{"id":1616,"date":"2012-12-19T16:26:10","date_gmt":"2012-12-19T23:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/?p=1616"},"modified":"2026-02-04T22:03:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T05:03:52","slug":"failed-insurance-exam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/2012\/12\/failed-insurance-exam\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do if You Fail the Insurance Exam"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the time I took the state exam for my life and health\u00a0insurance license, I was the licensing director at a large, nationwide agency. \u00a0Every week we would enroll new employees in a local insurance school and then register them to take the state insurance exam. \u00a0With every group that attempted the exam, I quickly began to notice a trend: around half of the individuals who sat for the exam, failed.<\/p>\n

I decided that I would tutor anybody that did not feel comfortable with the material and that needed addition help. \u00a0I ended up assisting hundreds of new employees pass their exam and saw the percentage of failed attempts decline. \u00a0It was great helping new friends and associates get over that final hurdle, and attain their insurance license. \u00a0Then, I was advised by upper management that I must obtain my license as well.<\/p>\n

I completed the insurance class and\u00a0diligently\u00a0studied every day for two weeks. \u00a0This is on top of already having a firm grasp of the information as a result of helping so many others prepare. \u00a0As I hit the submit button at the end of my state exam, I had only one thought enter my mind:<\/p>\n

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I have no idea if I passed this exam<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Many candidates struggle on their first attempt not because they lack knowledge, but because they misread questions or misunderstand how exam questions are structured. Taking time to understand how insurance licensing exam questions are written<\/a> can help you avoid common mistakes and improve your performance on a retake.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While I was able to pass the exam on my first attempt, many people do not, and I completely understand why; this is not an easy exam!<\/p>\n

The state exam is designed to push the test-taker to the point of second guessing his or her\u00a0understanding of insurance. \u00a0It asks questions in a way that requires you to understand each concept that you learned during your preparation, to discern similar concepts and minute details from one another, and to stay focused for the entirety of the exam.<\/p>\n

Now I understood why only 50% of the employees at the agency who sat for the exam where able to pass. \u00a0But, is this a national trend among all life and health\u00a0insurance exam applicants? \u00a0The answer is yes.<\/p>\n

The illustrations below display the overall pass rates for test-takers in Florida and Texas, for a period of one month. \u00a0While pass rates continuously fluctuate and are different in every state, this average is often constant between 50% – 60%.<\/p>\n

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Florida Insurance Exam Pass Rates<\/h4>\n
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Source –\u00a0Pearson Vue<\/p>\n

Texas Insurance Exam Pass Rates<\/h4>\n
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Source –\u00a0Prometric<\/p>\n

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What does this mean?<\/h4>\n

This means it is not the end of the world if you do not pass your state insurance exam. \u00a0Even if you have a strong understanding of the concepts found on the exam, the exam itself is still difficult.<\/p>\n

In the event you did not pass the insurance exam on your first or second attempt, do not let this discourage you. \u00a0Those who pass the exam with little effort are not always the most successful in the industry. \u00a0In fact, many of the agents at the agency that initially struggled to pass their exam\u00a0went on to be some of the most successful agents I know. \u00a0Also, if you fail your exam by only a few questions, this is a GOOD thing because it shows that you understood the majority of the information!<\/p>\n

What should you do?<\/h4>\n

Stay Positive. \u00a0Upon completing your exam you should have received a printout of your results from the testing center. \u00a0This printout illustrates your overall performance as well as details each section of the exam. \u00a0Let this printout guide you, just as the State Exam Outline<\/a>, as to which sections contain more questions on the exam and where your emphasis of studying should be placed. \u00a0However, do not ignore those sections on which you performed well.<\/p>\n

The trick is to continue studying right where you left off and to retake the exam as soon as you are prepared while everything is still fresh in your mind. \u00a0The last thing you want to do is put your studying on hold. \u00a0Every day you do not review a concept, the more likely it will be forgotten. \u00a0In addition, every insurance exam will be different from the next, so those sections on which you scored well will likely have slightly different questions on your next exam.<\/p>\n

Below is a sample test results printout provided by the testing center:<\/p>\n

\"\"Source –\u00a0<\/span>Prometric<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Review your exam<\/strong> – Many states will allow you to review your exam along with your answers. \u00a0This is great because it allows you to take your time and get a better understanding of how questions are asked on the exam. \u00a0Best of all, it does not require any type of fee. \u00a0You must contact your testing administrator within 90 days from the date you completed your exam, and you only be allowed to review it once.<\/p>\n

Understanding the material well enough to pass the state insurance exam is one thing, but you also need to understand how to take the insurance exam.<\/p>\n

Some test-takers feel the exam is deliberately tricky or includes information that they have never seen. \u00a0Because of the amount of information that is covered on the exam and how detailed the questions may be, this is a common notion. \u00a0As explained in\u00a0Top Insurance License Exam Tips<\/em><\/a>, \u00a0there are many things to look out for on the exam, such as\u00a0understanding what a question is asking, double negatives, pre-test questions and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the time I took the state exam for my life and health\u00a0insurance license, I was the licensing director at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[93,3,4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1616"}],"version-history":[{"count":49,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2919,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616\/revisions\/2919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalonlineinsuranceschool.com\/insurance-license-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}