Texas Real Estate License Exam Prep: Format and Study Plan

Q: What's a realistic study plan before test day?

Weeks 1 to 2: Work through your 180 hours of pre-license coursework if you haven't already, or review your course notes by content category if you finished a while back. Build a single reference sheet per national content area (contracts and agency, practice, appraisal, ownership and title, disclosures, financing, math, property characteristics).

By the AgentExamHub team | Updated July 15, 2026

The Texas real estate sales agent exam has 135 total items split into a national portion (85 items, 150 minutes) and a state portion (50 items, 90 minutes), and you must score 70% on each portion independently, 56 of 80 scored national items and 28 of 40 scored state items, per the Pearson VUE Texas Candidate Handbook. A strong score on one portion doesn’t offset a weak score on the other, so your study plan needs to cover both.

TREC requires 180 classroom hours of pre-license education before you’re eligible to sit for the exam, split across six 30-hour courses. That coursework is your foundation; the study plan below assumes you’ve completed it and are preparing specifically for exam day.

What’s the exact format of the Texas exam?

Portion	Scored items	Pretest items	Time	Passing score	Fee
National	80	5	150 minutes	56 correct (70%)	$43 (covers both portions)
State	40	10 (per TREC’s published item structure)	90 minutes	28 correct (70%)	Included in the $43 fee
Total	120 scored	15	240 minutes (4 hours)	Pass both independently	$43

Source: Texas Real Estate Candidate Handbook, Pearson VUE, January 2026 revision.

What does the national portion cover?

The national portion follows Pearson VUE’s standard 8-category outline: Real Estate Contracts and Agency (16 items, the largest single category), Real Estate Practice (14 items), Property Value and Appraisal (11 items), Real Property Characteristics (9 items), Forms of Ownership and Title Recording (8 items), Property Disclosures and Environmental Issues (8 items), and Financing and Settlement and Real Estate Math Calculations (7 items each). This is the same content every Pearson VUE state tests before layering on state-specific law.

What does the Texas state portion cover?

The state portion tests the Texas Real Estate License Act (TRELA), TREC rules, and Texas-specific practice areas: agency law as codified in Texas, the Information About Brokerage Services form, TREC’s promulgated contract forms, and Texas-specific disclosure requirements like the Seller’s Disclosure Notice. This is content your national-only study materials won’t cover, since it’s unique to Texas statute and TREC rule, not the general national outline.

What happens if you fail a portion?

You retake only the portion you failed, as long as you’re within one year of your original application filing date with TREC, per the Texas Candidate Handbook. You must wait at least 24 hours before scheduling a retake, and reservations for re-examination can’t be made at the test center itself. After three failed attempts on a given portion, you’re required to complete 30 additional classroom hours for that portion before you can retest, or 60 hours if you failed both portions three times.

What’s a realistic study plan before test day?

Weeks 1 to 2: Work through your 180 hours of pre-license coursework if you haven’t already, or review your course notes by content category if you finished a while back. Build a single reference sheet per national content area (contracts and agency, practice, appraisal, ownership and title, disclosures, financing, math, property characteristics).

Week 3: Take a full-length, correctly timed national portion practice run. Score it by category, not just overall percentage, since a 75% overall score can hide a 40% result in contracts and agency, the category that costs you the most points if it’s weak.

Week 4: Shift to the Texas state portion specifically: TRELA provisions, TREC rules on agency disclosure, and the promulgated contract forms. National-only study guides skip this content entirely, so don’t assume your national prep covers it.

Week 5: Run a second full-length simulation of both portions, timed separately (150 minutes national, 90 minutes state), exactly as you’ll take it. Identify your two weakest categories and drill them specifically rather than re-reviewing everything evenly.

Final week: Light review only. Re-read your reference sheets, confirm your test center location and required ID, and stop introducing new material. Cramming new content in the final 48 hours tends to crowd out material you’d already retained.

What ID and check-in rules apply on test day?

Arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled time. You need two forms of current, signature-bearing identification, with your primary ID being government-issued and photo-bearing, matching your registration name exactly. Pearson VUE does not recognize state driver’s license grace periods; an expired ID is treated as expired regardless of a 30-day renewal grace window your state might otherwise allow.

Run your practice sections in the AgentExamHub practice quiz tool, built around the same national and state category weighting as the actual TREC exam, so your practice scores reflect real exam pacing. The AgentExamHub free study guide covers both the national outline and Texas-specific state content in one reference.

FAQ

How many questions are on the Texas real estate exam? 135 total items: 85 on the national portion (80 scored, 5 pretest) and 50 on the state portion, split across two separately timed sections.

What score do I need to pass the Texas real estate exam? 70% on each portion independently: 56 of 80 scored questions on the national portion and 28 of 40 scored questions on the state portion.

How long do I have to complete the Texas real estate exam? 240 minutes total, 150 minutes for the national portion and 90 minutes for the state portion, timed separately.

Can I retake only the portion I failed? Yes, as long as you retest within one year of your original TREC application filing date. You must wait at least 24 hours before scheduling the retake.

What happens after three failed attempts? You must complete 30 additional classroom hours for each portion failed three times (60 hours if both portions were failed three times) before TREC will authorize another attempt.

Bottom line: the Texas exam is really two exams in one sitting, 85 national items in 150 minutes and 50 state items in 90 minutes, each requiring an independent 70% to pass. Study the national outline first since it’s the larger share of content, then dedicate focused time to TRELA and TREC rules before test day.