Licensing and certification exams, checked at the source
Insurance & mortgage · Wound care · EMS & flight medicine
Credential House is a free reference for the licensing exams and specialty certifications that stand between you and a license or a credential. Each exam gets its format, pass standard, fees, eligibility rules and recent changes, each one traced to a named handbook or bulletin and stamped with its check date, plus practice questions with reasoning attached to every answer choice.
Browse by field
Three fields so far. Open a field for its exams side by side, or go straight to an exam.
Insurance & Mortgage Licensing
State licensing exams for people who sell insurance or originate home loans: which test a license needs, what the prelicensing hours cover, and how the rules shift from one state to the next.
2 examsSAFE MLO: SAFE Mortgage Loan Originator Test
From the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System & Registry (NMLS).
- 120
- 190 min
- pass at 75%
- $110
Life and Health Insurance Producer Exam
From state departments of insurance.
- Varies by state
- pass: Usually 70
- $40–$92
Wound Care
Credentials for clinicians who treat chronic and acute wounds. Who may sit for each one by license, how the exams differ in length and cost, and what renewal asks of you.
2 examsWCC: Wound Care Certified
From the National Alliance of Wound Care and Ostomy (NAWCO).
- 110
- 2 h
- pass at 600
- $380
CWS: Certified Wound Specialist
From the American Board of Wound Management (ABWM).
- 150
- 3 h
- pass: Not published
- $595
EMS & Flight Medicine
Specialty credentials for paramedics who move past ground EMS into air medical and critical care transport, beginning with the flight paramedic exam.
1 examFP-C: Certified Flight Paramedic
From the International Board of Specialty Certification (IBSC).
- 135
- 150 min
- pass at 73/110 (2024)
- $385
Which exam fits the work you do
Find the line that matches your job or license. The exam name opens its page; where two exams could fit, both are listed.
| Your role | Relevant exam |
|---|---|
| Insurance & Mortgage Licensing | |
| Loan officer at a mortgage company or non-bank lender | SAFE MLOPass mark 75%; the license also needs at least 20 hours of approved education. |
| Loan officer at a bank or credit union | SAFE MLOFederally registered bank and credit union originators do not take the test; it applies once you move to a state-licensed lender. |
| Mortgage broker taking loan applications | SAFE MLOThe same individual license, issued by each state where you originate loans. |
| Life insurance or annuity agent | Life and HealthA combined Life, Accident & Health exam in 8 of the 11 states we checked; two separate exams in North Carolina, Illinois and Tennessee. |
| Health or Medicare plan agent | Life and HealthHealth is a line of the same state producer license; the pass mark is the state's (usually 70). |
| Independent agent or broker adding life and health lines | Life and HealthProperty and casualty lines are a separate exam, not covered here yet. |
| Wound Care | |
| Registered nurse who treats wounds | WCC or CWSBoth accept the RN license; what else each one asks is laid out on the wound care page. |
| LPN/LVN, PTA or OTA | WCCThese licenses are on the WCC list, not the CWS list; ABWM steers them to its CWCA (associate level), which is not covered here. |
| Dietitian, pharmacist or veterinarian | CWSRD, PharmD and DVM licenses qualify for CWS; the WCC list leaves them out. |
| Physician, nurse practitioner, PA or podiatrist | CWS or WCCBoth lists include you. CWS runs 150 questions in 3 h, WCC 110 in 2 h. |
| Nurse holding CWCN, CWON or CWOCN | WCCThat credential stands in for the 20-hour course the WCC otherwise requires. |
| EMS & Flight Medicine | |
| Paramedic on a helicopter or fixed-wing crew | FP-CA voluntary certification for paramedics, not a license; CAMTS-accredited services require FP-C or CCP-C after 2 years of employment for critical care transport paramedics. |
Not on the site yet: the property and casualty insurance exam, the ground critical care paramedic exam (CCP-C) and the flight nurse exam (CFRN). They are named here so you know the list above is not the whole field.
Each exam in one row
| Exam | Exam owner | Questions | Exam time | Passing score | Exam fee | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAFE MLO NMLSPractice testExam info | NMLS | 120 | 190 min | 75% | $110 | [1][2][3][4][5] |
| Life and Health state DOIsPractice testExam info | State insurance department | Varies by state | Varies by state | Usually 70 | $40–$92 | [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] |
| WCC NAWCOPractice testExam info | NAWCO | 110 | 2 h | 600 | $380 | [17][18] |
| CWS ABWMPractice testExam info | ABWM | 150 | 3 h | Not published | $595 | [19] |
| FP-C IBSCPractice testExam info | IBSC | 135 | 150 min | 73/110 (2024) | $385 | [20][21][22] |
Every row verified Nov 6, 2026.
Read the pass column with care, because the rows do not share a yardstick. The mortgage test asks for 75%, a threshold written into the SAFE Act itself. NAWCO reports WCC results on a 100–800 scale and passes at 600. IBSC sets its flight paramedic cut with an expert panel; the latest figure it has released is 73/110 (2024). ABWM keeps the CWS cut score unpublished. Life and health marks are set by each state; most require 70, but California requires 60%. Where a state reports a scaled mark, it is a converted score, not the fraction of items you got right; the state table shows the mark each state in our sample sets.
The fee column is the exam alone. License fees, background checks, prelicensing courses and retakes are broken out on the registration page of each exam, and the life and health row gives a range because the fee is set state by state.
Where each figure on these pages comes from
Every figure here traces back to the exam's owner, its test vendor, the law behind the exam or, for an employer rule, the accrediting body that sets it: a candidate handbook, a content outline, a fee page, a state candidate bulletin, a statute, an accreditation standard. Course sellers and forums are never the source. Each table names its documents and the day they were read. Three habits follow from that:
- A proposal stays a proposal. The mortgage test fee in the tables is today's price. A CSBS plan to raise it, $120 proposed (Mar 2027), keeps its label until a final decision appears.
- A contradiction is printed, not resolved by guesswork. ABWM's own handbook disagrees with itself on the CWS retest charge: $275 per retest in the fee table; the same handbook's retest section says $150.
- An outline switch carries its date. WCC questions follow the seven-domain outline used on exam forms since November 15, 2023.
The editorial policy spells out these rules in full, and how we review walks through the checks a practice question passes first.
Sources
- [1]NMLS MLO Testing Handbook: 1.0 Overview and Test Specifications mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [2]NMLS: SAFE MLO National Test with Uniform State Test Content Outline mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [3]NMLS MLO Testing Handbook: Test Results mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [4]12 U.S.C. § 5104 (SAFE Act): state license requirements, pre-licensing education and testing law.cornell.edu, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [5]NMLS MLO Testing Handbook: 2.0 Test Enrollment Procedures mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [6]Pearson VUE: Texas Insurance Candidate Handbook (124400, Oct 2024) (PDF) pearsonvue.com, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [7]PSI: California insurance candidate information bulletin (2530, rev. Oct 2026) test-takers.psiexams.com, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [8]Pearson VUE: Florida Insurance Candidate Handbook (121000) (PDF) pearsonvue.com, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [9]Pearson VUE: Tennessee Insurance Candidate Handbook (124300, Oct 2026) (PDF) pearsonvue.com, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [10]Pearson VUE: Georgia Insurance Candidate Handbook (121100, Oct 2026) (PDF) pearsonvue.com, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [11]Pearson VUE: North Carolina content outlines effective Mar 2, 2026 (123415) (PDF) pearsonvue.com, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [12]Pearson VUE: North Carolina Insurance Candidate Handbook (123400) (PDF) pearsonvue.com, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [13]Pearson VUE: Illinois Insurance Candidate Handbook (121400, Aug 2026) (PDF) pearsonvue.com, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [14]PSI: Ohio insurance licensing candidate information bulletin (5493) test-takers.psiexams.com, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [15]PSI: New York insurance candidate information bulletin (7228) test-takers.psiexams.com, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [16]PSI: Pennsylvania insurance licensing examination booklet (7282) test-takers.psiexams.com, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [17]NAWCO: WCC Candidate Examination Handbook, April 2024 (PDF) nawccb.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [18]NAWCO: WCC certification examination and NCCA accreditation nawccb.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [19]ABWM: Certified Wound Specialist Board Certification Handbook, updated June 2026 (PDF) abwmcertified.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [20]IBSC: FP-C Candidate Handbook, updated April 2026 (PDF) ibscertifications.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [21]IBSC: 2024 Annual Report (PDF) ibscertifications.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [22]IBSC: exam fees ibscertifications.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [23]ABWM: certification eligibility abwmcertified.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [24]ABWM: Certified Wound Care Associate (CWCA) abwmcertified.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [25]CAMTS: 13th Edition Accreditation Standards, 03.00.00 Patient Care (free web edition, 2026-09-29) (PDF) cdn.prod.website-files.com, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [26]IBSC: 2025 Annual Report (PDF) ibscertifications.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [27]NMLS: Testing and Education Fee Proposal, request for comment, May 2026 (PDF) mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [28]NMLS: State-Specific Education Requirements (PE and CE) mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
- [29]NAWCO: beta results notice (new WCC exam, November 2023) nawccb.org, re-read Nov 6, 2026
About this site
Does Credential House speak for NMLS, a state insurance department or a certifying board?
No. It is an independent reference, and none of those bodies writes, checks or approves its pages. Where a table here and the body's current document disagree, the document wins.
Do the practice questions cost anything or need an account?
Neither. The quiz marks your choices inside the page, and they never leave your device. Visit logging is described under privacy.
Why is there no single national life and health insurance exam here?
Because there is none: each state sets its own exam, vendor, length, pass mark and fee. The life and health exam info page puts the states side by side, each row with its own bulletin and date.
Recently checked
Facts most recently re-verified against their source documents. Tags separate proposals, scheduled changes, changes already in force and expected revisions.
| Exam | Fact | Verified against | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAFE MLO | ProposedAnnounced fee change: Proposed increase to $120 from March 1, 2027; not confirmed as final | Testing and Education Fee Proposal | Nov 6, 2026 |
| SAFE MLO | Pass rate: 53% first-time pass rate as of December 31, 2024 | NMLS: SAFE MLO Test Performance Data | Nov 6, 2026 |
| Life and Health | ScheduledNext change: Florida and Illinois have published outlines effective January 1, 2027 | Florida insurance content outlines | Nov 6, 2026 |
| Life and Health | Pass rate: Not published as one national figure; some states and vendors publish their own | Texas Insurance Candidate Handbook | Nov 6, 2026 |
| WCC | Pass rate: 70% in 2025 (2,351 candidates); 76% in 2024 (1,801 candidates) | NAWCO: certification statistics | Nov 6, 2026 |
| CWS | Pass rate: Not published by ABWM | Certified Wound Specialist Board Certification Handbook | Nov 6, 2026 |
| FP-C | ExpectedNext change: IBSC funded an FP-C job analysis starting in early 2026, so a new outline is likely; no date announced | IBSC: 2025 Annual Report | Nov 6, 2026 |
| FP-C | Pass rate: 57.6% in 2024 | IBSC: 2024 Annual Report | Nov 6, 2026 |