The Texas cosmetology written exam, everything on one page
Questions, minutes, the 70 percent rule, the 55 dollar fee, the topic weights including 20 percent state law, and the separate practical exam.
Texas licenses a cosmetology operator with two exams. A written exam and a practical exam, booked and passed separately, both through PSI for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
The numbers
| Questions | 110 |
| Scored questions | 100 |
| Unscored questions | 10 |
| Time | 130 minutes |
| Passing score | 70 percent of the scored questions |
| Written fee | 55 dollars |
| Practical fee | 76 dollars |
| Practical exam | Yes, 3 hours 31 minutes, passing score 70 percent, which is 84 of 119 points |
| Languages | English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Simplified Chinese |
The 130 minutes is the published scored time plus the ten extra minutes the bulletin adds for the ten unscored questions.
Texas publishes its passing score, and that helps
Seventy percent of the scored items. One hundred scored questions. So seventy correct answers.
That is a target you can practice against, which California candidates do not get. Score a full timed practice exam, and if you are under 75 you are not ready, because exam-day nerves and an unfamiliar question wording cost points.
A fifth of the exam is Texas law
| Topic | Share | Scored questions |
|---|---|---|
| Hair and scalp care | 40% | 40 |
| Infection control | 28% | 28 |
| Licensing and regulation | 20% | 20 |
| Nail care | 6% | 6 |
| Skin care | 6% | 6 |
Twenty questions on licensing and regulation. They come from Texas Occupations Code chapter 1603 and Texas Administrative Code chapter 83, which are the rules about licenses, renewals, inspections, sanitation requirements in a salon and what the department can do about a violation.
This block is the single biggest difference between studying for Texas and studying for California. California's outline has no licensing topic at all, so national study material and California material both leave you short twenty questions.
Texas also pools all hair work into one 40 percent topic, where California splits haircutting, hairstyling, haircoloring and chemical texture into four topics that add to 27 percent. Do not read Texas's 40 percent as "they ask more haircutting". They ask the same kind of content under one heading, and the heading includes the chemistry.
The other three licenses
| License | Questions | Scored | Minutes | Practical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetology Operator | 110 | 100 | 130 | 3 h 31 min |
| Class A Barber | 93 | 85 | 100 | 3 h 29 min |
| Esthetician | 82 | 75 | 115 | 1 h 41 min |
| Cosmetology Manicurist | 66 | 60 | 100 | 1 h 21 min |
Every written exam is 55 dollars and every practical exam is 76 dollars. The written passing score is 70 percent for all four.
Licensing and regulation is 20 percent of the esthetician and manicurist exams too, and about 15 percent of the Class A Barber exam. The barber bulletin is the only one that publishes item counts without percentages.
The deadline nobody notices
Texas forfeits your exam fee if you do not test within one year of PSI receiving it. Pay when you are ready to book, not when you are merely thinking about it.
The bulletin publishes no limit on the number of attempts.
Pass rates
Texas does not publish a pass rate table. Its exam results sit inside an exam data search tool on the department's own site, which means there is no number we can republish honestly. If you want a published, quarter-by-quarter figure to compare against, California is the state that publishes one.
Where to book and what to bring
You book with PSI after the department says you are eligible. Bring one valid government photo identification that has not expired, arrive at least 30 minutes before your appointment, and expect a thumb print at check in. The exam room takes no books, notes or phones.
Texas runs written exam centers in cities across the state, and the center you pick has to offer the language you want.