7 business days for TREC to re-authorise you.
Your application's one-year clock keeps running throughout. TREC gives you one year from filing to meet every requirement, so repeated failure can run into that deadline.
Two providers attach a refund to this exact threshold. AceableAgent states it refunds your money if you do not pass after three attempts, with conditions; Colibri Real Estate offers a "Pass or Don't Pay" guarantee on selected packages, in their wording, rather than all of them. Both are the provider's own claim, not a measurement of ours, and a refunded course fee does not return the $43 attempts, the 30 extra TREC hours or the time left on your one-year clock — read the current terms on their page before relying on either. AceableAgent's Texas course · Colibri's Texas packages (affiliate links: commission to this site at no extra cost to you; both claims read off each provider's own page on September 22, 2026).

Preparing for it

Exam prep is sold separately from the 180 hours of coursework, so it is a second decision rather than part of the course package. Pearson VUE sells a general practice test for $19.95; it covers the national portion only — Pearson states that no state-specific practice test is available. Course providers sell their own prep products, among them PrepAgent, Aceable's exam-prep product (affiliate link: this site earns a commission at no extra cost to you — check any provider's results against TREC's passage-rate table before you buy, including that one).

After you pass

Passing does not make you a working agent. TREC issues the license once every requirement is met — and issues it inactive until a broker sponsors you. The form letter from Pearson VUE may say to expect a license within 10 business days; TREC states that is currently not accurate because of REALM Portal integration problems. Where TREC's queue stands today

Common questions

How many times can you take the Texas real estate exam?: You may attempt each portion three times. After a third failure of either portion you must complete 30 additional classroom hours of qualifying education for each failed portion before registering again, all within the one year your application remains valid.
How much does the Texas real estate exam cost?: $43 per attempt, paid to Pearson VUE.
When can I schedule the Texas real estate exam?: Only after TREC has reviewed the education uploaded with your application. TREC then emails scheduling instructions from no-reply@notices.trec.texas.gov, and Pearson VUE takes appointments up to one calendar day in advance, subject to availability.