DC-PC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

How DC-PC Scoring Actually Works

Before talking about pass rates, it helps to understand exactly how the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) and Pearson VUE structure the exam itself. The Property exam contains 85 total questions, but only 75 are scored - the remaining 10 are unscored pretest items used to evaluate future exam content. The Casualty exam is slightly longer, with 90 total questions, 80 of which are scored and 10 pretest. Both exams run on a two-hour clock and cost $75 per attempt.

This matters for pass-rate discussions because candidates cannot identify which questions are scored and which are pretest items. Every question deserves full attention, and there's no way to "skip" the ones that don't count toward your final result. A scaled score of 70 is required to pass, and that scaled score is calculated only from the scored items - pretest questions never affect your outcome. For a deeper breakdown of exactly how the passing threshold is calculated, see DC-PC Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.

What Domain Weighting Tells You About Difficulty

DISB doesn't publish a granular breakdown of which questions candidates miss most often, but the content outline itself - effective September 2, 2025 - is the closest thing to hard data we have on where the exam concentrates its scored items. Because percentages are calculated within each exam from the official scored-item counts, the weighting tells you almost exactly how many questions to expect from each domain.

By contrast, Domain 6 (District of Columbia Laws, Rules and Regulations Pertinent to Property Insurance Only) makes up just 2.7% of the Property exam, and its Casualty counterpart, Domain 12 (Casualty-only regulations), sits at 8.8%. That's a wide spread - some domains barely register in the scoring, while others anchor nearly a third of your final result. For the complete list of all 12 domains with full percentage breakdowns, see DC-PC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 12 Content Areas.

Property vs. Casualty: Two Separate Data Sets

Since combination exams are no longer offered, it's worth treating Property and Casualty as genuinely distinct exams with their own question counts, timing, and domain emphasis - not two halves of one test.

Notice how closely the two exams mirror each other in structure. Both dedicate their largest share of questions to policy types, both give a nearly identical weight to common DC insurance law, and both taper off sharply for narrow, line-specific regulatory content. If you're only licensing in one line, you can safely narrow your prep - a strategy covered in more detail in DC-PC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.

Why There's No Official Published Pass Rate

Candidates searching for a specific DC-PC pass-rate percentage will typically come up empty-handed, and that's not an accident of this article - DISB and Pearson VUE do not publish jurisdiction-level pass statistics for the Property or Casualty exams the way some national organizations do for other credentials. What is available is the structural data: question counts, scaled scoring, domain weighting, and the requirement to reapply for licensure within one year of passing.

That structural data is actually more useful than a single headline percentage would be, because it tells you exactly where the exam puts its emphasis rather than just how many people historically pass. If you want a broader sense of how the exam's difficulty compares across its content areas, read How Hard Is the DC-PC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.

Who Sits for the DC-PC Exam

Anyone seeking to sell, solicit, or negotiate property and casualty insurance in the District of Columbia needs to pass the relevant exam and hold an active producer license. In practice, that includes new agents hired by independent agencies, captive-carrier trainees, brokers adding a DC line of authority to an existing multi-state book of business, and career-changers entering personal or commercial lines. Because DC no longer offers a combination exam, agencies onboarding new hires increasingly expect candidates to plan for two separate testing sessions and two separate fees rather than one bundled event.

Before sitting for either exam, candidates must present proof of a prelicensing course of study. DISB does not mandate a specific 40-hour minimum, which gives some flexibility in how that education is completed - but it is still a hard prerequisite. Full prerequisite details are outlined in DC-PC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.

Factors That Actually Move the Needle

Without a published statistic to point to, the most reliable way to talk about pass/fail outcomes is to look at what the exam's own design rewards or punishes.

• Uneven domain preparation. A candidate who studies all 12 domains equally is spending disproportionate time on domains like Domain 5 (4.0%) or Domain 11 (3.8%) relative to their actual scoring weight.
• Confusing Property and Casualty regulatory domains. Domains 4/10 (common DC law) and Domains 5/11 (law pertinent to both P&C) sound similar on paper but test distinct statutory material - mixing them up under time pressure is a common source of missed points.
• Underestimating terminology domains. Domain 2 (Insurance Terms and Related Concepts) at 20.0% and Domain 8's equivalent at 18.8% are large enough that vocabulary gaps compound across many questions.
• Running out of the two-hour window. With 85 or 90 total questions in two hours, pacing errors on early questions can squeeze the back half of either exam.

A Domain-Weighted Study Timeline

Rather than a generic weekly plan, sequence your study around the actual scoring weight of each domain. This keeps your limited prep hours pointed at the material most likely to appear on scored questions.

For candidates who want a compressed, single-page reference to review immediately before test day, the DC-PC Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts condenses the highest-weight domains into a quick final pass. You can also build timed familiarity with the actual question style using the full-length simulations on our DC-PC practice test platform.

Registration, Retakes, and Licensing Deadlines

Understanding the administrative mechanics around the exam matters just as much as content mastery, since a missed deadline can undo a passing score. Each exam - Property or Casualty - is scheduled and delivered through Pearson VUE at a cost of $75 per sitting. Because combination exams are no longer offered, budgeting for both lines means budgeting for two separate $75 fees and two separate two-hour appointments. A full cost breakdown, including prelicensing course expenses, is available in DC-PC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.

Once you pass, the clock starts on a separate deadline: candidates must apply for licensure within one year after passing. Missing that window can mean retesting even after a successful pass, so calendar the application immediately after your score report. If you're mapping out testing windows around work schedules or prelicensing course completion, DC-PC Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling walks through the scheduling logistics in detail.

After licensing, resident producers renew every two years with 24 continuing-education hours, including 3 ethics hours and at least 6 hours tied to each line of authority carried. Property or Casualty producers also complete 3 flood hours during their first renewal period - a requirement that's easy to overlook when focused solely on exam-day prep.

If you're still deciding whether pursuing this license lines up with your career goals, Is the DC-PC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and DC-PC Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis look at the broader picture beyond exam-day mechanics. When you're ready to test your readiness against realistic scored-item ratios, practice with full-length exam simulations that mirror the actual 85- and 90-question formats.

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