South Carolina Real Estate Pass Rate 2026: 54%

The most recent full-year pass rate published by the South Carolina Real Estate Commission is 54%, and that figure is the national portion, first attempt only. Between November 1, 2023 and October 31, 2024, 3,423 first-time candidates sat the national portion of the South Carolina Real Estate Associate exam and 1,879 passed. The same report puts the state portion at 57% on first attempt — 3,513 tested, 2,011 passed. Those are two separately scored exams taken in one appointment, and South Carolina never merges them into a single headline rate. Most state real estate regulators publish no pass rate at all, so South Carolina's numbers are unusually checkable. They are also unusually easy to quote wrongly, because the Commission counts first-time and repeat candidates as separate populations, and the distance between them is the largest thing in the data.

Every official South Carolina real estate pass rate

The Commission posts these under "Licensure Exam Statistics" on its licensing requirements page, which says they "represent the passing rates for the South Carolina Real Estate State Licensure Exam." Checked on August 16, 2026, two of those links do not serve what their labels promise. The monthly link labeled October 2024 actually serves the full-year report covering 11/01/23–10/31/24. The yearly link labeled 11/01/2023 - 10/31/2024 now serves a one-month report covering 01/01/26–01/31/26, generated February 2, 2026 and revised March 12, 2026. Both files are genuine Commission output; only the labels are stale. Every figure below is read from the reports themselves.

License	Portion	Attempt basis	Tested	Passed	Rate	Period
Real Estate Associate	National	First attempt	3,423	1,879	54%	Nov 1, 2023 – Oct 31, 2024
Real Estate Associate	National	Repeater	3,807	935	24%	Nov 1, 2023 – Oct 31, 2024
Real Estate Associate	State	First attempt	3,513	2,011	57%	Nov 1, 2023 – Oct 31, 2024
Real Estate Associate	State	Repeater	2,587	1,105	42%	Nov 1, 2023 – Oct 31, 2024
Broker	National	First attempt	284	172	60%	Nov 1, 2023 – Oct 31, 2024
Broker	National	Repeater	248	70	28%	Nov 1, 2023 – Oct 31, 2024
Broker	State	First attempt	331	181	54%	Nov 1, 2023 – Oct 31, 2024
Broker	State	Repeater	245	131	53%	Nov 1, 2023 – Oct 31, 2024
Property Manager	Single exam, no portion split	First attempt	553	344	62%	Nov 1, 2023 – Oct 31, 2024
Property Manager	Single exam, no portion split	Repeater	312	114	36%	Nov 1, 2023 – Oct 31, 2024
Real Estate Associate	National	First attempt	214	124	57%	Jan 1–31, 2026
Real Estate Associate	National	Repeater	282	43	15%	Jan 1–31, 2026
Real Estate Associate	State	First attempt	265	150	56%	Jan 1–31, 2026
Real Estate Associate	State	Repeater	236	82	34%	Jan 1–31, 2026

Two cautions on reading that table. The Commission truncates its percentages instead of rounding them, so recomputing from its own counts gives a slightly higher number: 1,879 of 3,423 is 54.9%, printed as 54.0. And the January 2026 file carries broker rows too, but on samples of 6 to 22 candidates, where one pass or fail swings the rate by several points. They are not worth quoting.

What this number does and does not count

Attempt basis. Every rate above is either first attempt or repeat attempt. South Carolina never publishes a blended figure, which is exactly why its numbers cannot be dropped into a league table beside states that report all attempts together. If you want the all-attempts equivalent, it has to be built from the counts: across the full year, 2,814 of 7,230 national sittings passed, or 38.9%, and 3,116 of 6,100 state sittings passed, or 51.1%. Those two are our arithmetic on the Commission's counts, not rates the Commission publishes.

Portion basis. The national portion and the state portion are scored independently and reported independently. A candidate who passes one and fails the other appears in a pass column and a fail column on the same day. There is no official statistic for the share of South Carolina candidates who clear both portions in one appointment, and any page presenting a single portion as "the South Carolina pass rate" is quoting half the exam.

What it is not. The unit is a sitting, not a person, so a candidate who fails twice and passes on the third try contributes three sittings. It is not comparable to another state's figure unless that state also isolates first attempts and the same portion. And the repeat volumes say something on their own: 3,807 national retake sittings against 2,587 state retake sittings, the pattern you would expect when candidates re-sit only the portion they failed.

The exam behind the numbers

South Carolina calls its entry-level license the Real Estate Associate — what most states call a salesperson license. The exam is 120 scored questions in one appointment, split into two separately graded parts:

• National portion — 80 scored questions. Passing score 56 of 80, which is 70%.
• State portion — 40 scored questions. Passing score 28 of 40, also 70%.

The examination fee is $63. Those 80-point and 40-point maximums are visible in the Commission's own statistics, which print a "Max Score" row of 80.0 across the national topics and 40.0 across the state topics. Because each portion is scored against its own cut score, 70% overall passes nothing — you need 70% twice.

What the data suggests separates passing from failing candidates

Start with the most striking number in the report. Across the full year, the statewide mean score for first-time candidates was 55.65 out of 80 on the national portion, against a cut score of 56. The average first-timer missed by about a third of a point. On the state portion the statewide mean was 27.93 out of 40, against a cut score of 28. Both halves are calibrated so the typical first-time candidate lands a fraction under the line, which is why both first-attempt rates sit in the mid-50s and why small targeted gains matter more here than broad review.

Where the points go missing is published as well. On the national portion, first-time candidates earned these shares of the available points:

• Real Estate Calculations — 2.83 of 5 points, 57%
• Transfer of Title — 3.73 of 6, 62%
• Financing — 5.15 of 8, 64%
• Land Use Controls — 2.79 of 4, 70%
• Contracts — 10.60 of 15, 71%
• Property Disclosures — 3.86 of 5, 77%

Contracts is the largest single block at 15 of the 80 national points, and Real Estate Calculations is the weakest topic by a clear margin. The state portion runs the other way: candidates score best on the statutes governing licensee activity, 8.20 of 11 or 75%, and on South Carolina agency and non-agency relationships, 7.92 of 11 or 72%, and worst on Closing Details, 1.66 of 3 or 55%.

This is where the portion split earns its keep. In some states the local law portion is the trap and the national portion is routine. South Carolina is not one of them. At 54% national against 57% state on first attempt, the two portions bind almost equally and the national portion is marginally the harder half. A study plan weighted heavily toward South Carolina statutes, on the assumption that state law is the obstacle, is aimed at the wrong part of the exam.

The real cliff is the retake. National first attempts passed at 54%, national retakes at 24%; in January 2026 the same gap ran 57% against 15%. State retakes hold up better at 42% for the year, but point the same way. Repeat candidates also scored materially lower, averaging 49.40 of 80 nationally against the 55.65 of first-timers, so the retake population is not a crowd of narrow near-misses coming back sharper.

The bottom line

South Carolina's official first-attempt pass rates for the Real Estate Associate exam are 54% on the national portion and 57% on the state portion for the year ending October 31, 2024, alongside 24% and 42% on repeat attempts. Quote any of them with the portion, the attempt basis and the period attached, or the number means nothing. The practical reading is narrow: both portions are calibrated so the average first-timer just misses, the national half is the slightly harder one, Real Estate Calculations is the weakest topic in the state, and the first attempt is worth far more than any that follow it.

Since the average first-time candidate finishes a fraction of a point below the cut score on both halves, the preparation that pays is finding your own fraction before test day — work through a free South Carolina Real Estate Salesperson practice exam and see which of the two portions is actually costing you the points.