PA Real Estate Exam Study Guide & Cheat Sheet PDF | 2026
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If you’re getting ready for the Pennsylvania real estate exam, here’s some good news to start with. Pennsylvania asks for just 75 hours of pre-licensing coursework, among the most accessible requirements in the country, split across two courses, Real Estate Fundamentals and Real Estate Practice.
That doesn’t mean the exam itself is easy. Pearson VUE administers it under contract with the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission, and it comes in two parts, national and state, each with the same 75% passing score. The state portion is short, just 5 categories, but two of them alone make up more than half the questions, so a generic study guide that skims over Pennsylvania’s own rules will leave gaps.
We built this guide, plus a free printable cheat sheet, to help you walk in ready. Before you start, it’s worth reading up on Pennsylvania’s license requirements, so you know exactly what you’re working toward.
Download the Free PA Study Guide Cheat Sheet here.
What’s on the Pennsylvania Real Estate Exam
Pennsylvania’s Salesperson exam is really two exams taken back-to-back. Here’s how the numbers break down:
| National | State | Both | |
| Questions on screen | 85 | 50 | 135 |
| Scored questions | 80 | 40 | 120 |
| Time limit | 150 min | 60 min | 210 min |
| Passing score | 75% (60/80) | 75% (30/40) | — |
Both portions pass at the same 75%. Since they’re graded separately, a strong score on one doesn’t make up for a weak score on the other.
On the national side, Real Estate Contracts and Agency is the single heaviest topic at 20% of the questions. Pennsylvania’s state portion is refreshingly compact, just 5 categories, and Pearson VUE publishes exactly how many scored questions come from each one. Regulations Governing the Activities of Licensees and Agency and Disclosure together make up more than half the state portion on their own.
| National – Topic Area(85 items on screen, 80 of them scored) | Items | Exam % | State -Topic Area (50 items on screen, 40 of them scored) | Items | Exam % |
| Real Estate Contracts and Agency | 16 | 20% | Regulations Governing the Activities of Licensees | 11 | 27% |
| Real Property Characteristics, Legal Descriptions, and Property Use | 11 | 14% | Agency and Disclosure | 10 | 25% |
| Property Value and Appraisal | 11 | 14% | Licensure | 8 | 20% |
| Real Estate Practice | 10 | 13% | Miscellaneous | 6 | 15% |
| Forms of Ownership, Transfer, and Recording of Title | 9 | 11% | Real Estate Commission | 5 | 13% |
| Property Disclosures and Environmental Issues | 9 | 11% | |||
| Financing and Settlement | 7 | 9% | |||
| Real Estate Math Calculations | 7 | 9% |
If you already hold an active real estate license in another state, it’s worth checking whether you qualify to skip the national portion entirely. Pennsylvania waives it for candidates who’ve been actively licensed elsewhere within the past 5 years and submit a Certification of Licensure.
Pennsylvania’s 75-Hour Education Requirement
Before you can sit for the exam, Pennsylvania requires 75 hours of coursework, 5 credits split across two courses, through a Commission-approved provider. Real Estate Fundamentals covers the first 30 hours and lays out the basics of property law, ownership, and contracts. Real Estate Practice covers the remaining 45 hours and focuses on the day-to-day side of the job, things like brokerage operations, agency, and fair housing.
Compare that to states that require 150 or even 180 hours, and Pennsylvania is clearly on the accessible end. You’ll also need to be at least 18 years old and a high school graduate or equivalent, though a bachelor’s degree in real estate or a juris doctor can substitute for the coursework requirement entirely.
Just watch the calendar once your coursework is done. Pennsylvania expects you to pass the exam within 5 years of finishing your education, or you’ll need to retake the required hours from scratch.
Don’t mistake fewer hours for an easier exam, though. Pennsylvania packs a lot of state-specific material into a short state portion, so the hours you do spend need to count. Real Estate Practice, in particular, sets up the agency and brokerage concepts that show up again, in more Pennsylvania-specific form, on the state portion. If you’re weighing Pennsylvania against a neighboring state’s requirements, the lower hour count is a real advantage, but it also means less classroom time to absorb the material, so plan your independent study accordingly.
Your 4-Week PA Exam Study Plan
With only 75 hours of required coursework, Pennsylvania’s study plan is one of the shortest in our guides, just 4 weeks. That’s not because the material is light; it’s because there’s simply less of it to cover than in states with 150-plus hour requirements. Treat these 4 weeks as focused, not relaxed.
- Week 1 covers national property concepts. Spend your time on real property characteristics, legal descriptions, land use controls, forms of ownership, and how title transfers and gets recorded. These topics build the vocabulary the rest of the exam leans on, and none of them carry outsized weight individually, so this is a good week to build a steady foundation before things speed up. Close out the week with a set of practice questions covering everything you studied, while it’s still fresh.
- Week 2 turns to the heaviest national material. Real Estate Contracts and Agency alone make up 20% of the national exam, so give it the most attention of any single topic this week, then move through financing, appraisal, the basics of agency relationships, property disclosures, and math calculations. Work actual practice problems as you go rather than just memorizing formulas, especially for math. This week is also your setup for Week 3, since Pennsylvania’s state-specific agency rules build directly on these national concepts.
- Week 3 shifts entirely to Pennsylvania state law. Study the Real Estate Commission’s powers, licensure requirements, agency disclosure rules, and the regulations governing how licensees conduct themselves day to day. This is where the short state portion punches above its weight. Regulations Governing the Activities of Licensees and Agency and Disclosure together account for more than half of the state exam, so don’t let the compact category count fool you into treating this as a light week.
- Week 4 is entirely about practice and review. Take full-length, timed practice exams for both the national and state portions separately, since that’s how you’ll actually sit for the real thing. Use the official Pennsylvania state content outline as your literal study map here; it’s short enough to review category by category and confirm you’re solid on all 5. Clean up whatever weak spots your practice results reveal before test day, and don’t add new material this late in the game.
If you’re testing remotely through OnVUE rather than in person, use this last week to also get comfortable with the online proctoring setup. A quiet space, a reliable webcam, and a stable internet connection matter as much as your content knowledge at this point, so don’t leave that check until the morning of your exam.
PA-Specific Topics to Focus On
Beyond the topic weights, a handful of Pennsylvania-specific concepts show up across multiple parts of the state exam and deserve focused attention on their own.
The Real Estate Commission itself is worth understanding early. It’s an 11-member body, mostly licensed brokers, appointed by the governor, and it handles everything from licensing decisions to disciplining licensees through a formal complaint, investigation, and hearing process. Tied to the Commission is the Real Estate Recovery Fund, which compensates consumers, not licensees, for losses caused by a licensee’s fraud or dishonest conduct.
Licensure covers qualifications, renewal, reactivation, and what happens when a salesperson changes employers; straightforward material but worth knowing cold since it’s 20% of the state portion on its own.
Agency and Disclosure and Regulations Governing the Activities of Licensees together make up more than half the state exam, so they deserve the bulk of your state-portion study time. Agency and Disclosure covers what licensees owe every party in a transaction, dual agency consent requirements, and how compensation works. Regulations Governing the Activities of Licensees covers advertising rules, broker-salesperson relations, proper handling of client funds and accounts, prohibited conduct, and the grounds for suspension or revocation.
The Miscellaneous category rounds things out with property disclosures, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (which extends fair housing protections beyond the seven federally protected classes to include age 40 and older, ancestry, and the use of support animals), time-shares, planned communities, condominiums, and rental and property management rules, including Pennsylvania’s specific security deposit limits and return deadlines.
None of this is generic real estate knowledge. It’s built entirely around Pennsylvania’s own statutes and Commission rules, which is exactly why Pearson VUE’s official practice tests, which only cover the national portion, won’t prepare you for it. See our Pennsylvania real estate license requirements page for the full checklist.
Pennsylvania Real Estate Exam Study Tips
A few things about this exam are worth knowing before you sit down to study.
Use the official Pennsylvania state content outline as your study map, literally. It only has 5 categories, and Pearson VUE publishes the exact number of scored questions in each one. Few states make it this easy to see exactly where your state-portion study time should go.
Don’t rely only on Pearson VUE’s official practice tests to prepare. They only cover the national, general portion, not Pennsylvania’s state-specific content, so you’ll need separate practice material to test yourself on agency and disclosure rules, licensee conduct, and the rest of the state outline.
Both portions pass at the same 75% threshold, so there’s no need to weigh one over the other the way you might in a state with different passing scores. What does differ is how much of a generic textbook actually prepares you. The national material overlaps with what other states test, but Pennsylvania’s state portion depends entirely on its own statutes and Commission rules.
If you’re deciding between testing in person or remotely through OnVUE, both are legitimate options here; just make sure your home setup meets the technical requirements before exam day if you go the remote route.
Ready to see where you stand? Take a free Pennsylvania real estate practice exam.
Pennsylvania Real Estate Exam Requirements
Before you can sit for the exam, Pennsylvania expects you to meet a short list of requirements. Here’s the quick version.
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Be a high school graduate or equivalent.
- Complete 75 hours (5 credits) of Commission-approved education, 30 hours of Real Estate Fundamentals and 45 hours of Real Estate Practice.
- Pass both the National and Pennsylvania State portions of the exam, each at 75% or higher.
- Submit your passing score reports and a complete license application within 3 years of passing your first portion.
- Find a sponsoring broker before you can start practicing.
None of these requirements are unusual by national standards, but Pennsylvania does expect you to move through them in order. You can’t schedule your exam without finishing coursework, and you can’t submit your license application without a passing score and a sponsoring broker lined up. For the full, current list straight from the source, check the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission or our Pennsylvania real estate license requirements page.
Download Your Free PA Real Estate Exam Study Guide PDF
Everything in this guide is also available as a free, printable two-page cheat sheet, built for quick reference in the days before your exam. It includes the national and state exam breakdowns side by side, the full Pennsylvania state content outline as a one-page study map, the 75-hour education split, the 4-week study plan condensed into a quick reference, and the essential math formulas you’ll need on exam day. Print it, mark it up, and keep it with you during your final review.
Download the Free PA Real Estate Exam Study Cheat Sheet.
Or start with a free Pennsylvania real estate practice exam and find out where you stand before you open the first topic section. If you want deeper practice with full answer explanations, our Pennsylvania real estate exam prep plans pick up right where this guide leaves off.
Conclusion
Pennsylvania’s 75-hour requirement makes it one of the more accessible states to get licensed in, but the exam itself still rewards real preparation, especially on the state portion. It’s short, just 5 categories, but Regulations Governing the Activities of Licensees and Agency and Disclosure alone make up more than half of it.
Use the official state content outline as your literal study map, give Contracts and Agency the attention its 20% national weight demands, and don’t lean on generic national practice tests to cover material they were never built to test.
Download the free study guide cheat sheet, work through this guide section by section, and when you’re ready to test yourself under real conditions, try a free Pennsylvania practice exam and see exactly where you stand before test day.
