- SC-RES is the South Carolina Real Estate Salesperson Exam, administered by PSI for the SC Real Estate Commission.
- The exam has 80 national and 40 state questions, plus 5-10 unscored experimental items.
- You need 56 of 80 national and 28 of 40 state questions correct to pass.
- Fees are $63 for both portions together or $55 to retake a single portion.
What the SC-RES Actually Is
The SC-RES - the South Carolina Real Estate Salesperson Exam - is the licensing exam every prospective real estate agent in South Carolina must pass before they can practice under a broker-in-charge. It's worth noting that Act No. 204 changed the statutory title from "salesperson" to "Real Estate Associate" effective May 21, 2024, but the exam itself, its structure, and its nickname among candidates remain tied to the "SC-RES" shorthand this site is built around.
If you're just starting your research, our companion piece What Is SC-RES? and the closely related SC-RES Meaning and What Does SC-RES Stand For? articles cover the naming and history in more depth. This article focuses on what the exam covers, how it's administered, and what you need to know before you register.
Who Administers It: Commission and PSI
The South Carolina Real Estate Commission, housed within the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, sets the rules, domains, and eligibility standards for the SC-RES. Actual test delivery is handled by PSI, a third-party testing provider that operates computer-based testing centers across the state.
This split matters practically: the Commission decides what you must know and who qualifies to sit for the exam, while PSI handles scheduling, fees, scoring, and the day-of testing experience. When you register, you're dealing with PSI's systems and test centers, not a Commission office.
Exam Format, Timing, and Fees
The SC-RES is delivered as two distinct portions in one sitting, each with its own timer and passing threshold:
- National portion: 80 scored questions, 120 minutes, requires 56 correct to pass.
- State portion: 40 scored questions, 80 minutes, requires 28 correct to pass.
On top of the scored items, PSI mixes in 5-10 unscored experimental questions that look identical to the real ones - there's no way to identify them during the test, so every question deserves full attention. Testing is computer-based at PSI centers, and candidates may bring an approved calculator as long as it's silent, battery-operated, nonprogrammable, and free of printing functions or an alphabetic keyboard.
Fee structure is straightforward: PSI charges $63 to sit for both portions together, or $55 if you're only retaking a single portion after a partial failure. For a full breakdown of every cost associated with licensure - course fees, background checks, and exam retakes - see SC-RES Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Key Takeaway
Because the national and state portions are scored separately, you can pass one and fail the other - and only need to pay $55 to retake the failed portion rather than the full $63.
The 16 Domains You're Tested On
The SC-RES content outline splits cleanly into two blocks: Domains 1-11 make up the national portion, and Domains 12-16 are South Carolina-specific law and practice. Each domain carries its own weight within its portion, so not every topic deserves equal study time.
Domain 5: Contracts (19%)
The single heaviest-weighted national domain. Candidates must understand offer and acceptance, contingencies, contract remedies, and the elements that make an agreement enforceable.
- Highest point value of any national domain - prioritize accordingly
Domain 6: Agency (13%)
Covers fiduciary duties, types of agency relationships, and disclosure obligations toward clients and customers.
- Pairs conceptually with Domain 14's South Carolina-specific agency rules
Domain 10: Practice of Real Estate (12%)
Day-to-day licensee conduct, advertising rules, and professional practice standards fall here.
- Third-highest national weight - don't skim it
The remaining national domains are Property Ownership (10%), Financing (10%), Valuation (8%), Real Estate Calculations (7%), Property Disclosures (7%), Transfer of Title (6%), Land Use Controls (5%), and Property Management (3%). On the state side, Domains 12 through 16 - South Carolina Real Estate Commission and Licensing Requirements, Statutes Governing the Activities of Licensees and Non-Licensees, South Carolina Agency and Non-agency Relationships and Issues, Additional South Carolina Statutes and Topics, and Closing Details - carry their own weights within the 40-question state portion.
For a full walk-through of every domain with subtopic breakdowns, read SC-RES Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 16 Content Areas. If you're trying to gauge how tough this content mix actually is compared to what you expect, How Hard Is the SC-RES Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks down the difficulty by domain and question style.
| Portion | Questions Scored | Time Limit | Passing Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| National (Domains 1-11) | 80 | 120 minutes | 56 correct |
| State (Domains 12-16) | 40 | 80 minutes | 28 correct |
Eligibility and Licensing Path
Before you can sit for the SC-RES, South Carolina requires candidates to:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Hold a high school diploma or equivalent
- Complete the 60-hour Unit I pre-licensing course within five years of applying
- Pass a required criminal-background check
The 30-hour Unit II course is also required within that same five-year window, but there's flexibility here: Unit II can be completed after you sit for the exam, as long as it's finished before you apply for your license. Once licensed, you'll need to be supervised by a broker-in-charge to practice actively.
Exam eligibility itself lasts one year from approval, and you get unlimited retests within that window if you don't pass on the first try. If you do pass, you then have one year to apply for your license before that eligibility lapses. The full checklist - including documentation and timing traps candidates commonly miss - is laid out in SC-RES Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
After You Pass: Renewal and CE
Passing the SC-RES and getting licensed isn't the finish line. South Carolina licenses renew on a biennial cycle, and each renewal requires 10 hours of continuing education - 4 mandatory/core hours and 6 elective hours. Every third renewal cycle also triggers a fresh criminal-background check, so licensees should plan for that recurring requirement rather than treat it as a one-time step at initial licensure.
Planning your test date around Unit I/II completion, background check processing, and PSI scheduling windows takes some coordination. SC-RES Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling walks through how to time all of these pieces so nothing expires before you're ready.
Who Takes the SC-RES and Why
Almost everyone who takes the SC-RES is doing so for one reason: to become a licensed real estate agent in South Carolina. That includes career-changers coming from unrelated fields, people already working in property management or mortgage lending who want a license to complement their existing work, and new graduates entering real estate straight out of a pre-licensing course.
Once licensed, most SC-RES holders go on to work under a broker-in-charge at a residential brokerage, though some move into commercial sales, property management, or investment-focused roles. If you're weighing whether the license translates into real earning potential in your market, SC-RES Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis and SC-RES Jobs cover what the license opens up in practice, and Is the SC-RES Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 weighs the time and cost investment against the payoff.
A Domain-Aware Way to Prepare
Generic study advice - flashcards, timed drills, spaced review - only helps if it's pointed at the right domains at the right time. Given that Contracts (19%), Agency (13%), and Practice of Real Estate (12%) together make up nearly half the national portion's weight, a smart study sequence front-loads those three before moving to lighter-weighted domains like Property Management (3%) or Land Use Controls (5%).
Heavy National Domains
- Contracts (19%), Agency (13%), Practice of Real Estate (12%)
- Drill scenario-style questions, since these domains lean heavily on applied situations rather than pure definitions
Remaining National Domains
- Property Ownership, Financing, Valuation, Disclosures, Transfer of Title, Calculations, Land Use, Property Management
- Use practice math problems specifically for Real Estate Calculations (7%)
South Carolina-Specific Domains 12-16
- Licensing Requirements, Statutes, SC Agency Rules, Additional Statutes, Closing Details
- Cross-reference with Commission rules rather than generic national material
For a condensed reference once you've covered everything once, SC-RES Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts compresses the highest-yield facts into a single page. And for a more complete week-by-week plan with milestones and review checkpoints, SC-RES Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt goes deeper than this overview allows. Running full-length practice sessions on our practice test platform before test day is one of the most direct ways to see which of the 16 domains still need work.
Key Takeaway
Study the heaviest-weighted domains - Contracts, Agency, and Practice of Real Estate - first, since they account for nearly half of the national portion's scoring weight.
Frequently Asked Questions
Passing the SC-RES is the exam step required for licensure. After Act No. 204, the statutory title for the license is "Real Estate Associate," but the exam and its requirements are unchanged in structure.
There are 80 national and 40 state questions that count toward your score, plus 5-10 additional unscored experimental questions mixed in without identification.
You need at least 56 of 80 correct on the national portion and 28 of 40 correct on the state portion. Both thresholds must be met independently.
PSI charges $63 to take both the national and state portions together, or $55 to retake just one portion if you passed the other.
Successful candidates must apply for a license within one year of passing. Exam eligibility overall also lasts one year, with unlimited retests permitted within that window.