PA-PC Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass

The Exact Passing Score

There's no ambiguity here, and that's good news for anyone planning a study schedule: the Pennsylvania Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam requires a raw score of 70%. Out of 150 scored multiple-choice questions, you must answer 105 correctly. Miss more than 45 questions and you'll need to reschedule and pay the $55 exam fee again.

This isn't a scaled or curved score. PSI Services LLC, which administers the exam on behalf of the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, reports results on a fixed percentage basis. There's no adjustment for a "harder" version of the test or partial credit for close answers on multi-select items. It's a straightforward count: 105 correct out of 150.

How the Exam Is Scored

Every candidate answers 150 scored multiple-choice questions within the 170-minute time limit. The exam is closed-book - no printed materials, no personal notes, and no calculators are permitted at a PSI test center or during an online proctored session. That restriction matters for scoring strategy: any premium math (like prorating a policy or calculating a coinsurance penalty) has to be done by hand, on paper provided by the proctor, which slows you down if you haven't practiced the arithmetic ahead of time.

Because every question is weighted equally toward your final percentage, there's no benefit to "banking" time on domains you already know well unless you're using that saved time to double-check flagged questions. A wrong answer in Commercial Crime costs you the same one point as a wrong answer in Insurance Regulation. That said, the domains aren't equally represented on the exam - which is why understanding the weighting is the second half of the passing-score puzzle.

Domain Weighting and Your 105-Question Target

The 150 scored questions are distributed across 13 content domains, and the percentages tell you roughly how many questions to expect from each. Multiplying each domain's weight by 150 gives you an approximate question count. This is the single most useful planning tool for hitting 105 correct - it tells you where the bulk of your points actually live.

Notice that the top three domains - Insurance Regulation (20%), Property and Casualty Basics (14%), and Personal Automobile Policy (10%) - together account for almost half the exam. If you master those three alone, you could theoretically bank close to 66 of your needed 105 correct answers. That doesn't mean you can skip the smaller domains, but it does mean your study hours should be allocated proportionally, not evenly. For a full breakdown of what each domain actually tests, see the PA-PC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 13 Content Areas.

Format, Timing, and Testing Rules

Passing 70% of a 150-question closed-book exam within 170 minutes leaves you roughly 68 seconds per question on average - tight enough that guessing strategy matters. There's no penalty for wrong answers beyond simply not getting credit, so every question should get an answer before time expires, even a best guess.

You can take the exam at a physical PSI test center or through online proctoring, and the passing score, question count, and time limit are identical in both formats. The choice comes down to logistics and personal comfort with being monitored remotely, not to any difference in difficulty. Whichever option you choose, remember that calculators and reference materials are prohibited - so any coinsurance or premium calculation has to be done manually, on scratch materials the proctor provides.

Where Candidates Lose Points

Because Insurance Regulation, Property and Casualty Basics, and Personal Automobile Policy carry the most weight, they're also where a shaky understanding does the most damage to your score. But smaller domains create their own trap: candidates often assume that because Commercial Crime is only 2% or Businessowners Policy is only 3%, they can skip them entirely. That's risky - skipping a handful of low-weight domains entirely can still cost you 8-10 questions, which is nearly 20% of your allowable miss count.

A more common failure pattern is confusing similar policy structures - for example, mixing up exclusions between the Homeowners Policy Concepts domain and the Dwelling Policy domain, or misapplying Commercial General Liability triggers to a Commercial Property claim scenario. These cross-domain mix-ups are exactly the kind of subtle trap the scored questions are designed to surface. If you want a sense of how these traps compare in difficulty across domains, How Hard Is the PA-PC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 walks through the format's tougher question types in more depth.

Building a Score-Focused Study Plan

Rather than studying domains in the order they're listed, allocate your time in proportion to their weight, front-loading the domains that carry the most points. A simple, weighted approach over several weeks might look like this:

Use short, timed practice sessions on our practice test platform to simulate the exact pressure of answering 150 questions in 170 minutes without reference material. Repeated exposure to that pacing constraint is often more valuable than another pass through your notes. For a broader roadmap that ties this timeline together with content review strategy, see the PA-PC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.

After You Clear 70%

Passing the exam is one requirement among a short list you'll need to complete for licensure. Resident applicants must also submit the $55 license application and complete a fingerprint-based background check. If you haven't confirmed you meet every eligibility item - including the fact that Pennsylvania eliminated mandatory prelicensing education effective April 29, 2025 - it's worth reviewing PA-PC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify before you schedule your test date.

Once licensed, remember that the credential isn't a one-time achievement. Producer licenses renew on a two-year cycle, requiring 24 continuing-education hours, including 3 ethics hours and, for property and casualty authority specifically, 2 flood hours. Passing the exam gets you licensed; staying current requires ongoing CE tracking. If you're still weighing whether the time and cost investment make sense for your career goals, Is the PA-PC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and PA-PC Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis cover that ground in detail, and PA-PC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown lays out every fee involved from application through renewal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Knowing the exact target - 105 correct out of 150 - turns exam prep from guesswork into a measurable plan. Pair that number with domain-weighted study time, and you'll walk into test day with a clear sense of exactly what "ready" looks like.