Do You Need a Pre-Licensing Course for the North Carolina Life & Health Exam? (2026)

No. A pre-licensing course is not required to sit the North Carolina Life, Accident & Health exams if you apply on or after 2025-10-01. You can register for the state exams and take them without first completing pre-licensing education.

North Carolina Session Law 2025-45 (House Bill 737, signed 2025-07-01) repealed G.S. 58-33-30(d)(2) and (3), effective 2025-10-01. The new subsection (d)(1) says the Commissioner "shall not require an individual who applies for an insurance producer license in this State to complete any specific amount of instruction or any specific course of instruction."

The North Carolina Department of Insurance followed with an Agent Services memo dated 2025-10-09. It states that anyone who applies on or after 2025-10-01 "will not be required to complete pre-licensing education (PLE) prior to sitting and taking the North Carolina state exam(s)."

Many websites, course sellers and even some official documents still describe the old requirement. The October 2025 candidate guide, the department's PLE chart, the Pearson VUE North Carolina page and most competitors have not caught up. When something you read conflicts with the statute and the department's memo above, believe the statute and the memo. If a seller tells you a course is mandatory, ask which law requires it.

No course does not mean no steps. To get a Life and Accident & Health license you still need to:

• Pass the exams. The Life Agent exam and the Accident and Health or Sickness Agent exam are separate. Each has 55 scored questions, a 75-minute limit and a scaled passing score of 70, at $45 per attempt.
• Submit fingerprints. The SBI/FBI fingerprint fee is $38, charged for the first license only.
• Apply and pay the licensing fees. The registration fee is $50 per line of authority (G.S. 58-33-125), the application processing fee is $44 and the NIPR transaction fee is $5.

For Life and Accident & Health on one application the total is $187, and with two exam attempts at $45 each the all-in figure is $277. The cost guide shows each line.

Since the state no longer mandates a course, the exam is the gate that remains, and in 2025 the first-time pass rate was 51.0% on Life and 60.8% on Accident & Health. Skipping a course saves time, but it also removes the structure a course used to provide, so self-study is now how most people prepare.

LanePrep is exam prep, not a mandated course. It gives you audio lessons for the commute, practice questions with explanations and North Carolina law drilled by section. It is a way to prepare, not a state requirement. See how hard the exams are and how to pass on the first try for a plan.

Look at the North Carolina Life & Health course preview to see whether the format suits you, and work through a few sets from the free practice question hub.