Exam Hub · Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Life & Annuities Exam, explained plainly
PSI Series 16-01 — the exam standing between you and a Pennsylvania life insurance producer license. Every fact on this page is checked against the official PSI candidate booklet and the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, and dated at the bottom.
Not sure where you stand? The diagnostic scores you domain by domain and tells you the exact sections to study first. Free, about ten minutes.
At a glance
Series 16-01 — the numbers that matter
100 questions · 120 minutes
Multiple choice, four options each, one question on screen at a time. You can go back and change answers before your time runs out. A tutorial (up to 15 minutes) runs before the clock starts, and 5–10 questions on the exam may be unscored experimental items.
70% to pass
The minimum passing score is 70%. There is no penalty for a wrong answer — a blank question is a guaranteed zero, so answer everything.
$45 exam fee
Per attempt, paid to PSI when you schedule. Exam fees are not refundable and not transferable — which is why the retake and reschedule rules below matter.
Source: PSI, Pennsylvania Insurance Department Licensing Examination Candidate Information Booklet (effective January 22, 2026).
What the exam covers
The official outline, weighted
This is where your study hours should go — in roughly these proportions. Provisions, Options & Riders is the heaviest section on the exam; Federal Tax is the lightest.
Source: PSI Series 16-01 content outline, effective March 1, 2026. Our free diagnostic is built on these same weights.
Registration
How to book your seat
- Register with PSI at test-takers.psiexams.com/pain or by phone at 1-888-818-5822.
- You can test at a test center or by remote proctoring from your own computer.
- The first and last name on your PSI account must match your government-issued ID exactly. A mismatch means no testing — and no refund.
- The Pennsylvania Insurance Department's current licensing process runs: pass the exam → apply for the license → get fingerprinted. (Older checklists that put a pre-licensing course first are out of date — confirm the current steps on the Department's site before you rely on any checklist, including this one.)
If the first attempt doesn't go your way
Retakes & rescheduling
No limit on attempts
Pennsylvania does not cap how many times you can take the exam. You cannot book a new appointment the same day you tested — your score has to process first — but you can call the next day and retest as early as the day after that, if a seat is open. The full $45 fee applies to every attempt.
Your score report is a study map
A failed attempt comes with a diagnostic breakdown by exam area, emailed with your score report. Bring it back to your study plan: rebuild the weak domains, re-verify, and retest while the rest is still warm.
Need to move your date?
You can reschedule or cancel without losing the fee only if PSI gets your notice 2 days before your appointment — on the PSI website or by speaking with a PSI representative (voicemail and email don't count). Miss the appointment, arrive late, or show up without proper ID, and the fee is gone.
Test-day expectations
What exam day actually looks like
- Arrive 30 minutes early. Late arrivals do not test, and the fee is forfeited.
- Bring one valid, unexpired, signature-bearing photo ID — a state driver's license or ID card, learner's permit, U.S. passport, U.S. military ID, U.S. alien registration card, Canadian government ID, or U.S. Employment Authorization Card.
- Leave the rest behind: no reference materials, no phones or electronics, no smartwatches, no calculators, no hats (religious headgear excepted), no bulky outerwear, and no bags, food, or drinks within reach. Test centers provide scratch paper and a pencil, which you return at check-out.
- Remote testing is stricter: no breaks, no scratch paper, and system compatibility checks before your appointment. Launch within 30 minutes of your appointment time and start within 15 — later than that, the fee is forfeited.
After you pass
From passing score to license in hand
- Apply within one year of passing, online through Sircon or NIPR. The Pennsylvania resident individual producer application fee is $55, plus a small online service fee.
- Fingerprinting comes after you pass AND after you apply — through IdentoGO, service code 1KGBGJ. Fingerprints sent without a matching application on file are destroyed and the fee has to be paid again. Order matters.
- A Pennsylvania producer license runs on a two-year term, with 24 hours of continuing education per cycle to keep it.
Find out where you stand — before you pay PSI $45
Our free 15-question diagnostic is weighted to this exact outline. It scores you domain by domain, marks the domains you're already strong in, and prescribes the exact sections to study first. Students then work a plan built backwards from their exam date — and don't sit until they've cleared our Readiness Gate: two consecutive full timed practice exams at 75% or better.
Facts on this page were checked on October 30, 2026 against the PSI Pennsylvania Insurance Department Licensing Examination Candidate Information Booklet (effective January 22, 2026), the PSI Series 16-01 content outline (effective March 1, 2026), and the Pennsylvania Insurance Department's licensing pages. Exam rules change — read the current PSI booklet before you book. The Wealth Building Institute's Insurance Licensing course is exam preparation: it does not replace any pre-licensing education a state requires from an approved provider, and completing it — or clearing our Readiness Gate — is not a guarantee of passing. The diagnostic button above routes to our enrollment team until the online diagnostic opens; email admin@buildingmywealthinstitute.com and ask for the Licensing Readiness Snapshot.