The RPA exam on this page means the national uniform appraiser exams set by the Appraiser Qualifications Board of The Appraisal Foundation. There are separate exams for Licensed Residential, Certified Residential and Certified General. Candidates take the exam after they finish all required qualifying education and experience hours. This page sets out the exam format and scoring rules, with sources. It also has practice sets by topic, worked answers and a study plan.
Numbers in brackets link to the official sources listed under Sources & last verified. Dates that have passed are removed automatically.
According to The Appraisal Foundation (Appraiser Qualifications Board, AQB), with exams delivered by PSI under each state's appraiser, “Each of the Licensed Residential, Certified Residential, and Certified General examinations contain 125 questions.”[1]
The AQB's national uniform examinations check whether a candidate is ready to hold a state appraiser credential. You take the exam after completing all required qualifying education and experience hours. You book it through the testing provider that your state appraiser regulatory agency contracts with, which is often PSI.
Your state sets the education and experience hours, fees, retake waiting periods and application steps, so these vary. Check your state appraiser board and your state's PSI candidate bulletin for those details. For the national rules, read The Appraisal Foundation's exam page. Once you hold a credential, you must also take a Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course on a recurring schedule. The first course must be at least 7 hours long, and you meet the requirement if you finish it by December 31, 2027.
Prepare for the RPA - Real Property Appraiser Certification exam with our free practice test modules. Each quiz covers key topics to help you pass on your first try.
These are practice questions written for this site, not questions from the real exam. Each explanation shows why the right answer is right and why the others are wrong.
Question: What is the BEST way for a Real Property Appraiser Certification professional to stay current with regulatory changes?
Answer: B. Monitor regulatory bodies, attend CE, and participate in professional associations
Explanation:
B is correct. USPAP editions, state board rules and federal requirements all change, and no single source reliably reports every change. If you watch the regulators directly, take continuing education and stay active in professional associations, you have several separate sources, so you are less likely to miss an update. A is wrong because your employer may not track every rule that applies to your personal credential, and keeping up stays your responsibility. C is wrong because rules can take effect between renewals, which would leave you working to outdated standards. D is wrong because news passed on by colleagues is often incomplete and sometimes inaccurate. Rule to remember: keeping current is the credential holder's own duty, so choose the answer that uses primary sources and steady, active effort.
Question: Under USPAP, an appraiser who lacks the competency to complete an assignment must:
Answer: A. Disclose the lack of knowledge, take steps to acquire competency, or decline the assignment
Explanation:
A is correct. The USPAP Competency Rule gives an appraiser who lacks the knowledge or experience for an assignment a set of options. They can disclose the lack of competency, take the steps needed to complete the assignment competently, or decline or withdraw from the assignment. B is wrong because declining is allowed but not required. C is wrong because the appraiser must disclose before accepting the assignment, or as soon as they discover the gap. Hiding it in the addenda after the work is done does not count. D is wrong because client permission does not replace competency, and the appraiser still has to gain the needed knowledge. Rule to remember: when an appraiser lacks competency, look for disclose, acquire or decline. Reject any answer that skips disclosure or relies on client consent instead.
Question: What is the PRIMARY ethical obligation of a certified Real Property Appraiser Certification professional regarding confidential information?
Answer: B. Protect it from unauthorized disclosure at all times
Explanation:
B is correct. Appraisers regularly handle private information, such as client data, assignment results and details about properties and owners. The USPAP Ethics Rule requires appraisers to protect the confidential nature of the appraiser-client relationship. They may share confidential information and assignment results only with parties the rules allow. These include the client, people the client authorizes, state appraiser regulatory agencies, parties authorized by due process of law and authorized peer review committees. A is wrong because helping a colleague is not an authorized reason to share. C is wrong because using client information for personal gain breaks that trust. D is wrong because sharing information casually is still disclosure. Rule to remember: confidential information goes only to authorized parties, whatever the setting or intent.
Start with the official material, then use the practice sets to find and close gaps.
The Licensed Residential, Certified Residential and Certified General exams each have 125 questions. Of these, 110 are scored and 15 are unscored. The unscored questions are mixed in with the others, so answer every question as if it counts. Check your state's PSI candidate bulletin for any state-specific instructions.
You need a minimum scaled score of 75 on a scale of 0 to 110. A scaled score is not the same as the percentage of questions you got right, so do not convert it into a percentage target. Aim to understand each topic well rather than chasing a set number of correct answers.
The Licensed Residential exam is 4 hours, the Certified Residential exam is 4 hours and the Certified General exam is 6 hours. These limits come from The Appraisal Foundation's exam page. Practise long, timed sessions so you can work steadily for the whole period.
You take the exam after completing all required qualifying education and experience hours. You book it through the testing provider your state appraiser regulatory agency contracts with, which is often PSI. Your state sets the exact hours, application steps and fees, so check your state appraiser board first.
You receive your score report immediately after you finish the exam. You cannot make a new exam appointment on the same day you test, because scores need time to be processed and reported. Retake waiting periods and fees are set by your state and its testing provider, so check your PSI candidate bulletin.
No. We wrote these practice questions with AI tools, and they are not taken from the real exam. They are grouped by topic so you can find weak areas and practise the reasoning, especially USPAP rules and the valuation approaches. Use them together with USPAP and your state's official candidate bulletin.
How we verify: editorial & fact-checking policy. Report an error: contact us.