CA-PC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

The 2026 CA-PC Pass Rate Data

Anyone researching the California Property & Casualty Insurance Exam (CA-PC) eventually asks the same question: how many people actually pass? For the January through June 2026 testing period, the California Department of Insurance and PSI reported an English-language first-attempt pass rate of 53%. That means roughly half of first-time candidates walked out with a passing score, and roughly half did not.

The repeat-attempt pass rate for the same window was 39%. In other words, candidates who had already failed once and came back for another try passed at a noticeably lower rate than first-timers. That gap is one of the more revealing data points in this whole discussion, and it's worth understanding before you schedule your own exam date.

Why First-Attempt and Repeat Rates Differ So Much

It's tempting to assume repeat test-takers should do better the second time around - they've already seen the format, the pacing, the question style. Yet the data shows the opposite: repeat-attempt candidates passed at 39%, well below the 53% first-attempt rate.

A few structural factors likely explain this pattern:

• Weak spots don't fix themselves. Candidates who fail once often retake the exam without a fundamentally different study approach, so the same content gaps resurface.
• Time pressure compounds. Many repeat candidates schedule quickly to avoid losing momentum, sometimes before they've actually closed their knowledge gaps.
• Cost and fatigue add friction. At $98 per attempt, repeat testing is not free, and financial or motivational fatigue can affect performance on a second sitting.

If you want a full breakdown of what makes the exam difficult in the first place, see How Hard Is the CA-PC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026. Understanding the difficulty curve helps explain why the repeat-rate drop is so consistent.

Where the Exam Weight Actually Sits

The CA-PC combined exam has 150 multiple-choice questions split evenly: 75 questions from the Property component (Domains 1-5) and 75 questions from the Casualty component (Domains 6-9). That even split matters strategically - you can't afford to treat either half as secondary.

Within that even 50/50 split, a few individual domains carry more weight than others:

Property Personal Lines Insurance is the single largest domain on the entire exam at 19%. If you only have time to over-prepare one domain, this data suggests it should be that one. For a full walkthrough of every domain - including the less commonly discussed Pet Insurance domain - read CA-PC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 9 Content Areas.

Exam Mechanics That Shape the Pass Rate

Pass-rate numbers only make sense alongside the mechanics of the exam itself. A few facts directly affect how candidates perform:

• 150 questions, 3 hours. That's an average of 1.2 minutes per question - enough time to think, but not enough to second-guess every answer repeatedly.
• 60% passing score. You need 60% correct across the combined exam, not 60% in each individual domain. For the exact scoring mechanics, see CA-PC Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
• $98 per attempt. The $55 California examination fee plus PSI's $43 convenience fee applies whether you sit at a test center or take the remote online-proctored version. A full cost breakdown, including licensing and renewal fees, is available at CA-PC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
• Updated 2026 objectives. The current examination objectives took effect January 1, 2026, alongside the elimination of the former 20-hour line-specific prelicensing requirement. Candidates still complete 12 hours of Ethics and California Insurance Code education, including 1 hour on insurance fraud, before license issuance.

That prelicensing change is significant. Fewer mandated prelicensing hours means candidates can no longer rely on a long line-specific course to absorb the bulk of Property and Casualty content - more of the preparation burden now falls on independent study before exam day.

Who Tends to Struggle - and Why

The pass-rate data doesn't break candidates down by background, but the structure of the exam gives some clues about where struggles concentrate. Candidates coming from a pure personal-auto or pure commercial-lines background often underestimate the breadth required, since the combined exam demands competence across both Property and Casualty content equally.

People commonly hire for CA-PC-licensed roles in:

• Independent and captive property & casualty agencies
• Personal lines and commercial lines brokerages
• Insurance carriers building underwriting or claims-adjacent teams

If you're weighing whether the license is worth pursuing given the effort required, Is the CA-PC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 lays out the return-on-investment picture, and CA-PC Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis covers what license holders can expect to earn in these roles.

One recurring struggle point: candidates study Property and Casualty content sequentially rather than in parallel, then run out of time before the exam and shortchange whichever component they studied second. Because the exam weights both components equally, that imbalance shows up directly in the score.

Closing the Gap: A Domain-Aware Prep Plan

Given the 53%-versus-39% gap between first and repeat attempts, the highest-leverage move is to prepare thoroughly enough to pass on attempt one. A domain-weighted schedule - rather than a generic "study everything equally" approach - reflects how the exam is actually built.

This kind of structured sequencing is covered in more depth in CA-PC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and a compact reference for last-week review is available in the CA-PC Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts. Running full-length timed practice sets on californiapropertyexam.com before your real appointment is one of the most direct ways to simulate the actual 3-hour, 150-question pressure the data reflects.

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