About the Certified General Exam
Key Takeaways
The Certified General National Uniform exam has 125 multiple-choice questions (110 scored and 15 unscored pretest items) and a 6-hour time limit.
A minimum scaled score of 75 is required to pass; a scaled 75 is not the same as 75 correct answers or 75%.
Under the Exam Content Outline effective April 1, 2026, the Income Approach has 21 scored items, Real Estate Market 20, USPAP 19, and Sales Comparison 15 of the 110.
Certified General candidates need a bachelor's degree, 300 qualifying hours (including the 15-Hour USPAP course and the 8-hour VBFH course), and 3,000 experience hours over at least 18 months, 1,500 of them non-residential.
Candidates bring their own financial calculator; alpha-programmable calculators are not allowed except the HP-12C, and the calculator manual must be brought to the test center.
About the Certified General Appraiser Exam
Quick Answer: The Certified General Real Property Appraiser exam is the Appraiser Qualifications Board's National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examination for the credential that may appraise all types of real property. It has 125 multiple-choice questions (110 scored and 15 unscored pretest items), a 6-hour time limit, and a minimum scaled passing score of 75. Since April 1, 2026, it follows updated Exam Content Outlines in which the Income Approach (21 items), Real Estate Market (20 items), and USPAP (19 items) carry the most weight.
Who Writes the Exam and Who Gives It
Title XI of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) requires every state-licensed or state-certified real property appraiser to pass an examination issued or endorsed by the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) of The Appraisal Foundation. The AQB develops and maintains the National Uniform exam, but each state appraiser regulatory agency decides how it is delivered: the testing vendor, test sites or remote options, scheduling, and fees. Contact your state agency first; it must approve your application and verify your education and experience before you can sit for the exam. The AQB Criteria state that applicants cannot self-verify experience.
Exam Format
| Detail | Certified General Exam |
|---|---|
| Questions | 125 multiple-choice (110 scored + 15 unscored pretest items) |
| Time limit | 6 hours (the Licensed Residential and Certified Residential exams allow 4 hours) |
| Passing standard | Minimum scaled score of 75 |
| Delivery | Through the vendor contracted by your state appraiser regulatory agency |
| Calculator | Your own financial calculator; alpha-programmable models are prohibited except the HP-12C; bring the instruction manual so the proctor can confirm stored programs are cleared |
| Time to pass | Up to 24 months after state approval for a new applicant |
| Result validity | A passing result is valid for 24 months |
Because the passing standard is a scaled score, do not convert 75 into a raw count or a percentage. Pretest items look like scored items, so treat every question as if it counts. Six hours for 125 questions allows a little under three minutes per question, which matters on multi-step income and depreciation problems.
The 2026 Exam Content Outline
The Exam Content Outline (ECO) effective April 1, 2026 (Pearson VUE publication #229905) organizes the exam into ten content areas. The Certified General weights are:
| Content Area | Scored Items | Share of 110 | Where This Guide Teaches It |
|---|---|---|---|
| I. Real Estate Market | 20 | 18.2% | Chapters 1–2 |
| II. Property Description | 12 | 10.9% | Chapter 3 |
| III. Land or Site Valuation | 4 | 3.6% | Chapter 4 |
| IV. Sales Comparison Approach | 15 | 13.6% | Chapter 5 |
| V. Cost Approach | 12 | 10.9% | Chapter 6 |
| VI. Income Approach | 21 | 19.1% | Chapters 7–8 |
| VII. Reconciliation of Value Indications | 1 | 0.9% | Chapter 9 |
| VIII. USPAP | 19 | 17.3% | Chapters 12–13 |
| IX. Emerging Appraisal Methods | 3 | 2.7% | Sections 10.4, 11.1–11.2 |
| X. Appraisal Statistical Methods | 3 | 2.7% | Sections 10.1–10.3 |
Four areas (Income Approach, Real Estate Market, USPAP, and Sales Comparison) account for 75 of the 110 scored items, or about 68%. The USPAP area now names Standards 3 and 4 (appraisal review development and reporting), Advisory Opinions and FAQs as guidance, extraordinary assumptions, hypothetical conditions, and valuation bias and fair housing laws and regulations (historical and contemporary real estate bias, federal fair housing and antidiscrimination laws, and valuation bias). Emerging Appraisal Methods covers property and market information sources, alternative inspection techniques, and valuation models, including AVMs.
Eligibility Under the 2026 Criteria
The AQB Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria effective January 1, 2026 set the minimums that every state must meet or exceed:
- College degree: a bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university (foreign degrees may be evaluated for equivalency).
- Qualifying education: 300 creditable class hours, including the 15-Hour National USPAP Course and the 8-hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing Laws and Regulations course (the full module list is in Section 12.1).
- Experience: 3,000 hours obtained in no fewer than 18 months, with at least 1,500 hours of non-residential work. An AQB-approved PAREA program can supply up to 33% (Licensed Residential program) or 50% (Certified Residential program) of the hours, none of which counts toward the non-residential requirement.
- Examination: the AQB-approved Certified General exam; there is no alternative to passing it.
How to Study With This Guide
- Start with the heavy areas: Chapters 7–8 (income), Chapters 1–2 (market and highest and best use), Chapters 12–13 (USPAP), and Chapter 5 (sales comparison).
- Practice the arithmetic on the calculator you will bring: time value of money, mortgage constants, discounting, and depreciation.
- Work the end-of-section checks, then take timed sets of Certified General practice questions to build six-hour stamina.
Official Resources
How many items on the Certified General National Uniform exam are scored, and how much testing time is allowed?
110 scored items of 125 total; 6 hours
125 scored items of 125 total; 4 hours
100 scored items of 110 total; 5 hours
110 scored items of 125 total; 4 hours
Under the Exam Content Outline effective April 1, 2026, which content area carries the most scored items on the Certified General exam?
USPAP, with 19 scored items
Real Estate Market, with 20 scored items
Income Approach, with 21 scored items
Sales Comparison Approach, with 15 scored items
A candidate has a bachelor's degree, 300 approved qualifying hours, and 3,200 experience hours earned over 20 months, of which 1,200 hours are non-residential. Under the 2026 AQB Criteria, what keeps the candidate from qualifying for the Certified General exam?
Nothing; every minimum requirement has been met
At least 1,500 of the experience hours must be non-residential
The experience must be earned over at least 24 consecutive months
A master's degree is required for Certified General
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.