PassProfessor’s South Carolina program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog. The 19,999-question South Carolina practice bank is built to PSI’s current content 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 South Carolina associate exam, in one paragraph
The South Carolina real estate associate exam is the licensing exam for South Carolina’s entry-level real estate license, administered by PSI Services LLC for the South Carolina Real Estate Commission, part of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR). It has two portions you must pass separately: a national portion of 80 questions in 120 minutes and a South Carolina state portion of 40 questions in 80 minutes — 120 questions and 200 minutes in total. PSI’s Candidate Information Bulletin publishes the passing standard as a minimum Number Correct: 56 on the national portion and 28 on the state portion. You become eligible through the Commission — not through PSI — after completing the required education and background checks, and your eligibility lasts one year.
Who can take the South Carolina associate exam?
South Carolina calls its entry-level licensee an associate (the license law, Title 40, Chapter 57, was rewritten in 2024 and replaced the older “salesperson” term). Per the Commission’s Associate License Requirements and Application Process Overview (version 2.2, June 3, 2026), a person is qualified to receive an associate license when these requirements are met:
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Have graduated from high school or hold a certificate of equivalency recognized by the United States Department of Education.
- Complete the required education, unless an exemption applies: 60 hours of classroom education in Unit I, Fundamentals of Real Estate, plus an additional 30 hours in Unit II, Advanced Real Estate Principles — 90 hours in total, from Commission-approved providers. Under the license law, the education must be completed within the five years before application.
- Complete the Commission-approved background checks — a fingerprint-based check and a Social Security number check.
- Successfully pass the national and state examinations.
Three features of the South Carolina sequence matter for planning:
- You can test before you finish all 90 hours. An applicant may take the license examination after completing the 60-hour Unit I course and before completing the 30-hour Unit II course. The Unit II certificate may be submitted after the examination — but it must be submitted before the license is issued.
- The Commission comes before PSI. You apply to the Commission first, with your documents and the application fee. Only after the Commission approves your application are you authorized to test: the Commission emails you registration information, and PSI then needs a full 48 hours to import your authorization into its system before you can schedule. Applicants are not authorized to take the exam until a complete application is on file.
- Exemptions exist, and they are specific. The Commission’s overview lists education exemptions for applicants holding a law degree (juris doctor or bachelor of law) and for applicants holding a bachelor or higher degree with a major in real estate from an accredited college or university, among others. Applicants actively licensed in another jurisdiction (or licensed within the prior six months) may be required to take only the state examination, and the overview sets out separate reciprocity arrangements for Georgia and North Carolina applicants. If you think an exemption applies to you, confirm it with the Commission — this guide summarizes the standard path.
PassProfessor note: our program is exam preparation only. It does not provide any of the 90 hours of pre-licensing education — you take Unit I and Unit II from Commission-approved providers.
The exam, piece by piece
The exam is computer-based and built from the content outlines in PSI’s South Carolina Candidate Information Bulletin (updated August 27, 2026). The national portion is organized by percentage weights; the state portion is organized by exact item counts.
Examination summary (associate)
| Portion | Questions | Points | Time allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | 80 | 80 points | 120 minutes |
| State | 40 | 40 points | 80 minutes |
| Both | 120 | 120 points | 200 minutes |
The national portion (80 questions, 120 minutes)
| Outline area | Weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| I. Property Ownership | 10% | Real and personal property, conveyances, land characteristics and legal descriptions, encumbrances, types of ownership |
| II. Land Use Controls | 5% | Government rights in land (taxation, eminent domain, condemnation, escheat), government and private land-use controls |
| III. Valuation | 8% | Appraisals and the appraisal process, the sales, cost, and income approaches, comparative market analysis (CMA/BPO/AVM) |
| IV. Financing | 10% | Loan concepts and terminology, underwriting, mortgage clauses, loan types (conventional, FHA/VA/USDA, ARM, balloon, reverse, HELOC, construction), RESPA, TILA/Regulation Z, TRID, ECOA, risky loan features |
| V. Contracts | 19% | General contract law, purchase and lease contracts, contingencies, multiple offers and counteroffers, termination and remedies |
| VI. Agency | 13% | Agency and non-agency relationships, listing and buyer-brokerage contracts, transaction brokers, fiduciary duties, agency disclosures, termination |
| VII. Property Disclosures | 7% | Property condition disclosure, inspections and surveys, red flags, environmental and government disclosures |
| VIII. Property Management | 3% | Tenant procurement, fair housing and ADA compliance in property management, market analysis for rents, maintenance and reporting fundamentals |
| IX. Transfer of Title | 6% | Deed types, title insurance and searches, marketable title, recordation, settlement and closing, foreclosure, short-sale, and probate transfers |
| X. Practice of Real Estate | 12% | Federal fair housing and the ADA, antitrust, Do-Not-Call, advertising and social media, handling funds and confidential information, due diligence, closing-funds calculations |
| XI. Real Estate Calculations | 7% | Transaction calculations: equity, capitalization rate, loan-to-value, discount points and origination fees, prorations, commissions |
Contracts alone carry 19% of the national portion — roughly one national question in five — and contracts plus agency carry 32% between them. That weighting, not alphabetical order, is how study time should be allocated.
The South Carolina state portion (40 questions, 80 minutes)
| Outline area | Items | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| I. South Carolina Real Estate Commission and Licensing | 9 | The Commission’s purpose, powers, and duties; activities requiring a license and exemptions; license types, maintenance, duration, statuses, and changes |
| II. Statutes Governing the Activities of Licensees and Non-Licensees | 11 | Advertising; broker, associate, and non-licensee relationships; commissions and other compensation; disclosure of a licensee’s interest in a transaction; offers and counteroffers; handling of documents and record keeping; handling of monies and accounting practices; license-law violations, investigations, and penalties |
| III. South Carolina Agency and Non-Agency Relationships and Issues | 11 | Permissible relationships and obligations to parties; disclosure requirements; creation and termination of agency; South Carolina agency and non-agency contracts |
| IV. Additional South Carolina Statutes and Topics | 6 | The Consumer Protection Code; the homestead exemption; the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; the Vacation Rental Act; residential property condition disclosure statements; South Carolina Fair Housing Law; the South Carolina smoke detector law |
| V. Closing Details | 3 | South Carolina closing practice, including the state’s attorney-supervised closing framework |
| Total | 40 |
Two structural facts shape how you should prepare:
- Agency appears on both portions, in different law. The national portion tests general agency doctrine (13%); the state portion then tests South Carolina’s agency and non-agency system for another 11 of 40 items — permissible relationships, disclosure duties, and how agency is created and terminated under Title 40, Chapter 57. Candidates who study agency once, nationally, walk into the state portion underprepared.
- Licensee-conduct statutes are the state portion’s center of gravity. Areas II and III together are 22 of the 40 state items. Advertising, trust-money handling, document retention, offers, and disclosure are concrete, rule-based material — the kind that rewards direct study of the South Carolina rules rather than general real estate knowledge.
Experimental questions. PSI states that a small number of “experimental” questions (5 to 10) may be administered during the examinations. They are not scored, and — unlike many exams — the bulletin states the time taken to answer them will not count against your testing time. There is no way to identify them, and no strategy beyond answering every question as if it counts.
The passing standard, explained
PSI’s bulletin states the rule in its Score Reporting section: to pass, you must achieve the minimum score shown for each part of the examination, published as a Number Correct:
| Associate exam | Minimum Number Correct |
|---|---|
| National portion | 56 (of 80) |
| State portion | 28 (of 40) |
Read that table the way PSI publishes it, because two common misunderstandings follow from reading it loosely:
- The portions do not combine. There is no single 120-question score to clear. A candidate who answers 65 national questions correctly and 25 state questions correctly has not passed — the state portion’s minimum is 28, and the bulletin is explicit that both portions must be passed, within one year of the Commission’s approval of eligibility.
- The published standard is a number correct, not a scaled score. Some states convert results to a scaled score; South Carolina’s current bulletin publishes a straight minimum Number Correct for each portion (56 and 28). Plan against those numbers, and let your official result — shown on screen immediately when you finish — be the only reading that counts.
Your score report. Your score appears on the computer screen immediately following completion of the examination. If you pass, you receive a successful notification on screen. If you do not pass, you receive an unsuccessful notification together with a diagnostic report indicating your strengths and weaknesses by examination type — that diagnostic breakdown is the starting point for a retake plan. You can print the score report from your online account, and PSI sends examination score reports directly to the Commission; the Commission instructs candidates not to send their score report to the Commission office themselves.
Fees and registration, step by step
Keep the payments separate — they go to different places at different times.
| Payment | Amount | Paid to | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application fee | $25 | South Carolina Real Estate Commission | With your associate application (fees are non-refundable and non-transferable) |
| Exam fee — both portions | $67 | PSI | When you register for the examination |
| Exam fee — one portion | $59 | PSI | When you register for a single portion |
| Initial licensure fee | $50 | South Carolina Real Estate Commission | After you pass — invoiced by the Commission once your post-exam documents are processed ($25 for Georgia/North Carolina reciprocity applicants) |
PSI states that examination fees are not refundable or transferable, and that the examination fee is valid for one year from the date of payment.
The sequence, in order:
- Complete Unit I (60 hours) with a Commission-approved provider — and Unit II (30 hours) as well, if you prefer to finish all 90 hours before testing. Keep the certificates of completion; the Unit II certificate may be submitted after the examination if you test first.
- Apply to the Commission. Use the online application portal on the Commission’s associate page, upload the required documentation (identification, Social Security card copy, proof of education, the notarized Verification of Lawful Presence form, and the other documents the application package lists), and pay the $25 application fee to complete submission. Your application is good for one year from the date of receipt — if all required information is not received within that year, you begin the process again.
- Complete the background checks. Once the Commission receives your application, it emails instructions for the two required checks — the fingerprint-based check and the Social Security number check. Do not start the background-check process before you receive those instructions; applications cannot be approved until both reports have been received and reviewed.
- Wait for approval, then wait 48 hours. Once a completed application has been received and approved, you receive an email notification from the Commission with registration information for the examination. PSI administers the exam, and it takes 48 hours from that email for PSI to import your authorization to test — you cannot register or schedule until the import is complete.
- Register and pay PSI. Register online at PSI’s South Carolina real estate page (available 24 hours a day) or by telephone at (855) 340-3701. The $67 (both portions) or $59 (one portion) fee is paid directly to PSI upon registration.
- Take the exam at a PSI examination center (see Test day, below).
- Finish licensure after passing. PSI sends your score report to the Commission directly. Complete the remaining steps through the Commission’s Licensee Portal document submission: the Unit II certificate if not already submitted, and the Supervision Attestation Form identifying your broker-in-charge. After those documents are processed, the Commission emails an invoice for the $50 initial licensure fee; once it is collected, allow 3–5 business days for the license to be issued. All of this must be completed within one year of passing — if it is not, you begin the application process from the beginning.
Retakes and score validity
- Unlimited retests inside the eligibility year. PSI’s bulletin states it directly: examination eligibility is valid for one year, and “if you fail you may retest on an unlimited basis during the 1 year period.” Candidates must pass both portions within one year of the Commission’s approval of eligibility.
- If eligibility expires, you start over with the Commission. The bulletin states that if your examination eligibility has expired, you will need to reapply to the Commission before you can register to take or retake the examination with PSI.
- You cannot retest the same day. PSI states it is not possible to make a new examination appointment on the same day you have taken an examination, because of score processing and reporting. Its example: a candidate who tests unsuccessfully on a Wednesday can call on Thursday and retest as soon as Friday, depending on space availability.
- Each registration carries its fee. The fee schedule ($67 both portions / $59 one portion) applies at registration, fees are non-refundable and non-transferable, and a registration fee is valid for one year from the date of payment.
- Cancel or reschedule in time. You may cancel and reschedule without forfeiting your fee if your cancellation notice is received 2 days before the scheduled examination date. A voice mail message is not an acceptable form of cancellation — use the PSI website or speak to a customer service representative. Missing the appointment, arriving late, cancelling late, or arriving without proper identification forfeits the fee.
- After passing, the licensure clock also runs one year. The Commission requires the post-exam licensure steps to be submitted within one year of passing the examination; miss that window and the application process starts from the beginning, including the application fee and document submissions.
Test day
- Arrive at least 30 minutes early. That time covers sign-in, identification, and familiarizing yourself with the examination process. If you arrive late, you may not be admitted and you will forfeit your registration fee.
- Bring one form of required identification. It must be a valid (non-expired), signature-bearing, government-issued photo ID from PSI’s published list — a state-issued driver’s license or identification card, a US government-issued passport, US military identification, a US alien registration card, or Canadian government-issued ID. Your registration must use your legal first and last name exactly as it appears on that ID; the ID must match the name under which you registered.
- Centers. PSI lists South Carolina examination centers in Greenville/Spartanburg, Columbia, North Charleston (Charleston), Beaufort/Hilton Head, and Myrtle Beach, plus Charlotte, North Carolina — and examinations can be taken at PSI centers in other regions by following the Out-Of-State Request Form in the bulletin.
- What you can and cannot bring. Personal belongings — including phones and all electronic devices, watches, wallets, bags, books, and notes — go into the secure storage provided before you enter the examination room. PSI issues scratch paper and a pencil for use during the examination; it may not be written on before the test starts and may not be removed afterward. The one tool you may bring is a calculator that is non-programmable, silent, battery-operated, without paper-tape printing, and without an alphabet keyboard.
- The tutorial is free time. Before the examination begins, an introductory tutorial (up to 15 minutes) is provided on screen, with sample questions to practice on. That time does not count as part of your examination time.
- During the exam. One question appears on screen at a time, with the minutes remaining displayed at the top. You may return to any question and change your response provided the examination time has not run out. Once seated, you may leave the room only for the restroom, with the proctor’s permission, and you receive no extra time.
- Results are immediate. Your score appears on screen when you finish — a successful notification if you passed, or an unsuccessful notification with the diagnostic report described above if you did not.
- Accommodations. All PSI examination centers provide access in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act; candidates granted an accommodation must schedule by telephone with a PSI registrar.
How to study for this exam
The bulletin is the syllabus — PSI publishes exactly what the exam covers, area by area, and the weights above are the exam’s real proportions. A plan built on that structure:
- Sequence your study around the Commission’s clock, not just the test date. Apply early: document review, two background checks, Commission approval, and PSI’s 48-hour authorization import all sit between your Unit I certificate and your exam seat. Starting the application as soon as you finish Unit I keeps the one-year eligibility window working for you instead of against you.
- Give contracts and national agency their combined weight. At 19% and 13%, those two areas are nearly a third of the national portion. Learn contract formation, contingencies, and termination alongside the agency relationships that create and end brokerage duties — the exam tests them together in scenarios.
- Treat the state portion as its own exam, because it is one. Forty questions, its own 28-correct minimum, and content that exists only in South Carolina: Title 40, Chapter 57 licensing and conduct rules, trust-money and record-keeping duties, South Carolina agency and transaction brokerage, the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the Vacation Rental Act, the property condition disclosure law, state fair housing law, the smoke detector law, and attorney-supervised closing practice. Study it as a separate block with its own readiness check.
- Check readiness portion by portion, never blended. A blended practice score can hide a state portion below 28. Before you book, you want full simulations that clear both published minimums — 56 national and 28 state — with room to spare, on the same sitting.
- Practice at full length, against the real clock. 80 questions in 120 minutes nationally and 40 in 80 minutes on the state portion are two different paces. Sit both portions back to back in practice at least twice before test day, and use the return-and-change feature the way the real interface allows it.
- Use the diagnostic report if you need a second attempt. An unsuccessful result comes with strengths and weaknesses by examination type. With unlimited retests inside your eligibility year, the fastest second attempt is a targeted one — rebuild around the areas the diagnostic names, not around the whole outline.
This program’s South Carolina practice bank (19,999 questions — 13,122 on the national outline areas and 6,877 on the South Carolina outline areas) is built area-by-area on this same outline. The South Carolina Real Estate Exam Prep program page shows the full coverage table — and the notify list there will email you when enrollment opens.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the South Carolina real estate exam? 120 scored questions in two portions: 80 on the national portion and 40 on the South Carolina state portion. PSI may also administer 5 to 10 experimental questions, which are not scored — and the time spent on them does not count against your testing time.
How long is the South Carolina real estate exam? 200 minutes in total: 120 minutes for the national portion and 80 minutes for the state portion. The on-screen tutorial before the exam (up to 15 minutes) does not count against that time.
What score do I need to pass the South Carolina associate exam? PSI’s bulletin publishes the passing standard as a minimum Number Correct: 56 on the national portion and 28 on the state portion. Each portion must reach its own minimum — the portions are not combined into a single score.
How much does the South Carolina real estate exam cost? The PSI examination fee is $67 for both portions or $59 for one portion, paid to PSI when you register, and it is non-refundable and non-transferable. Separately, the Commission’s associate application carries a $25 application fee, and a $50 initial licensure fee is invoiced after you pass.
What education do I need before I can take the exam? Unless an exemption applies, 90 hours from Commission-approved providers: Unit I, Fundamentals of Real Estate (60 hours), and Unit II, Advanced Real Estate Principles (30 hours). You may sit for the exam after Unit I and before Unit II, but the Unit II certificate must be submitted before your license is issued.
How do I register for the South Carolina real estate exam? You apply to the South Carolina Real Estate Commission first — application, documents, $25 fee, then the fingerprint and Social Security number background checks the Commission arranges after receiving your application. Once the Commission approves you, wait the full 48 hours for PSI to import your authorization, then register and pay on PSI’s South Carolina real estate page or by calling PSI at (855) 340-3701.
How long is my exam eligibility valid? One year from the Commission’s approval of your eligibility. You must pass both portions within that year; if eligibility expires, you must reapply to the Commission before registering with PSI again.
If I fail, how soon can I retake the South Carolina exam? Retesting is unlimited during your one-year eligibility period. You cannot book a new appointment for the same day you tested — PSI’s bulletin gives the example of testing unsuccessfully on a Wednesday, calling Thursday, and retesting as soon as Friday, space permitting. Each registration carries the applicable fee.
What happens after I pass both portions? PSI sends your score report directly to the Commission. You then submit any outstanding Unit II certificate and the Supervision Attestation Form through the Commission’s Licensee Portal, and the Commission invoices the $50 initial licensure fee. Once the fee is collected, allow 3–5 business days for the license to be issued. All post-exam steps must be completed within one year of passing.
What ID do I need at the PSI test center? One valid, unexpired, government-issued photo ID bearing your signature, from PSI’s list: a state-issued driver’s license or ID card, a US passport, US military ID, a US alien registration card, or Canadian government-issued ID. Your registration name must match the ID exactly — register under your legal first and last name as shown on it. Arrive at least 30 minutes early.
Are calculators allowed on the South Carolina real estate exam? Yes, within PSI’s limits: the calculator must be non-programmable, silent, battery-operated, without paper-tape printing capability, and without a keyboard containing the alphabet. PSI also issues scratch paper and a pencil for the examination.
Is the South Carolina exam the same for “salespeople” and “associates”? It is the same entry-level license. South Carolina’s 2024 rewrite of Title 40, Chapter 57 renamed the entry-level licensee an “associate,” so current Commission and PSI materials say “associate” where older materials said “salesperson.”
Does PassProfessor’s program satisfy the 90-hour education requirement? No. PassProfessor is exam preparation only and provides no pre-licensing education credit. The 90 hours — Unit I (60) and Unit II (30) — must be completed with Commission-approved education providers.
Where do I find the official exam information? The South Carolina Real Estate Commission’s pages at llr.sc.gov and PSI’s South Carolina real estate page, which hosts the current Candidate Information Bulletin with the content outlines, fee schedule, and score-reporting rules. Every fact in this guide comes from those sources (see the internal source log filed with this package).
Disclaimer
PassProfessor is an independent exam-preparation provider and is not affiliated with the South Carolina Real Estate Commission, the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, or PSI Services LLC. This guide is general information about the South Carolina associate licensing exam, current as of October 2026; Commission and PSI publications govern if anything here differs from them.