California Notary Public Exam

Who can take the exam

Government Code section 8201 sets five requirements.

What's on the exam

All of the material in the Notary Public Handbook (January 2026 edition), including any updates, is fair game. The exam itself is 45 multiple-choice items in 60 minutes, closed-book: 40 items count toward your score, split across five content areas CPS HR publishes by name and count, and five more are unscored pretest items mixed in to try out future questions.

How our 155-question practice bank lines up with the handbook

We built the free practice bank on this exam's practice-test page around the handbook's own table of contents rather than CPS HR's five scoring categories, so you can drill one topic in depth the way the handbook teaches it. The mapping below is our own grouping, not an official CPS HR breakdown.

What it costs, exam through commission

Four amounts are fixed — three by the Secretary of State, one by CPS HR. Everything else is priced by an outside vendor, insurer or county, so treat those rows as costs to shop for rather than numbers to expect.

Pay the exam fee at the test site by check, money order or cashier's check made out to the Secretary of State — cash and temporary checks aren't accepted, the fee is nonrefundable, and a check needs a void date at least 90 days out from your exam date.

Exam day: what to bring and the rules

Bring these four things to the test center:

1. Photo ID. A driver's license or state DMV ID, a Canadian or Mexican driver's license, a U.S. or foreign-government passport or passport card, or a U.S. military ID — current, or issued within the last five years. The name on it must exactly match the full legal name you printed on Section 1D of your application.
2. Your application, photo and certificate. A correctly completed application, a passport-style color photo, and your proof-of-completion certificate from the education course.
3. Payment. A check, money order or cashier's check made out to the Secretary of State — $40 for a new application or reappointment, $20 if you're retaking after a fail (bring a copy of your fail letter). Cash and temporary checks aren't accepted.
4. Sharpened No. 2 pencils.

The exam is closed-book: you may not talk to anyone but the proctor, or use notes, books or other aids, once it begins. You can leave only for the restroom, one candidate at a time, only with the chief proctor's permission, and you get no extra time for it. Anyone caught giving or receiving help, holding unauthorized materials, or copying test content is asked to turn in their materials, leaves the test center, and is reported to the Secretary of State — copying the content can also mean legal action under federal copyright law.

Scoring and your results

CPS HR scores the exam on a scale of 0 to 100; 70 or higher passes. That's a scaled score, not a raw percentage — CPS HR is explicit that you cannot get it by dividing correct answers by the number of questions, because every exam form is converted to the same scale first. (The passing score shown elsewhere on this page as "70%" is this same scaled threshold.) Results go out by email or mail 15 to 20 business days after your exam; if it's been more than 25 business days, contact CPS HR directly. A passing result stays valid for one year from your exam date, and CPS HR does not discuss results over the phone.

If you don't pass

CPS HR mails a fail notice, and you can apply and test again — but only once per calendar month; a second attempt in the same month is thrown out and its fee forfeited. The retake costs $20, and you'll need your fail letter at the test site. If you retest before your current commission expires, your three-hour refresher certificate is still good; let the commission lapse first and you're required to take the six-hour course again. Rather than retake, you can request a rescoring for a $30 money order within 45 days of your test date. If you're renewing, CPS HR recommends testing at least six months before your commission expires, and not more than twelve months ahead.