- 140 scored questions: 100 national in 150 minutes, 40 state in 90 minutes, 240 total.
- You need 70% on the national portion and 75% on the state portion - both, not an average.
- State - Illinois Real Estate License Act is 40% of the state portion, the single biggest domain on the exam.
- National - Contracts leads the national side at 19%; Agency follows at 13%.
Exam Snapshot: The Numbers You Must Know
If you only have five minutes before test day, memorize this section. The Illinois Real Estate Broker Exam is governed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Real Estate, and delivered by PSI Services LLC at test centers or via remote proctoring. It's a closed-book, computer-based test with 140 scored multiple-choice questions split into a 100-question national portion and a 40-question state portion. You get 240 minutes total - 150 minutes for national, 90 minutes for state. PSI may also slip in 5-10 unscored experimental questions that count toward your time but not your score, so don't waste energy trying to spot them.
Test-center candidates get an approved basic calculator and scratch paper; remote candidates get neither, and no breaks. That single distinction changes how you should prepare for real estate calculations, which we cover below. For a deeper breakdown of everything on this page, the IL-REB Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt walks through a full preparation plan.
Registration & Fee Mechanics
The exam fee is $58 per sitting. Before you can even schedule, you need 75 hours of approved prelicense education - 60 hours of Broker Pre-License Topics plus 15 hours of Broker Pre-License Applied Real Estate Principles-Interactive. That education stays valid for two years, and your exam eligibility clock runs on that same window. Miss the window and you're redoing coursework, not just rescheduling a test.
- Minimum age: 18
- Education requirement: high school diploma or equivalent
- Prelicense hours: 75 total (60 topics + 15 applied/interactive)
- Eligibility period: 2 years from education completion
- Attempts allowed: up to 4 within that period
- 4th failed attempt: repeat the full 75-hour program and full exam
The current candidate bulletin and state outline are effective June 24, 2026, so double-check you're studying against the right version if you find older materials online. For a full accounting of every dollar involved - education, exam, licensing, and renewal - see IL-REB Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. If you're unsure whether you meet the prerequisites, IL-REB Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify lays them out step by step.
Domain-by-Domain Cheat Sheet
Weights apply separately within each portion - national domains are percentages of the national score, state domains are percentages of the state score. Treat these as two separate pies, not one. A full explanation of every domain lives in the IL-REB Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 15 Content Areas, but here's the condensed version.
| National Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Contracts | 19% |
| Agency | 13% |
| Practice of Real Estate | 12% |
| Property Ownership | 10% |
| Financing | 10% |
| Valuation | 8% |
| Property Disclosures | 7% |
| Real Estate Calculations | 7% |
| Transfer of Title | 6% |
| Land Use Controls | 5% |
| Property Management | 3% |
| State Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Illinois Real Estate License Act | 40% |
| Additional Illinois Laws and Regulations | 25% |
| Disclosures | 25% |
| Licensing Requirements | 10% |
National Portion Heavy Hitters
National - Contracts (19%)
The single largest national domain. Candidates must recognize contract elements, contingencies, offer/acceptance mechanics, and remedies for breach.
- Know the difference between bilateral and unilateral agreements
- Understand contingency clauses and how they release parties
- Be able to identify void, voidable, and unenforceable contracts
National - Agency (13%)
Fiduciary duties, agency relationship creation and termination, and disclosure obligations dominate this domain.
- Memorize the fiduciary duties owed to a client
- Distinguish client from customer relationships
- Know how agency relationships terminate
National - Practice of Real Estate (12%)
Covers day-to-day brokerage operations, license law basics that apply nationally, and professional conduct expectations.
- Understand advertising and fair housing intersections
- Know supervision structures between brokers
State Portion Heavy Hitters
State - Illinois Real Estate License Act (40%)
This is the single most important domain on the entire exam. It carries more weight than any other domain, national or state, and demands methodical review.
- License categories and requirements under Illinois law
- Prohibited acts and disciplinary grounds
- Broker and managing broker relationship structures
State - Additional Illinois Laws and Regulations (25%)
Covers statutes and rules beyond the License Act that affect daily practice - think agency law overlays, escrow handling, and related regulatory requirements specific to Illinois.
State - Disclosures (25%)
Illinois-specific disclosure obligations, separate from the national Property Disclosures domain. Candidates often confuse the two - study them side by side to keep the requirements distinct.
Key Takeaway
Because State - Illinois Real Estate License Act alone is 40% of the state portion, it deserves more repetition than any other single domain in your final review. Treat it like its own mini-exam.
Scoring Rules at a Glance
Passing requires 70% on the national portion and 75% on the state portion - separately. Scoring high on one side does not offset a weak score on the other. This split-scoring rule surprises candidates who assume an overall average applies. For the exact math behind the thresholds, see IL-REB Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. If you're wondering how test-takers typically fare against these thresholds, IL-REB Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows covers the available data.
Eligibility & Retake Recap
Eligibility basics: 18 years or older, high school diploma or equivalent, and 75 hours of approved prelicense education completed within the last two years. You get four attempts inside that two-year window. If your fourth attempt fails, you must repeat the full 75-hour education program and sit the complete exam again - there's no partial retake of just one portion.
Timing matters after you pass, too: the license application must be filed within one year of your passing exam date, and you'll need a managing broker to sponsor you before you can practice as an entry-level broker. Testing windows and scheduling logistics through PSI are detailed in IL-REB Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Final-Week Review Plan
A generic study calendar won't reflect the exam's lopsided weighting, so build your last stretch around the domains that actually move your score. This isn't a full study plan - for that, see the study guide linked above - but here's how to allocate a final review week.
State - Illinois Real Estate License Act
- Rework every practice question tagged to this domain
- Re-read license categories, prohibited acts, and disciplinary provisions
National - Contracts and Agency
- Drill contract elements and contingency scenarios
- Review fiduciary duty fact patterns
State - Disclosures and Additional Laws
- Separate Illinois disclosure rules from national Property Disclosures content
- Review statutes beyond the License Act
Calculations & Mixed Review
- Practice Real Estate Calculations problems by hand if testing remotely (no calculator allowed)
- Take a full-length timed simulation covering both portions
Running full-length timed sets on our practice test platform before test day is the fastest way to find out whether your pacing across the 150-minute and 90-minute segments actually holds up under pressure.
After You Pass: Licensing Reminders
Passing the exam is not the finish line. File your license application within one year of your pass date, and line up a managing broker to sponsor you - entry-level brokers cannot practice unsponsored. Illinois broker licenses renew on the even-year April 30 cycle. Your first renewal as a new broker requires 45 hours of post-license education. Every renewal after that requires 12 continuing-education hours - 6 core and 6 elective - including required sexual-harassment-prevention training.
These downstream requirements matter for planning your first year, and they're worth understanding before you even sit for the exam. For context on how the credential translates into career opportunities and typical earnings once you're licensed, see IL-REB Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis and IL-REB Jobs. If you're still deciding whether to pursue the license at all, Is the IL-REB Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 weighs the costs against the outcomes.
FAQ
140 scored questions total: 100 national questions and 40 state questions, plus possibly 5-10 unscored experimental questions mixed in.
You need 70% on the national portion and 75% on the state portion. Both thresholds must be met separately; there's no combined average.
Only at a physical PSI test center, where an approved basic calculator and scratch paper are supplied. Remote proctored candidates cannot use a calculator and receive no breaks.
You have up to four attempts within your two-year eligibility period. Failing a fourth time requires repeating the full 75-hour prelicense education program and the entire exam again.
State - Illinois Real Estate License Act, at 40% of the state portion, is the largest single domain on the exam and deserves the heaviest review. National - Contracts, at 19%, is the top priority on the national side.