Connecticut Real Estate Cheat Sheet.

The numbers to remember

These figures define the exam's shape more than any single content fact — lock them in first, before you re-check any topic details.

• General portion: 80 questions / 120 minutes
• State portion: 35 questions / 45 minutes
• Combined: 110 questions / 165 minutes
• 5-10 unscored experimental questions may appear in either portion
• Passing score: 70% on EACH portion separately
• Exam fee: $59.00 first attempt; $51.00 per retake
• Application fee: $80.00 (separate from exam fee)
• Prelicense course: 60-hour Real Estate Principles and Practices
• Minimum age: 18
• Pass both portions within 1 year of eligibility; unlimited retakes in that window
• License activation deadline: 2 years from most recently passed portion
• License activation fee: $590.00 (requires broker supervision)
• License expires: May 31 of even-numbered years

Content domains and weights

General portion (national):

• Contracts — 19%
• Agency — 13%
• Practice of Real Estate — 12%
• Financing — 10%
• Property Ownership — 10%

State portion (Connecticut, by item count out of 35):

• Connecticut Laws Governing the Activities of Licensees — 11 items
• Connecticut Real Estate Agency — 9 items
• Connecticut-Specific Real Estate Laws — 8 items
• Connecticut Real Estate Licensing Requirements — 7 items

High-yield review areas

• Contracts and Agency together carry the largest share of the General portion — review these last the night before
• Licensee-activity rules are the single largest State-portion block; don't assume national agency knowledge covers Connecticut's version
• Financing and Property Ownership are smaller but still worth a quick pass since each is 10% of the General portion
• Remember the State portion is scored separately from the General portion — a strong General score cannot offset a failed State portion

Top traps

These are the mistakes that trip up otherwise well-prepared candidates on exam day.

• Treating the exam as one combined score instead of two separately-graded portions requiring 70% each
• Confusing national agency/contract rules with their Connecticut-specific counterparts on the State portion
• Losing track of the one-year eligibility window to pass both portions
• Forgetting the application fee ($80.00) is separate from the exam fee ($59.00)
• Running out of time on the General portion's 80 questions by over-analyzing early items instead of pacing evenly across 120 minutes
• Assuming a passing average score exists across both portions combined — each portion must independently clear 70%
• Skipping review of the smaller State-portion blocks (Licensing Requirements, Specific Laws) just because they carry fewer items — every item still counts fully toward that portion's 70% threshold