Enrollment open: 20,000 questions, written to the current North Carolina exam outline and independently audited. Enroll today and start with the free sample exam.
North Carolina licenses every new agent as a broker, and its exam has two separately scored sections — 80 National questions and 60 State questions — and you must reach the passing score of 75 on each one, inside the same 180-day eligibility period. PassProfessor’s North Carolina program gives you 20,000 original practice questions built on the current content outline in Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina — 11,432 on the National section and 8,568 on North Carolina law and practice alone — with practice exams generated fresh, at the real exam’s weights, every time you sit one, and topic drills for every outline category. A free sample exam is included, so you can look around first.
What’s included
A North Carolina bank, sized to a two-section exam. North Carolina’s State section is 60 of the exam’s 140 scored questions — nearly 43% of the test — and it covers material that exists nowhere else: the provisional broker system, Commission rules on agency and trust accounts, and North Carolina statutes on contracts, closings, and landlord-tenant law. Our bank holds 20,000 questions, and 8,568 of them test the State section specifically. That is the section national courses cover most lightly, and it is where this program is deepest.
Practice exams at the real exam’s weights. Each full practice exam is generated fresh for that attempt — 80 National questions and 60 State questions in the same proportions the real exam uses, with each section weighted the way the official outline weights it (Contracts & Agency carries the most on the National side; Agency carries the most on the State side). Questions you have not seen come first, and you never sit the same exam twice.
Drills that match how the exam is built. Drill a single outline category — State-section Agency, Brokerage Practice, Real Estate Math, Financing — or sit the full 140-question simulation against the clock, section by section. Your results break down by outline category and by section, so a weak area shows up in your practice data before it shows up on an exam result — and because the two sections are scored separately in North Carolina, your practice data keeps them separate too.
Per-question analytics that find your weak topics. Every question you answer feeds your topic breakdown. Across the program, items are monitored from real student responses: questions students find suspiciously easy or suspiciously hard are pulled for review, and anything found wrong is fixed or retired — the bank you practice on is the bank as it should be, not as it shipped.
The real exam at a glance
Current as of October 2026, per the North Carolina Real Estate Commission and its booklet Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina (April 2026 revision), the Commission’s official candidate handbook for the Pearson VUE exam. Full detail — eligibility, application, scheduling, retakes, test day — is in our North Carolina real estate exam guide.
| National section | North Carolina State section | |
|---|---|---|
| Scored questions | 80 | 60 |
| Unscored pretest questions mixed in | 5 | 5 |
| Time limit | 2.5 hours (150 minutes) | 2.0 hours (120 minutes) |
| Passing standard | Score of 75, computed separately | Score of 75, computed separately |
| Exam fee | $63 for the comprehensive (both-section) exam, paid to Pearson VUE | $53 if you later retake one section only |
- The exam is administered by Pearson VUE for the North Carolina Real Estate Commission. Pearson develops the National section; the Commission itself develops the State section.
- North Carolina is a broker-only state. There is no salesperson license: the entry-level credential is a broker license on provisional status, and this one exam is the licensing exam for it.
- The two sections are timed and scored separately, and both must be passed within the same 180-day Examination Eligibility Period. If the period expires with one section still unpassed, credit for the section you did pass is forfeited.
- On your first attempt you take the comprehensive exam — both sections together. You cannot choose to sit only one section until you have passed the other.
- Before you can schedule, you complete the 75-hour Broker Prelicensing course, file your license application with the Commission (with a criminal record report), and receive a Notice of Exam Eligibility. This program is exam preparation only — it is not the prelicensing course and provides no education credit.
How the practice maps to the real exam
Every question in the North Carolina bank is tagged to a category of the official content outline published in Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina (April 2026) — the same outline the real exam is built from. Counts below are the bank itself, counted question by question from the delivered workbook.
| Official outline category (scored questions on the real exam) | Practice questions |
|---|---|
| National section | |
| Real Property (9) | 1,286 |
| Ownership (8) | 1,143 |
| Valuation (11) | 1,571 |
| Contracts & Agency (16) | 2,284 |
| Real Estate Practice (14) | 2,000 |
| Property Disclosures (8) | 1,143 |
| Financing (7) | 1,001 |
| Real Estate Math (7) | 1,004 |
| National subtotal (80 scored) | 11,432 |
| North Carolina State section | |
| Licensure (3) | 429 |
| Agency (16) | 2,282 |
| Supervision/Compensation (4) | 571 |
| Brokerage Practice (12) | 1,714 |
| Taxes/Insurance (4) | 571 |
| Contracts/Closing (7) | 1,000 |
| Landlord/Tenant (3) | 429 |
| Other NC Laws (11) | 1,572 |
| State subtotal (60 scored) | 8,568 |
| Total (140 scored) | 20,000 |
How to use it
- Start with the free sample exam — a fixed set of North Carolina questions across both sections — enough to see how the program works and where you stand on each section separately.
- Drill the State section early. It is 60 of 140 scored questions, it is scored on its own, and it is the most concrete material on the exam — Commission rules, day counts, deadlines, and North Carolina statutes. Most candidates leave state law for last; the 180-day eligibility clock is where that shows.
- Drill by outline category. Work your weakest categories — the two Agency categories together carry 32 of the 140 scored questions — until the misses stop repeating, and keep your National and State readiness checks separate, the way the exam scores them.
- Sit full generated exams against the clock. The real sitting is 150 minutes for the National section and 120 minutes for the State section, with 10 pretest questions mixed in that you cannot identify. Practice the pace of each section, not just the material.
- Book the real exam through Pearson VUE once your practice results sit comfortably above the passing standard on both sections — remember, each section must reach 75 on its own, and both passes must land inside your 180-day eligibility period.
Pricing
The North Carolina program is $49 for full access to all 20,000 questions — unlimited fresh practice exams and category drills, and per-question analytics included. If it isn’t for you, our refund policy gives you 14 days provided you have attempted less than 20% of the program (see the site Terms for the full policy).
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the North Carolina real estate exam? The comprehensive broker license exam has 140 scored questions: 80 on the National section and 60 on the North Carolina State section. Each section also mixes in 5 unscored pretest questions, so you will answer 150 questions in total. The sections are timed separately — 2.5 hours for the National section and 2.0 hours for the State section — and scored separately.
What score do I need to pass the North Carolina real estate exam? A score of 75 on each section, computed separately, per the North Carolina Real Estate Commission’s booklet Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina. A strong National result cannot offset a weak State result. Both sections must be passed within the same 180-day Examination Eligibility Period; if the period expires first, credit for a passed section is forfeited.
Does North Carolina have a salesperson license? No. North Carolina is a broker-only state — there is only one license examination, and it is an entry-level broker exam. Most new licensees are first issued an inactive broker license on provisional status (a Provisional Broker license) and work under a Broker-in-Charge until they complete North Carolina’s Postlicensing education requirement.
How much does the North Carolina real estate exam cost? The exam fee paid to Pearson VUE is $63 for the comprehensive two-section exam and $53 for a single-section retake. Separately, the license application fee paid to the North Carolina Real Estate Commission is $105 — and because each application covers one exam attempt, both fees are collected again on each retake. Your criminal record report, ordered through the Commission’s approved vendor as part of the application, carries its own fee, which varies with your residence and name history.
Who administers the North Carolina real estate exam? Pearson VUE administers the exam for the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, at Pearson test centers. Pearson develops the National section; the Commission develops the State section. You schedule with Pearson — online or by phone at 800-745-2627 — only after the Commission issues your Notice of Exam Eligibility. Walk-in testing is not available.
What do I need before I can take the exam? You must be at least 18, have a Social Security number, meet the Commission’s citizenship or lawful-presence and work-authorization requirement, complete the 75-hour North Carolina Broker Prelicensing course from a Commission-certified education provider (including its end-of-course exam) within three years before applying, file a complete license application with the $105 fee and a current criminal record report, and satisfy the Commission that you possess the requisite character for licensure. The Commission then emails your Notice of Exam Eligibility, valid for 180 days.
If I fail one section, do I retake the whole exam? No — once you have passed one section, you retake only the section you have not passed. If you fail both sections, you keep taking the two-section comprehensive exam until you pass at least one. Every retake starts the same way: refile your application with the Commission and pay the $105 application fee again, receive an updated Notice of Exam Eligibility, then schedule and pay Pearson VUE ($63 for both sections, $53 for one). Both sections must be passed inside your original 180-day eligibility period.
How long do I have to pass both sections? 180 calendar days from the date your Notice of Exam Eligibility is issued. The Commission’s rules do not allow that period to be extended for any reason. If it expires before both sections are passed, you refile a new application — with a new criminal record report and fee — for a new 180-day period, and any section you had passed must be passed again.
How do I enroll in the North Carolina program? Enrollment is open now. Enroll on this page for $49 and you get immediate access to the full program — all 20,000 questions, the category drills, and the generated practice exams — starting with the free sample exam if you want to look around first.
Are these the actual exam questions? No. Every PassProfessor question is written by us, from scratch, to the content outline published in Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina and to North Carolina license law and Commission rules. We never use real exam questions, recalled questions, or another provider’s bank — and North Carolina’s own rules (Commission Rule 58A .0405) prohibit obtaining or sharing actual examination questions or answers.
Does this program count toward my 75 hours of prelicensing education? No. PassProfessor is exam preparation only. It does not provide prelicensing education credit and is not a substitute for the Commission-certified 75-hour North Carolina Broker Prelicensing course, which you must complete before you apply.
Why does the State section get its own drills? Because it is 60 of the 140 scored questions — the largest state section on any comparable licensing exam structure — and it is scored separately, so it can fail you by itself. It tests North Carolina’s own system: provisional broker status and Broker-in-Charge supervision, the Working with Real Estate Agents disclosure, trust account rules, and state statutes on contracts, closings, taxes, and tenancies. Our bank holds 8,568 State-section questions so that section can be drilled on its own until it is the most predictable part of your exam.
Disclaimer
PassProfessor is an independent exam-preparation provider. This program is exam preparation only: it is not prelicensing education, provides no education credit, and is not a substitute for the required 75-hour North Carolina Broker Prelicensing course. It is not affiliated with the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, Pearson VUE, or any state agency or exam vendor. All practice questions are original, written to the published exam outline; they are not actual exam questions.