During the 2017 Legislative Session, Illinois REALTORS® worked closely with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) to develop, advocate, and negotiate important changes to the Real Estate License Act. The changes went into effect January 1, 2018.

One of outcomes of the legislation is that exams are no longer required for live classroom, webinar and distance learning pre-license, post-license and continuing education courses.

Because Illinois REALTORS has been working for months to get ready for these proposed changes, we were able to implement them right away. As a result, our students are no longer taking exams at the conclusion of our live and online classes.

We have received several questions from our members about course exam requirements. Here are some of the questions members have asked us:

Q.Why did Illinois REALTORS® support this change to exam requirements?

A. Our online and classroom courses are designed for interaction. We verify the student’s identification and are able to observe each student’s progress through the online course unit review quizzes. In our webinars, students respond to polls and questions and engage directly with the instructor. In the classroom, instructors have more flexibility to teach to the subject matter rather than the test. Because our courses are interactive, we are confident that our students will be able to gauge their competency through our unit reviews.

Q. Why is my course provider telling me I still have to take a course exam?

A. Each education provider is responsible for implementing the changes to their courses  necessary to go to a “no test” format for online learning and live classes. If the courses you purchased from another provider are not equipped to verify your identity, they may continue to require an exam to show completion of the course. Rest assured, however, that all Illinois REALTORS® Licensing & Training Center online, classroom, and live webinar courses do not require course exams.

Q. Why do home study courses require testing but online courses do not? What’s the difference?

A. Our online distance learning courses have the functionality to monitor quizzes and the completion of the course work. A home study is a course sent to the licensee by mail or email and there is no method to monitor the completion of the course. Illinois REALTORS® Licensing & Training Center does have a 12-hour CE Home Study package, but you will be required to take the examinations at one of our approved proctor locations.

If you have other questions about licensing requirements, please contact an Education Specialist by emailing [email protected].