Connecticut Real Estate Salesperson Exam Study Guide

The Connecticut real estate salesperson exam is split into two portions administered together: a General (national) portion and a Connecticut State portion. The General portion has 80 questions in 120 minutes, and the State portion has 35 questions in 45 minutes, for a combined total of 110 scored questions across 165 minutes.

• General portion: 80 questions / 120 minutes
• State portion: 35 questions / 45 minutes
• Combined: 110 questions / 165 minutes
• PSI may also add 5-10 unscored experimental questions mixed into either portion
• Passing score: 70% on each portion
• Exam fee: $59.00 for a first attempt (retake fee $51.00)
• Application fee: $80.00 (separate from the exam fee)
• Prelicense education requirement: 60-hour Real Estate Principles and Practices course
• Minimum age to sit: 18 years

Both portions must be passed within one year of eligibility, and you may retake either portion an unlimited number of times within that year. Treat these figures as the skeleton of your study plan: knowing exactly how many questions and minutes belong to each portion lets you build a realistic timed-practice routine well before test day.

The General portion tests real estate principles that apply nationwide, not Connecticut-specific rules. PSI publishes the weight each content area carries for the salesperson exam:

• Contracts — 19% of the General portion, the single largest content area
• Agency — 13%, covering fiduciary duties and representation relationships
• Practice of Real Estate — 12%, day-to-day brokerage operations and disclosures
• Financing — 10%, mortgage instruments and lending concepts
• Property Ownership — 10%, estates, interests, and forms of ownership

Because Contracts and Agency together account for roughly a third of the General portion, these two areas deserve outsized attention in your study plan. Practice, Financing, and Property Ownership round out the remaining weighted content, and the rest of the 80-question portion draws from other national topics such as valuation, land use, and real estate math that are conceptually part of the same body of national licensing knowledge tested across most states.

The 35-question State portion is scored by item count rather than percentage, and it focuses entirely on Connecticut-specific law and licensing practice rather than national concepts:

• Connecticut Laws Governing the Activities of Licensees — 11 items, the largest state-specific block
• Connecticut Real Estate Agency — 9 items, how agency principles apply under Connecticut rules
• Connecticut-Specific Real Estate Laws — 8 items
• Connecticut Real Estate Licensing Requirements — 7 items

Because this portion is much shorter than the General portion, every item carries more relative weight toward your State-portion score. Licensee-activity rules and Connecticut agency practice combined make up the majority of the 35 items, so candidates who feel confident on national agency and contract concepts should still budget dedicated study time for the Connecticut-specific versions of those same topics, since state law can modify how the general concept is applied in practice.

Connecticut requires a 70% passing score on each portion separately — passing the General portion does not carry over if you fail the State portion, and vice versa. You must pass both portions within one year of becoming eligible, and within that year you may sit for either portion as many times as needed, paying a $51.00 retake fee each time, whether you're retaking one portion or both portions together.

• Passing score: 70% per portion
• Eligibility window to pass both portions: 1 year
• Retakes: unlimited within that year
• License activation deadline: 2 years from your most recently passed portion
• License activation fee: $590.00, and you must be supervised by a Connecticut-licensed broker
• Salesperson license expiration: May 31 of every even-numbered year

Missing the one-year window to pass both portions typically means starting the licensing process over, so pacing your study to pass both portions well within that year — rather than right at the deadline — gives you a safety margin if a retake is needed.

An effective study plan mirrors how the exam is weighted rather than treating every topic equally. Since Contracts (19%) and Agency (13%) together make up nearly a third of the General portion, start there, then move to Practice of Real Estate (12%), Financing (10%), and Property Ownership (10%). For the State portion, prioritize Connecticut Laws Governing the Activities of Licensees (11 items) and Connecticut Real Estate Agency (9 items) before the smaller Licensing Requirements (7 items) and Specific Laws (8 items) blocks.

• Study contracts and agency concepts first — both nationally and under Connecticut law
• Layer in financing, ownership, and general practice topics next
• Dedicate separate review time to Connecticut licensee-activity rules, since they don't overlap with national content
• Use spaced repetition across both portions rather than cramming one before the other

General exam-taking habits — reading each question fully before answering, eliminating clearly wrong choices first, and pacing yourself against the time limit for each portion — apply just as much to a licensing exam as to any other standardized test, and can meaningfully reduce careless errors under time pressure.

Full-length practice tests are most useful when they mirror the real exam's structure: separate timed sets for the General and State portions, rather than one long mixed set. Simulating the 120-minute, 80-question General portion and the 45-minute, 35-question State portion separately gets you used to the actual pacing you'll face on each portion, since the two are timed independently.

• Take timed practice sets that match each portion's question count and time limit
• Review every missed question immediately, not just at the end of a study session
• Track accuracy by content area so you can see whether Contracts, Agency, or Connecticut-specific law needs more attention
• Retake practice sets after a few days to confirm the concept — not just the answer — has stuck

Because both portions must be passed within your one-year eligibility window, treating practice tests as a diagnostic tool early in your prep — rather than only right before test day — gives you time to restudy any weak content area before it becomes a retake situation.