Licensing guides · Tennessee
What is the pass rate on the Tennessee real estate exam?
Short answer
Roughly half of first-time candidates pass the Tennessee salesperson examination on their first attempt, and the state-law portion is where most of the failures happen. Pass rates vary widely by school, which is the number worth asking about before you enroll anywhere.
The number, honestly
Statewide first-attempt pass rates on the salesperson examination hover around the halfway mark, and the retake pool drags the overall figure lower. No school controls the state's number — but school choice moves your personal odds more than any other single factor, because it determines whether you practiced against real scenario questions or just read a textbook.
It is the state portion that fails people
The national portion is broad but predictable. The Tennessee portion is narrow, specific, and full of timing rules — when agency disclosure must happen, what license law requires of you, what the Commission can and cannot do. Candidates who over-study national principles and skim Tennessee law walk out having passed one half and failed the other.
- You must pass both portions; passing one does not carry forever.
- Agency timing and disclosure are the most-missed state questions.
- License law and Commission authority questions are pure memorization and pure points.
What first-attempt passers do differently
The pattern is consistent across every class we have taught. They stop re-reading and start testing themselves early, they track which topics they miss rather than which they finish, and they book the exam date before they feel ready — because an open-ended timeline is what turns a six-week course into a six-month one.
- Drill scenario questions, not flashcard definitions.
- Keep a missed-question list and re-drill only that list.
- Sit a full timed simulation before test day, not the night before.
- Book the date early — a deadline is the study plan.
What to ask any school before you pay
Ask for their pass rate, ask how many practice questions come with the course, and ask who teaches it. A school that cannot answer the first question is telling you the answer.
Questions people ask us
- How many questions are on the Tennessee real estate exam?
- The examination is delivered in two portions — a national portion and a Tennessee state portion — with a combined question count in the low-to-mid hundreds and a separate time allowance for each portion. Confirm the current count and timing with the testing vendor's candidate handbook before your date.
- Can I retake the Tennessee real estate exam if I fail?
- Yes. You retake only the portion you failed, you pay the fee again for that attempt, and there are limits on how long a passed portion stays valid — so do not let months pass between attempts.
- What score do I need to pass?
- Each portion is scored separately against a set passing standard, and you must meet it on both. Practicing to a consistent 80% on a well-written question bank gives you real margin on test day.
- Does taking the course online hurt my pass rate?
- No — what matters is whether the course made you practice. A self-paced online course with a strong scenario question bank beats a live class that only lectures.