How to Study for (and Pass!) the Insurance Licensing Exam

Knowing how to study for your insurance licensing exam will get you one step closer to passing the test and launching your new insurance career.

But when was the last time you had to take a test?

If you’ve been out of school for a while, your studying and test-taking skills might be a little out of practice. You might even be nervous about the idea of taking a test, especially one with high stakes – like an exam you need to pass to earn your insurance license!

So what can you do to study efficiently for your insurance exam?

Here are a few tips and tricks to help you study for (and pass!) the insurance licensing exam.

1. Schedule Your Study Time

A busy schedule can send your study time straight to the back burner. So instead of just studying around your other obligations, schedule dates and times to sit and study. The household chores can wait. Your new career should not!

2. Take a Practice Test

Practice tests (often referred to as exam prep) are among the best ways to study for your insurance licensing exam. Not only are you reviewing the information that will be on the exam, but you’re doing so in the same format as you’ll see on the exam.

This helps you get more comfortable with test taking while cementing the concepts and facts in your head so they’re easier to recall during the actual test.

Choosing a pre-license insurance course with built-in exam prep can save you money and help you study more effectively to pass your insurance exam.

3. Practice Good Test-Taking Skills

To make the most of your practice exam study sessions, use these test-taking skills:

• Come up with your own answer to the question before reading the multiple-choice answers. This can help you avoid confusion over strangely-worded multiple-choice answers, designed to trip you up. If you see an answer option that matches the answer you came up with, it’s likely correct.

• Eliminate the wrong answers. What happens if you can’t come up with any answer on your own? Don’t panic and just choose any answer. Instead, read the multiple-choice answers to see if you can eliminate any of them. If you can eliminate two wrong answers, your chances of answering correctly jump from 25% to 50%!

• Set the timer. Timing your practice test will help you mentally prepare for the clock to run on your state exam. You’ll start to get a feel for the timing, which will help you relax during the real exam.

• Save difficult questions until the end. Rather than wasting precious minutes trying to answer a hard question at the beginning of the exam (and risking running out of time before you get to all the easy questions on the test), skip them! Questions involving calculations or questions you want to think through can be revisited at the end, once you’re sure you’ve answered all the questions you know.

4. Take Notes on the Practice Test Questions You Get Wrong

When you miss a practice question, you have an opportunity to learn the right answer so you don’t miss that question on the real exam.

Take the time to understand the right answer. Then write it down - pen to paper. Studies show that writing by hand, rather than typing, helps people recall the information they took down!

5. Clarify Anything That Doesn’t Make Sense

A good pre-licensing course should offer instructor support, even if the course is online. So if you don’t understand a concept, don’t be shy! Reach out to the course instructor for clarification. These instructors want you to pass your exam and become a successful insurance agent!

6. Be Prepared on Exam Day

Put yourself to bed early the night before your exam. Eat a healthy breakfast to boost your brainpower the morning of the exam. Leave yourself enough time to arrive at the testing center early with your ID and course completion certificate(s) in tow. Give yourself a last-minute review of any concepts or facts that have been difficult for you. Then settle in and get ready to show what you know!

7. Relax - You Can Retake the Exam if Needed

Finally, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Yes, this is a big test. But if you don’t pass on the first try, you can sign up to retake it. Many successful insurance agents took more than one attempt to pass their exam. So take some deep breaths and relax.

Choose a Pre-Licensing Course with Exam Prep

If you are not yet enrolled in your insurance course, choose a pre-license course that includes exam prep. This way, you won’t have to pay for a separate exam prep course, and you’ll be well prepared to study for (and pass!) your insurance licensing exam.