What is required to get a license in Illinois?
For leasing agents:
- Proof of age 18 and above
- Proof of completion of 15 hrs Pre-License Education or 90 hrs Broker Pre-License Education
- You must have a high school diploma or equivalent
- Complete and pass the leasing agent examination
- Fees: Examination Fees (Leasing Agent: $37) License (Leasing Agent: $75)
For brokers:
- Proof of age 18 and above
- Proof of completion of 75 hours of Pre-License Education
- You must have a high school diploma or equivalent
- Complete and pass the real estate broker examination
- You must be sponsored by a managing broker in order to practice
- Fees: Examination Fees (Broker: $58) License (Broker: $125)
For managing brokers:
- Proof of age 20 and above
- Proof of completion of 45 hours of Pre-License Education
- You must have a high school diploma or equivalent
- You must have an active, valid Illinois real estate broker license
- You must have had an active real estate license for 2 of the past 3 years
- Complete and pass the real estate managing broker examination
- Fees: Examination Fees (Managing Broker: $58) License (Managing broker: $150)
What score do I need to pass?
The broker exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions for the national portion and 40 multiple-choice questions for the state-specific portion. The passing score for the national portion of the exam is 70, and for the state portion it is 75.
The managing broker exam consists of 90 multiple-choice questions for the national portion and 40 multiple-choice questions for the state-specific portion. The passing score for each portion of the exams is 75.
There can be 5-10 "Pre-Test" questions in each category. These questions are being tested by PSI and don't count against a passing grade. Pre-test questions are not identified on the exam, so examinees must answer every question on the exam.
There are multiple versions of each real estate exam administered in Illinois and each version can vary slightly in difficulty. To calculate a score, PSI uses a statistical procedure known as the Angoff method to help correct for differences in exam difficulty. Subject matter experts determine the difficulty of each item and average several factors together to decide the passing score of each section of the exam.
You will receive your score immediately after you complete your exam.
How much time do I have to complete the exam?
For the broker exam: you are allowed a total of 4 hours.
For the managing broker exam: you are allowed a total of 4 hours.
What should I bring with me to the exam?
- 1 Form of identification that matches the name you scheduled with, that is non-expired, and containing a valid signature (Driver’s license, state issued identification card, passport, green card, U.S. military identification card, Canadian Government issued ID.)
What is the format of the exam?
The exam is given on a computer.
What is on the exam?
You can view each exam's Content Outline in the Content section of the Candidate Handbook.