- What Is the AK-RES?
- Who Administers the Exam and Why It Exists
- Exam Format and Question Style
- The 14 AK-RES Domains
- Eligibility and Registration Mechanics
- How the Passing Score Actually Works
- What Happens After You Pass
- Who Hires AK-RES Licensees
- How to Prepare Without Wasting Time
- Frequently Asked Questions
- AK-RES is the Alaska Real Estate Salesperson Exam, administered by the Alaska Real Estate Commission via Pearson VUE.
- The exam has 120 scored items (80 National/General, 40 Alaska law) plus 10-15 pretest items, over 4 hours.
- Passing means scoring 75 on a 0-100 scale, not answering 75% of questions correctly.
- Failing one part means retaking the entire exam after a mandatory 24-hour wait.
What Is the AK-RES?
AK-RES stands for the Alaska Real Estate Salesperson Exam, the licensing test that anyone who wants to legally practice residential or commercial real estate sales in Alaska must pass. It is not a voluntary professional certification you add to a resume for prestige - it is a mandatory gatekeeping exam administered on behalf of the Alaska Real Estate Commission. Without a passing score, you cannot affiliate with a licensed Alaska broker or legally represent buyers and sellers in the state.
If you've searched other sites and found conflicting descriptions of "AK-RES," be careful - the acronym is used by several unrelated credentials in completely different industries. This article, and every fact in it, refers exclusively to the Alaska real estate salesperson licensing exam described by the Alaska Real Estate Commission. For a deeper dive into terminology confusion, see our companion piece on AK-RES Meaning.
Who Administers the Exam and Why It Exists
The Alaska Real Estate Commission owns the licensing standard, while Pearson VUE handles test delivery at physical test centers. The exam exists to verify that a candidate understands both the general body of real estate knowledge taught nationally (property characteristics, contracts, financing, appraisal) and the state-specific statutes and administrative rules unique to Alaska, such as Commission authority, licensee duties, and property management regulations.
The test costs $115 at the test center, and it is deliberately split into two content blocks scored together as a single exam. This distinction matters more than most candidates realize - you cannot pass the national section and fail the state section and still walk away licensed. It's all or nothing, which we cover in more detail below.
Exam Format and Question Style
The AK-RES contains 120 scored items: 80 questions drawn from the National/General outline and 40 from the Alaska law outline. On top of those, Pearson VUE embeds 10-15 unscored pretest items that look identical to scored questions but don't count toward your result - they're used to field-test future exam content. That brings the total question count to somewhere between 130 and 135, all within a 4-hour testing window.
Because pretest items are indistinguishable from scored items, there's no strategic value in trying to guess which questions "don't matter." Treat every question with equal seriousness.
The National/General outline currently in effect was updated April 1, 2025, and the Alaska law outline has been effective since September 14, 2023. If you studied from older materials, verify your prep source reflects these dates - outdated content is a common reason candidates are blindsided by unfamiliar question phrasing. Our AK-RES Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt walks through how to confirm your materials are current.
The 14 AK-RES Domains
The exam's 40 state-law questions are distributed across 14 named domains, each with its own official item count. Understanding this breakdown is the single most useful thing you can do before building a study plan, because it tells you exactly where the exam concentrates its questions.
Domain 4: Real Estate Contracts and Agency
Part of the 80-question National/General portion, this area tests your grasp of listing agreements, purchase contracts, and the legal duties owed under different agency relationships.
- Distinguishing fiduciary duties across agency types
- Contract elements and enforceability
Domain 11: Licensee Duties and Disclosures to the Public
One of the higher-weighted Alaska-law domains, carrying 10-12 of the 40 state items. Expect scenario-based questions about what a licensee must disclose and when.
- Material fact disclosure obligations
- Timing and documentation requirements under Alaska statute
Domain 8: Real Estate Math Calculations
This domain carries 7 items in the National/General section and is where the calculator rule becomes relevant. Prorations, commission splits, loan-to-value ratios, and area calculations show up here.
- Practice proration and commission math by hand first
- Use only a permitted non-financial calculator during practice
For a full breakdown of all 14 domains - including exact item counts for Domains 1 through 8 (11, 9, 11, 16, 10, 9, 7, and 7) and Domains 9 through 14 (4, 4, 10-12, 10, 4-6, and 6) - see the AK-RES Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 14 Content Areas. Domain 4 (Real Estate Contracts and Agency) is the single heaviest National/General topic at 16 items, and Domain 11 (Licensee Duties and Disclosures) is the heaviest Alaska-specific topic at 10-12 items - both deserve outsized attention in your prep schedule.
| Section | Item Count | Domains Covered |
|---|---|---|
| National/General | 80 scored items | Domains 1-8 |
| Alaska Law | 40 scored items | Domains 9-14 |
| Unscored Pretest | 10-15 items | Mixed, not disclosed |
Eligibility and Registration Mechanics
Before you can even schedule the AK-RES at a Pearson VUE center, you have to clear several eligibility gates set by the Alaska Real Estate Commission:
- Be at least 19 years old
- Complete 40 classroom hours of approved prelicensing education, finished within the 18 months immediately before applying for licensure
- Line up affiliation with a licensed Alaska broker
- Carry errors-and-omissions insurance
- Apply for licensure within six months after passing the exam
Notice the sequencing: passing the exam is not the finish line. You still have to submit your license application within six months of your passing score, and you need broker affiliation and E&O coverage lined up. A detailed walkthrough of every prerequisite lives at AK-RES Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Key Takeaway
Start your broker affiliation conversations and E&O insurance research before exam day - not after - so the six-month licensure window doesn't sneak up on you.
How the Passing Score Actually Works
This trips up more candidates than any other detail: the AK-RES passing score is 75 on a 0-100 scaled score. That is not the same as answering 75% of the 120 scored questions correctly. Scaled scoring adjusts for slight variations in question difficulty across different exam versions, so the number on your score report doesn't map one-to-one with a raw percentage.
What this means practically: don't obsess over trying to calculate your raw percentage while you study. Focus instead on mastering each domain thoroughly enough that a scaled score comfortably clears 75, regardless of which specific version of the exam you're handed. A full explanation of scaled scoring mechanics is available at AK-RES Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
What Happens After You Pass
Passing the AK-RES is the credentialing milestone, but licensure has ongoing obligations that many new agents underestimate:
- Newly licensed agents must complete 30 post-licensing hours within their first year
- Alaska real estate licenses expire January 31 of even-numbered years
- Renewal requires 20 continuing-education hours - 8 designated/core hours and 12 elective hours
Because the license cycle runs on even-numbered years, the amount of time you actually have before your first renewal depends heavily on when in the cycle you pass. Plan your post-licensing 30 hours early rather than scrambling near the deadline.
Who Hires AK-RES Licensees
Once licensed, salespeople affiliate with a sponsoring broker - this is a legal requirement, not a career suggestion. Brokerages across Alaska, from Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley to Fairbanks and coastal communities, bring on newly licensed agents specifically because they've cleared both the National/General and Alaska-law portions of the exam. Property management companies also look for AK-RES-licensed agents, which is part of why Domain 14 (Property Management) appears on the state-law outline even though it's a smaller slice of the 40 items.
If you're weighing whether the time and cost of licensure pays off relative to the career opportunities it unlocks, our analysis at Is the AK-RES Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and the AK-RES Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis go deeper into that question. For a breakdown of every dollar involved beyond the $115 test fee - prelicensing courses, E&O insurance, application fees - see AK-RES Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
How to Prepare Without Wasting Time
Generic study advice (flashcards, timed drills, spaced review) only helps if it's pointed at the right targets. Given the domain weighting, a practical multi-week approach looks like this:
National/General Foundations
- Cover Domains 1-4 (property characteristics, ownership/title, appraisal, contracts/agency) since Domain 4 alone carries 16 items
- Build a math reference sheet for Domain 8 concepts, but practice without a financial calculator
Remaining National/General + Alaska Law Intro
- Finish Domains 5-8 (practice, disclosures, financing/settlement, math)
- Begin Domain 11 (Licensee Duties) early since it's the heaviest state-law domain
Alaska Law Depth + Full Simulations
- Cover Domains 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 (Commission powers, licensing, licensee activity rules, personal services agreements, property management)
- Run full 130-question timed simulations to build stamina for the 4-hour session
For a structured, week-by-week plan with specific resource recommendations, see the AK-RES Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. If you want to gauge realistically how demanding the exam is before you commit to a schedule, How Hard Is the AK-RES Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks down what makes candidates struggle. And once you're ready to test your recall under exam-like conditions, our practice test platform mirrors the 120-scored-item structure so you're not surprised by pacing on test day.
Key Takeaway
Weight your study hours toward Domain 4 and Domain 11 first - they carry the most items in their respective sections and touch the widest range of scenario-based questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The AK-RES combines an 80-question National/General section with a 40-question Alaska-specific law section into one 120-item exam administered through Pearson VUE on behalf of the Alaska Real Estate Commission.
There are 120 scored questions (80 National/General, 40 Alaska law) plus 10-15 unscored pretest items, for a total of 130-135 questions across 4 hours.
You need a scaled score of 75 out of 100. This is not equivalent to answering 75% of raw questions correctly, since scores are statistically scaled.
No. If you pass one section but fail the other, you must retake the entire exam. You also must wait 24 hours after a failed attempt before scheduling a retake.
Yes, but only a silent, handheld, nonprinting calculator without an alphabetic keypad. Financial calculators and all reference materials are prohibited.