LicenseReady, by RingReady
How to pass the life insurance exam.
You pass the life insurance exam by learning the six sections every state's outline shares, then proving it on timed practice exams until your score clears your state's cut with room to spare.
About 57 percent of first-time life exam takers pass nationally (NAIC, 2025 results).
What the exam asks you
Every state writes its own outline, and every one of them is built on the same six areas. This is our national outline, the shared core the state outlines all map onto.
| Section | Share of the exam |
|---|---|
| General Insurance Concepts | 12 percent |
| Life Insurance Policies | 22 percent |
| Policy Provisions, Riders, and Options | 24 percent |
| Underwriting, Issuance, and Delivery | 16 percent |
| Taxes, Retirement, and Other Insurance Concepts | 14 percent |
| Annuities | 12 percent |
Just under half of the exam is policy types and policy provisions, which is where your study time earns the most.
What your state asks
Every state writes its own exam. Across the 49 states and the District of Columbia we cover, the exam runs from 50 scored questions in Kentucky to 125 in Alabama, the clock runs from 75 minutes to 210, and the fee runs from $32 to $96. Pearson VUE runs 27 of them, PSI Exams runs 17, Prometric runs 4, and two states run their own program.
Thirty seven of the fifty exams we cover pass at 70, either 70 percent correct or a scaled 70. Alabama writes the same bar as a count, 87 correct of 125. California passes at 60 percent, Michigan at 72 percent, Mississippi at 65 percent, and Montana at a scaled 75. Seven states publish no number at all, and two publish a scaled score with no life specific mark.
Fifteen of the forty nine states and the District of Columbia we cover require prelicensing education from a provider your state insurance department lists before you can sit for the exam. The other thirty five do not require it before the life exam. Your state's page lists any hours still due, before the license or for a health line.
The study plan
This is how LicenseReady works, step for step, so you can run the same plan with or without us.
- 1
Placement first
A short placement that never counts against your free questions maps every section to a level, so you study what you are missing instead of what you like.
- 2
Sessions of 20
20 questions at a sitting is the default, small enough to finish before you quit and big enough to move a section.
- 3
Three levels per section
Learn clears at 70 percent over your last 8 questions, Apply at 80 percent over 10, and Proof at 80 percent over 10 on a different day.
- 4
The missed deck
Every question you got wrong comes back on a spacing schedule until you get it right twice.
- 5
Full timed practice exams
Practice exams matched to your state's format, the real question count and the real clock, then a readiness verdict.
When you are ready to book
Three things have to be true at once.
7 days
Study days
Sessions on 7 different days, not 7 sessions in one weekend.
80 percent
Of the exam at Apply
Apply level across that share of your state's outline, counted by weight.
2 exams
Full practice exams passed
At your state's cut plus 5 points, on different days.
Any section worth 10 percent or more of your exam that is still weak holds the verdict back, because a heavy section you have not cleared is exactly what a real score report punishes. The study day rolls at 3am, so a late night still counts as the day you started it.
Common questions
How long does it take to study for the life insurance exam?
Long enough to clear the readiness bar, which is study on 7 different days and 2 full practice exams passed at your state's cut plus 5 points, on different days. We do not publish a week count, because the honest answer depends on where your placement lands you.
What score do you need to pass the life insurance exam?
Thirty seven of the fifty exams we cover pass at 70, either 70 percent correct or a scaled 70. Alabama writes the same bar as a count, 87 correct of 125. California passes at 60 percent, Michigan at 72 percent, Mississippi at 65 percent, and Montana at a scaled 75. Seven states publish no number at all, and two publish a scaled score with no life specific mark.
Is the life insurance exam hard?
About 57 percent of first-time life exam takers pass nationally (NAIC, 2025 results). It is a wide exam rather than a deep one. 46 percent of the national outline is policy types and policy provisions, so weight your study the way the exam weights it rather than spreading it evenly across the six sections.
Do I need prelicensing education first?
Fifteen of the forty nine states and the District of Columbia we cover require prelicensing education from a provider your state insurance department lists before you can sit for the exam. The other thirty five do not require it before the life exam. Your state's page lists any hours still due, before the license or for a health line. RingReady sells study materials and practice exams for the life insurance licensing exam. We are not a prelicensing education provider on any state's list, and practicing here does not by itself satisfy any state's education requirement.
What is on the life insurance exam?
Six sections that every state's outline shares. General Insurance Concepts 12 percent, Life Insurance Policies 22 percent, Policy Provisions, Riders, and Options 24 percent, Underwriting, Issuance, and Delivery 16 percent, Taxes, Retirement, and Other Insurance Concepts 14 percent, Annuities 12 percent.
What RingReady is, and is not
RingReady sells study materials and practice exams for the life insurance licensing exam. We are not a prelicensing education provider on any state's list, and practicing here does not by itself satisfy any state's education requirement.
If your state requires prelicensing education, you must complete it with a provider your state insurance department lists. The department publishes that list. What we do is help the questions feel familiar when you sit down for the real exam.
Start with twelve questions, free.
Take the free practice test, then look up your state's exact question count, clock, passing score, fee, and vendor.
Inside LicenseReady the placement, the mastery map and your first 20 study questions are free. After that it is one License Pass at $79, yours until you pass.