(a) Administration of licensing examinations.
  (1) An examination required for any license issued by the Commission will be conducted by the testing service with which the Commission has contracted for the administration of examinations.
    (A) The testing service shall schedule and conduct the examinations in the manner required by the contract between the Commission and the testing service.
    (B) Except as otherwise provided by law, the examination fee must be paid each time the examination is taken.
  (2) The testing service administering the examinations is required to provide reasonable accommodations for any applicant with a verifiable disability. Applicants must contact the testing service to arrange an accommodation.
  (3) To be authorized for admittance to an examination, the applicant must present to the testing service administering the examinations appropriate documentation required by the testing service under contract with the Commission. The testing service shall require official photo-bearing personal identification of individuals appearing for an examination and shall deny entrance to anyone who cannot provide adequate identification. The testing service may refuse to admit an applicant who arrives after the time the examination is scheduled to begin or whose conduct or demeanor would be disruptive to other persons taking examinations at the site. The testing service may confiscate examination materials, dismiss the applicant, and fail the applicant for violating or attempting to violate the confidentiality of the contents of an examination.
  (4) An applicant is permitted to use certain hand-held calculators. If a calculator has printout capability, the testing service must approve use of such calculator before the examination. No other electronic devices are permitted.
(b) Conduct during examination.
  (1) The following conduct with respect to licensing examinations is prohibited and is grounds to impose disciplinary action against any applicant, license holder, or education provider accredited by the Commission, and shall further be grounds for disapproval of an application for any license, accreditation, or approval issued by the Commission:
    (A) obtaining or attempting to obtain specific questions or answers from an applicant, a Commission employee, or any person hired by or associated with the testing service;
    (B) removing or attempting to remove questions or answers from an examination site; or
    (C) providing or attempting to provide examination questions or answers to another person.
  (2) The Commission, or the testing service under contract with the Commission, may file theft charges against any person who removes or attempts to remove an examination or any portion thereof or any material furnished with the examination whether by actual physical removal or by transcription.
(c) Passing Scores. A broker applicant must attain a passing score of at least 75% in each portion of the broker licensing examination. A sales agent applicant must attain a passing score of at least 70% in each portion of the sales agent licensing examination.
(d) Waiver of examination requirement for licensure.
  (1) The Commission shall waive the examination requirement for an applicant for a broker license who has been licensed as a broker in this state within two years before the filing of the application. The Commission shall waive the examination requirement for an applicant for a sales agent license who has been licensed in this state as a broker or sales agent within two years before the filing of the application.
  (2) The Commission may waive the national portion of the examination of an applicant for a broker or sales agent license if the applicant maintains an active license in another state equivalent to the license being applied for, and has passed a comparable national examination accredited or certified by a nationally recognized real estate regulator association.
(e) Examination results for the national part and state part of the examination are valid for a period of one year from the date each part of the examination is passed.
(f) An applicant who fails the examination three consecutive times may not apply for reexamination or submit a new license application unless the applicant submits evidence satisfactory to the Commission that the applicant has completed additional mandatory qualifying education listed in §535.64(a) of this chapter (relating to Content Requirements for Qualifying Real Estate Courses) as follows, after the date the applicant failed the examination for the third time:
  (1) for an applicant who failed the national part of the examination, 30 hours;
  (2) for an applicant who failed the state part of the examination, 30 hours; and
  (3) for an applicant who failed both parts of the examination, 60 hours.

Source Note: The provisions of this §535.57 adopted to be effective January 1, 2015, 39 TexReg 9669; amended to be effective January 1, 2016, 40 TexReg 8222; amended to be effective February 1, 2017, 41 TexReg 9521; amended to be effective December 11, 2019, 44 TexReg 7699; amended to be effective June 11, 2023, 48 TexReg 2948