About 16,000 Texas Life, Accident & Health retakes are sat every year and only four in ten pass. The ones who pass did something different the second time. The rules first, then the plan.
1 dayUNTIL YOU CAN REBOOK
No limitON ATTEMPTS
$49PER SITTING
40%OF RETAKES PASS
The rules, from the handbook
Rebooking: "A candidate who failed can schedule for a new exam within one day; there is no limit to the number of attempts." You book through Pearson VUE as before and pay the exam fee again.
No new application yet. The license application happens after you pass, through Sircon, and must be done within 12 months of passing. Failing changes nothing on that side.
Temporary license holders: you must pass within 180 days of the temporary license. Failing does not require a new application while it is active, but each retake costs the exam fee.
Your score report is printed at the test center and shows a breakdown by content area. Keep it. It is the only exam-specific feedback you will get.
Why most retakes fail
The retake pass rate has been 37–43% every month for three years (monthly data). That is lower than the first-time rate, which tells you something: the people retaking are not just unlucky. Three patterns show up again and again in what candidates describe.
1. Rereading the book instead of answering questions
Reading feels like progress and is not. The exam asks you to pick between four plausible options under time pressure, about 62 seconds a question. The only practice for that is doing it, then reading why each wrong option was tempting.
2. Practising on questions that were easier than the test
Many free question sets are memory-level ("what is a beneficiary?") while the exam is scenario-level ("an applicant understated her age; what does the insurer pay?"). If your practice scores were 85% and you still failed, the practice was too easy, not the exam too hard.
3. Skipping Texas law
Thirty of the 130 scored questions are Texas statutes and rules. Course books put them last and cover them thinly, and candidates run out of time before reaching them. Those 30 questions are worth more than any single general section.
A 7-day retake plan
This assumes you came close. If your report shows you well below the line in most areas, give it two to three weeks and work through the whole outline again at 45 minutes a day.
Day 1: diagnose, don't study. Take a timed 30-question mock. Compare the sections you missed with the content areas on your score report. Pick the three weakest. Those are the week.
Days 2–4: rebuild the three weak sections with scenario questions. Fifteen to twenty questions per section per day, every wrong answer explained before you move on. Keep a list of the facts you got wrong while feeling sure; those are the ones that cost you.
Day 5: Texas law only. One pass through every state-law question you can find. Grace periods, incontestability, free-look, the commissioner's powers, HMO rules, replacement, unfair practices.
Day 6: one clean mock, timed. Thirty questions you have not seen, at test pace. If you are above 80%, book the exam. If you are between 70% and 80%, give the weak spots two more days. Below 70%, you need the longer plan.
Day 7: light review and stop. Only the facts you were sure of and got wrong. Nothing new after 8 pm. Sleep is part of the plan.
A question in the style that catches retakers
Everything in this stem is familiar. The exam is asking which familiar thing is wrong.
All of the following statements about a guaranteed insurability rider are true EXCEPT
THE TRAP
WHY IT'S RIGHT
Under a guaranteed insurability rider, each additional purchase is priced at the standard premium for the insured's attained age on the option date, not the original issue age, so pricing at the original issue age is the false statement.
Questions people ask
How soon can I retake the Texas insurance exam?
The candidate handbook says a candidate who failed can schedule a new exam within one day. There is no waiting period beyond that and no limit on the number of attempts. Each sitting costs the $49 exam fee again.
How many times can you take the Texas Life and Health exam?
There is no limit. The handbook states there is no limit to the number of attempts. The practical limit is $49 and a test-center trip per attempt, and the fact that only about 40% of retake sittings pass.
Do I have to reapply if I fail?
No. You book another exam with Pearson VUE. The license application comes after you pass, and must be completed within 12 months of passing or the exam has to be taken again.
Does my score report tell me what to study?
It tells you whether you passed and gives a breakdown by content area. Use it to pick the two or three sections to rebuild first; do not try to re-read everything.
Start with the diagnosis, not the book. The check-up is 15 scenario questions across the whole outline. You get a projected score on the 130 scale, your three weakest topics, and a plan to your retake date. Free, no sign-in.