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RetakesPublished August 2026 · figures update live

Nothing Is Banked: What a Failed Attempt Costs in Each State

A failed attempt does not cost the same everywhere. Most states score the national and state halves independently, so a candidate who clears one half re-sits only the other. Two of the states we cover score a single combined paper, which means a retake is all of it again.

Every figure below is read from the same exam specifications our simulator scores against, so it cannot drift from what the practice exams actually enforce.

Worst-case retake, by state

StateAdministered byScored itemsRe-sitBanked
CaliforniaCalifornia DRE150150none
WashingtonPSI13010030
FloridaPearson VUE100100none
TexasPearson VUE1208040
PennsylvaniaPearson VUE1208040
North CarolinaPearson VUE1408060
NevadaPearson VUE1208040

What this means if you are retaking

In California and Florida there is no half to keep. A retaker sits the full 150 and 100-question paper again, so study time should follow the published content weights rather than concentrate on one portion.

In the 5 two-portion states, the opposite is true: the half you already cleared is banked, and spending revision time on it is spending it on questions you will not be asked. The largest single re-sit among them is 100 items.

Passing standards differ too and are not shown here \u2014 see the exam-format study for those. Nothing on this page is a prediction of any individual result.

Citing this study

Free to cite and quote with a link back to this page. Suggested credit: AgentExamCoach Research, “Nothing Is Banked: What a Failed Attempt Costs in Each State”, agentexamcoach.com/research/nothing-is-banked-single-exam-states. Figures are recomputed on every page load, so quote the date you read it.

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