PassProfessor’s Arkansas program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog. The 19,994-question Arkansas practice bank is built to Pearson VUE’s current outlines, and enrollment opens soon. Join the notify list and we will email you when enrollment opens — then use this guide to plan your path to the exam.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
The Arkansas salesperson exam, in one paragraph
The Arkansas salesperson licensing exam is a two-portion, computer-based test administered by Pearson VUE (Pearson Professional Assessments) for the Arkansas Real Estate Commission (AREC). The general portion has 80 scored questions drawn from the national content outline; the Arkansas law portion has 30 scored questions drawn from Arkansas statutes and Commission rules. Each portion is scored separately on a converted (scaled) scale, and you need a scaled score of 70 on each portion to pass. You become eligible by completing 60 hours of approved pre-licensing education and being approved by AREC, which issues an Authorization to Test good for one year; after passing both portions, AREC must receive your score reports, forms, and fees within 90 days.
Who can take the Arkansas salesperson exam?
Arkansas runs eligibility through the Commission, not the testing company. To sit for the salesperson exam you must:
- Have reached the age of majority — 18. AREC’s application requires proof (a copy of your driver’s license, birth certificate, or other acceptable document).
- Complete 60 classroom hours of real estate education, of which 30 hours must be in the basic principles of real estate, from an accredited post-secondary school or a school or organization licensed by the Arkansas Real Estate Commission (or approved by another licensing jurisdiction the Commission deems equivalent). The authority is Ark. Code Ann. §17-42-303 and Commission Regulation 4.1.
- Submit an application for examination to AREC, with the $50 application fee (cashier’s check or money order payable to AREC — no personal or business checks) and the Background Check Acknowledgment Form.
- Undergo state and federal criminal background checks. Since January 1, 2006, every original-licensure applicant completes both; the Arkansas State Police conducts the check, including an FBI check by fingerprints, and reports to the Commission, which decides eligibility. Arkansas residents: do not have fingerprints made until AREC emails you authorization to do so.
- Be approved and receive an Authorization to Test. AREC accepts applications before you finish the 60-hour course, but your exam eligibility is not issued until AREC has both your proof of course completion and your background-check acknowledgment form. Once approved, you are authorized for unlimited attempts at the portions you qualify for, for one year from the date of approval.
Three special cases worth knowing:
- Already licensed in another state? A salesperson applicant currently licensed elsewhere who passed a uniform, general, or multi-state exam portion that the Commission finds meets generally acceptable standards — in a state whose passing grade for that portion is no lower than Arkansas’s 70 — may be required to take only the Arkansas law portion (Commission Regulation 4.2(d)).
- Military members, veterans, and spouses may qualify for expedited processing, and those holding a substantially equivalent license from another jurisdiction may qualify for automatic licensure under Ark. Code Ann. §17-1-106. Contact AREC for details.
- Workforce Expansion Act waivers. Under Act 725 of 2021, applicants who receive specified public assistance, were approved for unemployment within the last 12 months, or whose income does not exceed 200% of the federal poverty guidelines may qualify for a waiver of the initial application fee. Contact AREC to request it.
PassProfessor note: our program is exam preparation only. It does not provide any of the 60 hours of pre-licensing education credit — you take those hours from an accredited or Commission-licensed provider.
The exam, piece by piece
The two portions are separate exams: you register for each one separately with Pearson VUE, and you may take them together or on different days. Each portion is built from its own published content outline — the same outlines our practice bank is organized around.
The general portion (80 scored questions; national outline effective April 1, 2025)
| Section | Scored questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| I. Real Property Characteristics, Legal Descriptions, and Property Use | 11 | Real vs. personal property, characteristics of land, legal descriptions, public and private land-use controls and encumbrances |
| II. Forms of Ownership, Transfer, and Recording of Title | 9 | Ownership forms and estates, liens and lien priority, deeds, title transfer, recording, and title insurance |
| III. Property Value and Appraisal | 11 | Concepts and principles of value, the appraisal process, the three approaches to value, CMAs and broker price opinions |
| IV. Real Estate Contracts and Agency | 16 | Contract types and required elements, contract performance, sales contracts, agency creation and termination, licensee obligations — the largest section on the exam |
| V. Real Estate Practice | 10 | Broker responsibilities, brokerage agreements, fair housing, and risk management |
| VI. Property Disclosures and Environmental Issues | 9 | Property conditions and hazardous substances (lead paint, asbestos, radon, mold), environmental law, and disclosure obligations |
| VII. Financing and Settlement | 7 | Financing concepts and lender requirements, federal financing regulations (TILA/Regulation Z, TRID, RESPA, ECOA), and settlement and closing |
| VIII. Real Estate Math Calculations | 7 | Area, valuation, commission, financing-cost, settlement-cost, investment, and property-management calculations |
| Total scored | 80 | Plus 5 unscored pretest questions = 85 on screen |
Pearson also builds the general portion to cognitive-level specifications printed in the outline: every item is classified as knowledge (recall of facts and definitions), application (using knowledge in a situation), or analysis (examining a fact pattern to reach a conclusion). Section VIII, math, is all application and analysis — there are no recall-only math questions.
The Arkansas law portion (30 scored questions; state outline effective December 1, 2025)
| Section | Scored questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| I. Duties and Powers of the Real Estate Commission | 4 | The Commission’s general powers, examination of records, investigations, hearings and appeals, suspension/revocation and other sanctions, and the Real Estate Recovery Fund |
| II. Licensing Requirements | 2 | Activities requiring a license and exemptions, types of licenses, eligibility, renewal, license status changes, and places of business |
| III. Statutory Requirements Governing Activities of Licensees | 14 | Independent dealing, agreement expiration dates, broker supervision, advertising, knowledge of property, handling of funds and trust accounts, written agreements, self-dealing, sales contracts, agency agreements and signage, broker price opinions, and property management — nearly half the law portion |
| IV. Other Statutory Requirements | 2 | Trade-organization membership, reporting violations, criminal convictions and disciplinary actions, violations of law or regulations, and time-shares |
| V. Agency Relationships and Disclosures | 8 | Seller/lessor agents, buyer/lessee agents, dual agency and consent, failure to disclose, fidelity and honest dealing, and required vs. waivable duties |
| Total scored | 30 | Plus 10 unscored pretest questions = 40 on screen |
Three structural facts that shape how you should prepare:
- Two portions, two verdicts. Each portion produces its own scaled score and its own pass/fail result. There is no combined score to hide behind.
- The law portion is small but concrete. Thirty questions, almost half of them from one section (Statutory Requirements Governing Activities of Licensees), testing Arkansas-specific rules — trust-fund handling, advertising, broker price opinions, dual-agency consent — that appear in no other state’s exam.
- Contracts and Agency is the general portion’s center of gravity at 16 of 80 questions, and it is tested mostly at the application and analysis levels, not by recall.
Pretest questions. The general portion mixes in 5 unscored pretest questions and the law portion mixes in 10. They are not identified, they do not affect your score, and Pearson uses them to gather statistics for future exams. The only correct strategy is to answer every question as if it were scored — and to pace for 85 questions on the general portion and 40 on the law portion, not 80 and 30.
The math conventions are published. The handbook states that two constants are not available at the test center and should be memorized: 43,560 square feet per acre and 5,280 feet per mile. When a question requires a prorated amount, the question itself specifies whether the calculation uses a 360- or 365-day year and whether the day of closing belongs to the buyer or the seller. Calculations are rounded using standard rounding rules.
The passing standard, explained
You pass with a scaled score of 70 on the general portion and 70 on the Arkansas law portion — the handbook’s score table lists the salesperson standard as “70 (general & state).”
A scaled score is not a percentage of questions answered correctly. Pearson administers multiple forms of each portion; forms differ slightly in difficulty, so a statistical procedure called equating converts raw results onto a scale common to all forms. The handbook is explicit: the scaled score reported to a candidate who passed is neither the number of questions answered correctly nor the percentage answered correctly. Two consequences:
- “70%” study targets are approximations, not conversions. You cannot translate a practice percentage into a predicted scaled score. Prepare until your full simulations on each portion separately sit comfortably above the passing zone.
- Only failing candidates see a number. If you pass, your score report says so and explains how to complete licensure. If you fail, your score report includes a numeric score and diagnostic information for the exam — that diagnostic breakdown is the starting point for a retake plan.
Your score report is issued before you leave the test center, and duplicate reports are available through your Pearson account.
Fees and registration, step by step
Keep the payments separate in your mind — they go to two different places at two different times.
| Payment | Amount | Paid to | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application for examination | $50 | AREC (cashier’s check or money order) | With your application |
| Exam fee — both portions scheduled together | $75 total | Pearson VUE | When you reserve |
| Exam fee — portions scheduled separately | $75 per portion | Pearson VUE | When you reserve each portion |
| License issuance | Fee as AREC directs (see step 6) | AREC | Must be received within 90 days after passing |
Exam fees are paid by credit card, debit card, or voucher at reservation; they are not accepted at test centers, and they are non-refundable and non-transferable except as the change/cancel policy provides (cancel or reschedule at least 48 hours ahead to avoid forfeiting the fee).
The sequence, in order:
- Complete your 60 hours with an accredited post-secondary school or a Commission-licensed provider — 30 of the hours in basic principles of real estate. (You may apply to AREC before finishing, but eligibility waits for proof of completion.)
- Apply to AREC. Send the completed, notarized application for examination, proof of age, the $50 application fee, and the Background Check Acknowledgment Form. Do not get fingerprinted yet — AREC will email you when to start the background-check process.
- Complete the background check. The Arkansas State Police runs the state check and the FBI check (digital fingerprints for residents; a fingerprint card for non-residents). The Commission reviews the reports in deciding eligibility, and the reports must be received and approved before a license can issue.
- Receive your Authorization to Test by email from Pearson once AREC approves you. It is valid for one year from approval and covers unlimited attempts at your qualified portions inside that year.
- Reserve with Pearson VUE. Book online at pearsonvue.com/us/en/ar/realestate.html or by phone at (800) 274-2606. The handbook’s reservation section requires booking at least 48 hours before your desired date; walk-in exams are not available. Create your account in your exact legal name as it appears on your government ID. Schedule both portions in the same transaction and the total exam fee is $75; schedule them separately and each costs $75. The portions do not have to be taken on the same day to get the combined price — AREC’s exam page is explicit that registering and paying at the same time is what earns the discount.
- Pass, then finish within 90 days. After you pass both portions, AREC must receive your passing score reports, the accompanying forms, and your license fees no later than 90 days after you pass. The deadline is statutory — 90 calendar days, no extensions.
One more option on Pearson’s side: Pearson sells its own practice tests for the general portion online. They cover national material only; no official Pearson practice test exists for the Arkansas law portion.
Retakes and score validity
- Retake only what you failed — within six months. The salesperson exam’s two parts may be taken together or separately. If you pass one part and fail the other, you need to retake only the failed part — but if you have not passed both parts after six months, you must retake the entire exam.
- Rebooking rules. Reexamination reservations cannot be made at the test center, and you must wait 24 hours before making one. The exam fee applies to each attempt — and if you are rebooking a single portion, that is the $75 per-portion fee.
- Your authorization window. All attempts must fit inside your one-year Authorization to Test. Build your retake plan inside that window, not against it.
- Your passing result has a hard deadline. Passing is not the finish line: AREC must receive your score reports, forms, and fees within 90 days of passing, or — in the handbook’s words — the statutory deadline passes with no extensions available. Treat the application paperwork as part of the exam.
Test day
- Arrive 30 minutes early. Check in with the test administrator; your identification is reviewed and you are photographed for your score report. You will review and sign a Candidate Rules Agreement before testing.
- Bring two forms of identification. The primary ID must be government-issued, photo-bearing, with a signature, and not expired — a driver’s license, passport, passport card, military ID, or state/national ID card, among the handbook’s list. The secondary ID must carry a valid signature (a Social Security card or a debit/credit card qualifies). Both must be in English, and your registration name must exactly match your IDs; a mismatch means no testing and a forfeited fee. Pearson recognizes no grace periods on expired IDs.
- Nothing goes in with you. Phones, watches, wallets, purses, hats, bags, coats, books, notes, pens, and pencils are stored in a secure area (electronics off) or left in your vehicle. The administrator provides erasable notebooks for notes and calculations; you may not write on them before the exam begins or remove them afterward. Studying is not allowed in the test center.
- The tutorial is free time. You get a computer tutorial before the exam, and the time spent on it does not reduce your exam time. The exam clock starts when you look at the first question and the exam ends automatically when time expires.
- Work the whole exam. One question appears at a time; you can move forward and backward, leave a question unanswered and return to it, and change answers as often as you like within the time limit. There is no penalty for guessing — the handbook’s advice is to answer the questions you know first, then return to the harder ones, and to answer everything before you finish.
- Breaks run on your clock. Unscheduled breaks require the administrator’s attention (raise your hand); the exam clock does not stop, and you must leave the testing room but may not leave the floor or building.
- On time limits, honestly: the current handbook does not publish a separate minute count for each salesperson portion — its Quick Reference tells candidates they will have two to four hours to complete their exam. Pace yourself by the question count (85 on screen for the general portion, 40 for the law portion) and by the clock on screen.
- Results are immediate. You leave with your official score report in hand — “pass” or “fail,” with next-step instructions if you passed and a numeric score plus diagnostics if you did not.
How to study for this exam
The outlines are the syllabus — Pearson publishes exactly what each portion covers, section by section, and the weights above are question counts, not suggestions. A plan built on that structure:
- Give each portion its own readiness check. Because each portion must reach a scaled 70 independently, never judge yourself on a blended average. An 85% blended score can hide a law portion sitting below the line — and the law portion is only 30 questions, so a handful of misses moves it fast.
- Start the Arkansas law portion earlier than feels necessary. Section III alone — Statutory Requirements Governing Activities of Licensees — is 14 of its 30 questions: trust funds and trust accounts, disbursement rules, advertising, written agreements and their expiration dates, broker price opinions, offers and sales contracts, property management. Add Section V’s agency material (seller and buyer agents, dual agency only with consent, which duties are required and which can be waived) and you have covered the most rule-dense, most memorizable part of the whole exam. It rewards direct study more than any other block.
- Weight Contracts and Agency like the exam does. At 16 of 80 general questions, tested mainly through application and analysis items, it is learned through scenarios — offers, counteroffers, contingencies, breach, agency creation and termination — not through definition lists.
- Learn the math conventions before the math. Memorize 43,560 square feet per acre and 5,280 feet per mile (the test center will not provide them), and practice reading each proration question for its stated 360/365-day basis and closing-day rule. The general portion’s seven math questions are all application or analysis — the skill is setting the problem up, not recalling a formula in isolation.
- Respect the pretest questions. Fifteen of the questions you will answer across the two portions (5 general, 10 law) do not count. A question that seems odd or unusually hard may be one of them: answer it, move on, and do not spend scored-question time on it.
- Simulate each portion at full length. Sit a full 85-question general set and a full 40-question law set (scored plus pretest counts, as the real sittings present them), portion by portion, before test day — and schedule the real portions, in the same Pearson transaction, when both simulations are consistently comfortable.
This program’s Arkansas practice bank (19,994 questions, including 5,452 on Arkansas law) is built section-by-section on these same outlines — with one disclosed exception: the delivered bank carries no dedicated drill set under the general outline’s Section II label (Forms of Ownership, Transfer, and Recording of Title), which the program page’s coverage table states openly. The Arkansas Real Estate Exam Prep program page shows the full counted coverage table — and the notify list there will email you when enrollment opens.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the Arkansas real estate exam? 110 scored questions across two portions: 80 on the general portion and 30 on the Arkansas law portion. Another 15 unscored pretest questions are mixed in — 5 on the general portion and 10 on the law portion — so you will actually answer 85 and 40 questions in the two sittings.
What is the passing score for the Arkansas real estate exam? A scaled score of 70 on each portion — the handbook’s table lists the salesperson standard as “70 (general & state).” Scaled scores are equated across exam forms so every version demands the same knowledge; a scaled 70 is not the same as answering 70% of the questions correctly, and passing candidates are not shown a numeric score at all.
How long is the Arkansas real estate exam? The current candidate handbook does not publish a per-portion time limit for the salesperson exam. Its Quick Reference tells candidates they will have two to four hours to complete their exam, depending on the exam booked. Anyone quoting you an exact per-portion minute count is not quoting the current handbook.
Does Arkansas require pre-licensing education for a salesperson license? Yes — 60 classroom hours of real estate education, 30 of them in the basic principles of real estate, from an accredited post-secondary school or a school or organization licensed by the Arkansas Real Estate Commission, under Ark. Code Ann. §17-42-303. Exam-preparation products like PassProfessor provide no part of that credit.
How much does the Arkansas real estate exam cost in total? The verified pieces: a $50 application fee to AREC with your application, and a $75 exam fee to Pearson VUE if you schedule both portions in one transaction ($75 per portion if you schedule them separately). After passing, license fees are also due to AREC within 90 days. Course tuition is set by your education provider.
How do I register for the Arkansas real estate exam? First apply to AREC and wait for approval — you cannot schedule before receiving your Authorization to Test. Then reserve with Pearson VUE online (pearsonvue.com/us/en/ar/realestate.html) or by phone at (800) 274-2606, at least 48 hours before your desired date per the handbook’s reservation section. Walk-in testing is not available.
Can I take the two portions on different days? Yes. The portions are registered separately and may be taken together or separately. Scheduling and paying for both in the same transaction still earns the combined $75 fee even if the sittings fall on different days.
What happens after I pass the Arkansas exam? AREC must receive your passing score reports, the required forms, and your license fees within 90 days of passing — a statutory deadline with no extensions — and your background-check reports must be received and approved before the Commission issues your license.
If I fail one portion, how soon can I retake it? You retake only the failed portion, and you must pass it within six months; if both portions are not passed after six months, the entire exam must be retaken. You must wait 24 hours before making a reexamination reservation, reservations cannot be made at the test center, and the exam fee applies to each attempt.
How long is my Authorization to Test valid? One year from the date the Commission approves your application. Within that year you are authorized for unlimited attempts at the portions you qualify for.
I am licensed in another state. Do I have to take both portions? Possibly not. If you are currently licensed in another state, passed a uniform/general/multi-state portion the Commission accepts as meeting generally acceptable standards, and that state’s passing grade for the portion is no lower than Arkansas’s 70, you may be required to take only the Arkansas law portion, under Commission Regulation 4.2(d). AREC decides waivers case by case.
Are calculators provided on the Arkansas exam? The test administrator provides erasable notebooks for notes and calculations, and personal items — including your own calculator — are not allowed in the testing room. Two constants are not provided at all and must be memorized: 43,560 square feet per acre and 5,280 feet per mile.
What ID do I need at the test center? Two forms of current signature identification: a primary government-issued ID bearing your photo and signature (driver’s license, passport, and military ID are on the list) and a secondary ID with a valid signature. Your registration name must exactly match your IDs, expired IDs are not accepted, and Pearson recognizes no renewal grace periods.
Does PassProfessor’s program satisfy the 60-hour education requirement? No. PassProfessor is exam preparation only and provides no pre-licensing education credit. The 60 hours must be completed with an accredited post-secondary school or a Commission-licensed provider.
Where do I find the official exam information? The Arkansas Real Estate Commission’s site (arec.arkansas.gov), especially its Exam Information and Real Estate Applicants pages, and Pearson VUE’s Arkansas real estate page, which hosts the current Candidate Handbook and content outlines. Every fact in this guide comes from those sources.
Disclaimer
PassProfessor is an independent exam-preparation provider and is not affiliated with the Arkansas Real Estate Commission, Pearson VUE (Pearson Professional Assessments), or any state agency or exam vendor. This guide is general information about the Arkansas licensing exam, current as of October 2026; AREC and Pearson VUE publications govern if anything here differs from them.