You can miss 45 of 150 and still meet the published threshold
150
published questions
105
correct equals 70 percent
45
maximum misses at that equivalent
DRE requires at least 70 percent correct on the 150-question salesperson examination. Seventy percent of 150 is 105, and 150 minus 105 is 45. A result equivalent to 46 misses leaves 104 correct, or about 69.3 percent, which is below the published requirement. Prepare above 105 because a private mock does not reproduce the live examination.
DRE, current salesperson question count and passing requirement · checked 2026-08-27The pass-line arithmetic is exact and limited
| Correct | Missed | Raw percentage | Against published threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | 30 | 80.0% | 15 correct answers above the equivalent |
| 106 | 44 | 70.7% | Above |
| 105 | 45 | 70.0% | Meets |
| 104 | 46 | 69.3% | Below |
| 90 | 60 | 60.0% | 15 correct answers short |
This table applies DRE's published total and percentage to raw counts. It does not reveal which live questions you may miss, an exact category mix, the difficulty of a form, or how DRE internally validates examination items.
Use 30 misses as a preparation buffer, not a new passing rule
Site benchmark
This site uses 120 correct and 30 missed, or 80 percent, on two fresh 150-question, three-hour mocks as an editorial readiness buffer. It leaves 15 correct answers between the practice result and the mathematical live threshold equivalent.
What the buffer cannot do
DRE does not endorse this target or validate private mock scores. Eighty percent on repeated, outdated, narrow, untimed, or poorly explained questions can provide weaker evidence than a lower fresh baseline with complete review.
Convert short practice sets without hiding the denominator
| Set | Correct | Missed | Percentage | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 7 | 3 | 70% | One question changes the result by 10 points |
| 25 | 18 | 7 | 72% | Still too small to test full coverage or endurance |
| 50 | 40 | 10 | 80% | Useful block, but not a 150-question simulation |
| 150 | 120 | 30 | 80% | Meaningful only when fresh, mixed, timed, and reviewed |
Calculate correct divided by total, then multiply by 100. Always retain the raw numerator and denominator. A percentage from ten questions is not interchangeable with the same percentage across 150 mixed questions.
There is no published safe miss allowance for one content area
DRE requires at least 70 percent overall and publishes approximate area weights. It does not publish a rule allowing a candidate to miss a fixed number in Agency, Contracts, or any other category. A particular examination samples the broad field, so even approximate weight multiplication does not predict an exact live item count.
Do not sacrifice a category
Forty-five total misses is not permission to ignore an area whose exact live questions are unknown.
Rank weighted loss
After a mock, combine the miss rate with approximate area weight to choose repair order while preserving all-area rotation.
Repair repeated causes
Role, timing, reversal, application, calculation, and reading errors often cross more than one content area.
Turn every miss into one of four decisions
| Result | Question to ask | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| New concept | Was the governing rule unavailable? | Learn from a current source, retrieve closed-book, then apply fresh |
| Known but misapplied | Was the wrong role, timing, fact, or formula used? | Change one fact and explain when the alternative would be right |
| Reading or pace | Did a qualifier or time decision cause the miss? | Practice a fresh timed item with an explicit decision-word check |
| Repeated miss | Did the prior repair fail to transfer? | Escalate priority and change the repair method before adding volume |
A miss budget describes the score line. It does not make misses disposable. Review wrong answers, guesses, and correct answers supported by faulty reasoning before another full mock. Otherwise the next raw total conceals the same unresolved errors.
Do not average subject percentages after an unsuccessful exam
DRE says an unsuccessful candidate receives the actual score and percentages correct in each subject area. It also states that the overall score cannot be obtained by averaging those percentages. The categories carry different approximate weights, and the reported area percentages are not seven equal slices.
Use the actual score first
The result notice supplies the overall score. Use area percentages to rank remediation, not to replace that score with a simple mean. Post 42 will own the full RE 418A reading method and weighted diagnosis.
Eight mistakes hidden inside the 45-miss answer
Saying 46 misses rounds up to the 70-percent requirement
Treating 45 as a recommended target instead of the threshold equivalent
Calling 30 practice misses an official DRE safety margin
Assuming the same percentage from ten and 150 questions carries the same evidence
Assigning an exact miss allowance to each approximately weighted area
Ignoring guesses and wrong reasoning because the raw choice was correct
Taking another full mock before reviewing the previous misses
Averaging seven failed-result area percentages to reconstruct the overall score
Measure misses under full conditions
Run 150 fresh questions
Use three hours, all seven areas, and complete review. Record the raw correct and missed counts, then inspect where each lost answer came from and whether the same cause survived a prior repair.
California license requirement FAQs
Keep going
Place the miss count inside the full examination rules
Move from qualification to forms, fingerprints, the examination, and license issuance.
Confirm every headline exam number
See the format, time, four-choice method, weights, delivery, and result rules.
Measure correct and missed answers in a full mock
Use 150 fresh questions, three hours, all seven areas, and complete review.
Repair the cause behind each miss
Review wrong answers, guesses, repeat errors, and fragile correct reasoning.