Illinois Real Estate Exam Study Guide (Free PDF) | 2026
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Quick heads up before we start. In Illinois, the entry-level license is called Broker, not salesperson. Illinois dropped the salesperson license back in 2011, so every new licensee starts as a Broker.
The exam has 140 scored questions (100 national and 40 state), and it uses two different passing scores. You need 70% on the national portion and 75% on the state portion.
Two things make Illinois its own animal. The first is the 5-business-day attorney review period, a standard step in Illinois residential contracts. The second is the end of license reciprocity. Since January 1, 2026, out-of-state licensees can qualify only through licensure by endorsement. We cover both.
That’s why this guide is built just for Illinois. And if you’d rather study offline, you can download the full study guide as a PDF right below.
Download the full Illinois study guide (free PDF, no email needed).
Illinois’ Broker-Only License System
So what does that look like in practice? As a Broker, you work with buyers and sellers, but always under a sponsoring Managing Broker. You can do licensed work only for that sponsoring broker, and you can accept pay only from them.
The Managing Broker is the next step up, with its own exam. You must be at least 20 years old, hold an active Illinois Broker license, and have been licensed for 2 of the past 3 years. You also complete a 45-hour Managing Broker course.
A quick note for anyone who typed “Illinois salesperson exam” into Google. You’re in the right place. The exam you’re looking for is the Broker exam, and that’s exactly what this guide covers.
Think of it this way. Same starting line as a salesperson in other states, just with a different name on the license.
What’s on the Illinois Real Estate Exam
Your exam has two parts, a national portion and a state portion, and PSI runs the show. Each part has its own clock and its own passing score, and they’re graded separately. A great national score can’t rescue a weak state score.
Here’s how the numbers fit together.
| National | State | Both | |
| Scored questions | 100 | 40 | 140 |
| Time limit | 150 min | 90 min | 240 min |
| Passing score | 70% (70 of 100) | 75% (30 of 40) | Graded separately |
Notice the two bars aren’t the same. The state portion is shorter, but its bar is higher (30 correct out of 40, versus 70 out of 100 on the national side).
There’s one sneaky detail. PSI mixes in 5 to 10 experimental questions that don’t count toward your score. They aren’t labeled, and they do eat your time. So treat every question like it counts.
| National(100 scored items) | Exam % | State (40 scored items) | Items | Exam % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contracts | 19% | Illinois Real Estate License Act | 16 | 40% |
| Agency | 13% | Additional Illinois Laws and Regulations Affecting Real Estate Practice | 10 | 25% |
| Practice of Real Estate | 12% | Disclosures | 10 | 25% |
| Property Ownership | 10% | Licensing Requirements | 4 | 10% |
| Financing | 10% | |||
| Valuation | 8% | |||
| Property Disclosures | 7% | |||
| Real Estate Calculations | 7% | |||
| Transfer of Title | 6% | |||
| Land Use Controls | 5% | |||
| Property Management | 3% |
Coming from another state? Illinois no longer has reciprocity. Since January 1, 2026, out-of-state licensees can qualify only through licensure by endorsement. That means a 30-hour IDFPR-approved endorsement course plus the Illinois-specific examination. If you’ve practiced for less than 2 years, you’ll also owe 45 hours of post-license education.
The 5-Business-Day Attorney Review Period
This is a signature Illinois topic, and PSI’s state content outline lists the case behind it, so it’s worth knowing cold. Let’s take it apart piece by piece.
After both sides sign a residential purchase contract, either party’s attorney has 5 business days to approve it, disapprove it, or propose changes. That’s under Paragraph 13 of the standard Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 8.0. It comes from standard contract practice in Illinois, not from a state statute.
The clock starts at the Date of Acceptance. Business days are Monday through Friday, not counting federal holidays. Only the attorneys can use it, and they have to do it in writing.
An attorney can’t disapprove based only on the purchase price, and proposed changes can’t touch the price either. A proposed change counts as a counteroffer, except for the 8.0 exception, which offers a special proposal mechanism that does not operate as a counteroffer. Disapproval ends the deal, and the contract becomes null and void.
Here’s the trap. If nobody sends a review letter within those 5 business days, the right is gone. The contract becomes binding exactly as written. Silence makes it binding.
Don’t confuse this with the inspection right. That’s a separate paragraph, and its own 5-business-day clock runs alongside this one.
Why does Illinois do this? A 1966 case, Chicago Bar Association et al. v. Quinlan and Tyson, Inc., said brokers can fill in blanks on a standard form. Drafting custom legal terms, though, is the unauthorized practice of law. Attorney review is the safety valve that makes the standard form work.
Your 4-Week Illinois Exam Study Plan
This plan puts your hours where the points are. Some weeks are heavier than others, and that’s on purpose.
- Week 1 is national foundations. Start with Property Ownership and Land Use Controls, since ownership shows up inside almost every other topic. Then give real time to Contracts, the heaviest national category at 19%. Finish the week with Financing, and wrap up with practice questions on all four topics.
- Week 2 is national advanced. You’ll cover Agency, Practice of Real Estate, Valuation, Property Disclosures, Real Estate Calculations, Transfer of Title, and Property Management. None of these is as heavy as Contracts, but seven of them stacked together add up fast. Math needs a full day of actual problems, not just formulas, so protect that time.
- Week 3 is where Illinois stops looking like every other state. Spend most of your hours on the Illinois Real Estate License Act, which is 40% of the state portion. Re-read the attorney review section and say the process out loud. Then move to Disclosures (designated agency, the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act, and environmental disclosures). Finish with the Additional Illinois Laws and Licensing Requirements.
- Week 4 is timed practice. Take one full timed national exam (150 minutes) and one full timed state exam (90 minutes). Review each one on its own, because the bars are different. Then spend the back half of the week on the topics you keep missing, with no new material in the last days.
If the attorney review period feels like it’s getting a lot of attention, good. It should.
Illinois Real Estate Exam Study Tips
Master the attorney review period inside and out. For every scenario, ask four things. Who can send the notice? How long do they have? What can they ask for? And what happens if nobody does anything?
Know the difference between a Broker and a Managing Broker. A Broker needs to be 18 and complete 75 hours of pre-licensing. A Managing Broker has the age, experience, and coursework requirements we covered above.
Read 225 ILCS 454 directly. You don’t need to memorize it, but seeing the exact wording helps with the trap questions.
Remember the two passing scores are different, 70% national and 75% state. They’re not averaged. Also, answer every question. You can’t tell which ones are experimental.
Licensed in another state? Plan for the 30-hour endorsement course before you schedule the state portion. Reciprocity is gone, so your current license won’t skip it.
Finally, practice math with Illinois numbers. For example, the state transfer tax is 50 cents per $500 of value, so a $300,000 home means 600 units and a $300 state tax.
Planning’s done. Time to practice. Put what you’ve studied to work with our free Illinois practice exam. You’ll see your score and your weak areas right away. Take our free Illinois real estate practice exam
Illinois Real Estate Exam Requirements
- Be at least 18 years old
- Be a high school graduate or hold a GED
- Complete 75 hours of pre-licensing education (60 hours of Broker Pre-License Topics plus 15 hours of Applied Real Estate Principles)
- Pass a background check
- Pass both the national and Illinois state portions of the PSI exam ($58)
- Apply for your license within 1 year of passing the exam
- Managing Broker requires additional education and active broker experience
- Out-of-state licensees can qualify only through licensure by endorsement (reciprocity ended January 1, 2026), which includes a 30-hour IDFPR-approved Endorsement Course.
Requirements and fees can change, so always confirm the latest details with the IDFPR Division of Real Estate. For the full breakdown, see our Illinois real estate license requirements page
Download Your Free Illinois Exam Study Guide
The full Illinois study guide is also available as a free PDF, so you can read it on your phone, print it, or take it with you anywhere.
Inside you’ll find the exam breakdown, the attorney review period explained step by step, a 4-week study plan, and topic-by-topic sections with key terms and recaps. There’s also a final checklist for exam day.
Keep it handy during your study weeks, and come back to it the day before your exam.
Download the full Illinois study guide (free PDF).
Conclusion
That’s the whole roadmap. Illinois has a few rules of its own, but none of it is out of reach, and now you know exactly where the points are.
When you’re ready to practice, try our free Illinois real estate practice exam. And if you want the full question bank and a way to track your weak areas, our Illinois real estate exam prep picks up where this guide leaves off.
