How Many Times Can You Take the Real Estate Exam in Tennessee?

There is no limit on how many times you can take the real estate exam in Tennessee. You can keep sitting for it until you pass, but waiting periods, fees, and expiration rules shape how quickly and how cheaply you can get there. After a first failure you can rebook in 24 hours; after a second failure you must wait 30 days between every attempt.¹

Waiting Periods After a Failed Attempt

The 24-hour window after your first failure lets you try again while the material is fresh. Once you fail twice, the pace changes: 30 days between the second and third attempt, and 30 days between every attempt after that.¹ The rule is not a one-time cool-off. It stays on every retake from the third onward.

Passing One Section and Failing the Other

The Tennessee exam has a national section and a state section. If you clear one and fail the other, you only rebook the section you failed. Your passing score on the cleared section stays valid for two retakes of the failed section, or one year, whichever comes first.²

Use up both retakes without passing, or let the year run out, and the passed score expires. You then start over on both sections. Combine that with the 30-day waiting period after two failures and it is realistic to burn through the two-retake allowance in a couple of months, so pace your study around those windows rather than rebooking on autopilot.

What Each Attempt Costs

You pay PSI directly every time you sit for the exam. The fee depends on what you are taking:

Both sections: $63
National section only: $37
State section only: $26

These amounts apply to the affiliate broker and real estate broker exams alike.² If you only failed one section, you pay just that section’s fee to retake. The costs compound quickly across multiple attempts. Three retakes of the national section alone runs $111.

Rescheduling Without Losing Your Fee

You can move or cancel your appointment without forfeiting the fee as long as you do it at least two days before the scheduled date. Miss that two-day window and the fee is gone, so you pay again to rebook. Book through PSI’s online portal or by calling (855) 340-3710. You do not need to file a new application with TREC to retake the exam.²

Deadlines That Force a Full Restart

Two deadlines can wipe out progress you have already made:

Passed-section expiration. If you passed one section, you have two retakes of the failed section or one year to clear it. Miss either limit and the passed score is void.²
License application deadline. After passing both sections, you have one year from the date you passed your first section to apply for your license. Let that lapse and you retake the entire exam.¹

The application deadline is the one candidates miss most often, usually while looking for a sponsoring broker. Treat the one-year window as firm and start the application as soon as you pass.

Use the Score Report Before You Rebook

Your score appears on screen as soon as you finish the exam, and PSI emails a detailed score report afterward. When you fail, that report breaks down which topic areas pulled your score down.² Rebooking every 30 days without changing your study approach spends money without moving the score. Target the weakest topic areas the report flags before you pay for the next attempt.

One boundary worth flagging: these rules cover a first-time candidate retaking the exam. If you previously held a Tennessee license that has since expired, retesting depends on how long it has been lapsed rather than on the retake rules above.³

1
Commerce and Insurance Customer Service Center. Pre-Licensing Requirements and Exam FAQs
2
Tennessee Real Estate Commission. Tennessee Real Estate Commission PSI and Exam Information
3
Legal Information Institute. Tennessee Comp R and Regs 1260-01-.21 – Reinstatement of an Expired License of a Broker, Affiliate Broker, Time-Share Salesperson, or Acquisition Agent