1.2 PSI Theory Examination: Format, Content Outline & Scoring

Why the Format Matters Before the Content

Most candidates who fail the Tennessee theory examination do not fail because they never learned skin histology. They fail because they studied the wrong proportions. The examination is not an even sweep across everything you covered in 750 hours — it is deliberately weighted toward safety, and the published outline tells you exactly how heavily. Knowing the item count, the clock, and the weights turns a vague "study everything" plan into an allocation you can actually execute.

Who Administers the Examination

The Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners contracts with PSI Services LLC to deliver its examinations under the National Barber Cosmetology Program (NBCP). Tennessee does not write its own esthetics theory questions; it adopts PSI's national item bank and appends Tennessee licensing content.

You cannot register yourself cold. Your school submits your eligibility electronically to PSI once you complete the course requirements. PSI then emails instructions to pay and schedule. If PSI has no record of you, the problem is at your school, not at PSI.

Tennessee candidates may take the theory examination by remote online proctoring from home or at a PSI test center. The practical examination is likewise offered as a virtual practical or at a test center. Remote testing requires a computer with a working camera that meets PSI's technical requirements; candidates without qualifying equipment test in person.

Format at a Glance

The 10 unscored pretest items are seeded through the test and are indistinguishable from scored items. PSI uses them to calibrate future forms. You will never know which ones they are, so treat every question as if it counts.

Ninety minutes for 85 items works out to roughly 63 seconds per item. That is generous for recall questions and tight for multi-step scenario questions, so the practical rule is simple: answer, flag, and move. The on-screen function bar lets you change any answer until you sign out or the timer expires.

The Content Outline You Should Study Against

PSI re-validated the national barber and cosmetology examinations against a 2026 job analysis. A total of 5,273 licensees responded to the underlying survey, 1,268 of them estheticians. PSI's Cosmetology and Barber National Exam program page lists the rollout of the updated content by state, with Tennessee as of 8/17/26.

Read that table twice. Under either version of the outline, safety and infection control alone is worth more than skin care, makeup and eyelash work combined. The updated outline pushes that further — four of every ten scored items are safety items — while cutting skin care by ten percentage points and promoting eyelash and eyebrow work into its own topic. "Advanced Treatments" disappears as a named topic; chemical exfoliation, microdermabrasion and device work are now tested inside Skin Care as safe procedure questions rather than as technique questions.

The Tennessee Licensing Block

On top of the national content, the Tennessee bulletin adds a Licensing section covering meeting licensure requirements and licensed duties, renewal, Board responsibilities and disciplinary actions, displaying the license, salon owner and manager responsibilities, change of address, contact information and ownership, and displaying the sign pertaining to clients' rights. The Tennessee bulletin weights that block at 10% and describes it as ten questions. Because PSI's national esthetician form is published as 75 scored items, the exact number of Tennessee licensing items on your particular form is not something the Board publishes cleanly — verify the current figure on the bulletin PSI issues with your eligibility. What is certain is that state law and rules are tested, that they are worth roughly a tenth of the paper, and that they are the one block no national textbook will teach you.

Scoring, Results and the Clock That Starts After You Pass

A passing score is 70%, set for every Board examination by Rule 0440-01-.09(1) — not by PSI. At a test center your result appears on screen immediately on completion. For virtual testing an official score report is emailed within 24 hours. A failing result comes with a diagnostic report of strengths and weaknesses by topic area, which is the single most useful retake study tool you will get; read it before you rebook.

Two deadlines then apply, and candidates lose licenses to both:

• Three years. Under Rule 0440-01-.09(3), a graduate must pass all examinations no more than three years after passing the initial theory examination. Miss that and every passed score is vacated and you retake the theory examination.
• Six months. Under Rule 0440-01-.10(1), if the original license fee is not paid within six months after you are notified that you passed, you must submit a new application for examination and be retested. The Board may waive this for good cause.

PSI also treats an examination fee as valid for one year from the date of payment.

Fees

The Board's published examination fee table lists the aesthetician theory portion at $67.00 and the practical portion at $67.00, with reinstatement theory and reinstatement practical at $35.00 each. The initial aesthetician license application, filed at core.tn.gov, is $60.00 and is paid to the Board, not to PSI. Older bulletins circulating in schools still print $70.00 per portion; confirm the current amount when PSI sends your scheduling instructions.