Tennessee Life & Health Exam Day: What to Expect at Pearson VUE (2026)

Your Tennessee Life or Accident and Health exam is delivered by Pearson VUE. Each exam has 77 items (68 scored, 9 unscored), runs 105 minutes, and needs a scaled score of 70 to pass. Both exams use the same profile, so this walkthrough applies to either.

This page covers what is verified about the sitting and tells you where the vendor's own documents are the authority. For details such as ID rules and arrival times, follow your Pearson VUE confirmation and the Tennessee Insurance Licensing Candidate Handbook rather than hearsay.

You register through Pearson VUE. Tennessee exams can be taken at any Pearson VUE test center in the country, and at select Pearson VUE test centers on U.S. military installations worldwide.

Pearson VUE also offers online proctoring called OnVUE. Tennessee allows one OnVUE attempt per line, at an $80 bundled price for Life and Accident & Health together. Any retake must be at a physical test center. If you want the in-person setting, that is the default: each exam must be taken alone in one session at a test center.

We do not paraphrase identification, arrival or check-in rules here, because they belong to Pearson VUE and can change. Open your appointment confirmation and the candidate handbook the night before and follow them exactly. Plan to arrive early, know your route, and bring only what the confirmation allows.

Each exam is a single sitting that combines the general-knowledge part and the Tennessee-specific part, scored together. You get 105 minutes for 77 items. Nine of those items are unscored pretest questions, so a question that feels oddly off the outline may be one of them. You cannot tell which, so answer everything.

Pacing. Read the stem, predict the answer before looking at the options, then choose. If a question is eating time, make your best choice and move on. Time is generous for 77 items, which leaves room for a second look at anything you were unsure of.

Question habits. Watch for NOT and EXCEPT stems, for answers that are true but do not answer the question asked, and for pairs that sound alike, such as the difference between a cancelable policy and a noncancelable one.

The passing standard is a scaled score of 70 on a 0-100 scale. It is not a raw count or a percentage, so do not try to keep a running tally of how many you got right. Finish the exam; do not guess at your result mid-way.

If you do not pass, the next attempt is possible after 10 days following a first failure and 30 days after each later failure. See the retake rules.

• Fingerprints. A fingerprint-based background check is required after the exam, scheduled through identogo.com.
• Wait 48 hours. Candidates must wait 48 hours after passing before filing electronically through NIPR.
• Pay the filing fee. The Tennessee producer application fee is $50 per license application, not per line.
• Paper applications. These take about 15 business days to process.
• Appointment. A license does not permit doing business until an insurer appoints you.

Candidates whose first language is not English may request 1.5 times the time with a letter from an instructor or employer. No other ESL accommodation is granted.

The night before: confirm your appointment, check the handbook for what is allowed, and do a light review of your weakest outline section rather than a marathon. Sleep beats cramming. Eat beforehand, because the sitting is 105 minutes of sustained reading, and settle your logistics early so the only thing left to think about is the questions.

Ready to practice at exam pace? Try the free course preview and the free practice question hub.