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Exam and pass rates

Hawaii real estate exam: most attempts do not pass

By Josh Lin, licensed Hawaii real estate agent · updated 21 August 2026 · figures from the Hawaii Real Estate Commission FY2025 report

That is a rate per ATTEMPT, not per person: the Commission publishes tests taken and tests passed, and a single candidate may appear more than once. It still tells you the exam fails most of the attempts made at it. It also means a pass guarantee is worth reading carefully rather than skimming.

Source: Hawaii Real Estate Commission FY2025 annual report.

What the exam is actually made of

The examination has two halves: a national (uniform) portion and a Hawaii state portion. They matter differently depending on where you are coming from.

• National portion — general real estate principles and practice. If you hold a current license in another state, this half can sometimes be waived through the Commission's uniform-section equivalency, decided case by case.
• Hawaii state portion — Hawaii law, Hawaii practice, and Hawaii's land tenure quirks. This half is never waived for anyone, and it is where out-of-state candidates most often come unstuck. See reciprocity.

Why the pass rate is what it is

Three things drive it, and only one of them is difficulty:

1. The 60 hours are a floor, not preparation. Completing the pre-licensing requirement makes you eligible to sit. It does not make you ready, and the two get conflated constantly.
2. The state portion is genuinely local. You cannot pattern-match it from mainland material.
3. Retakes are permitted, so a share of the 4,518 tested are people sitting it again. A 33% pass rate is not 32% of people — it is 33% of attempts.

Choosing a course when most attempts fail

Disclosure: some school links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy a course through one, this site may be paid a commission. Your price is the school’s own price either way, and no school can buy a better review or a higher position here. Full disclosure.

Given that, the features worth paying for are the ones that attack the failure rate rather than the hour count:

• A pass guarantee you can actually claim. Colibri is the one on our comparison that advertises “Pass or Don’t Pay”. Read its conditions before relying on it — guarantees usually require you to have completed all coursework and practice exams first.
• Exam prep separate from the course. The CE Shop bundles practice testing; treat practice-question volume as the number that matters.
• A classroom, if you learn by asking questions. Abe Lee Seminars has taught Hawaii candidates in Honolulu for decades and its instructors have watched people fail for the same handful of reasons.

Our full side-by-side is on the school comparison, and the money side is on what it all costs.

Before you book

Confirm the current examination procedure, fees and identification requirements with the Commission — those change without anyone announcing it to the schools: examination and license applicants.