Arizona Association of Mortgage Brokers
Here’s more information about the NMLS pre-licensing test for
loan originators required under the SAFE Act.
The information is from a PowerPoint created by the Conference of State Banking Supervisors, the organization that manages NMLS.
Knowledge is power!
NMLS TEST QUESTIONS
"How are test questions created?"
Written by subject matter experts
Reviewed, edited, and approved by committees
Created from content outline categories and subcategories
Supported by reference materials (laws, regs, etc.)
All questions are 4-option multiple choice
No short answer, fill-in-the-blank or true/false
Only one correct answer and 3 incorrect options
No “All of the above” or “None of the above”
No trick questions
No questions with multiple correct answers
No questions without a correct answer
Good wrong answers
“Why are some questions not scored?”
Un-scored questions are being “tried out.”
NMLS only wants to put onto their tests questions that meet high quality
standards.
NMLS gathers statistics on them first. When they have enough “hits”, psychometricians analyze the stats
They are reviewed to determine if a question is problematic
Eventually, questions that “make the cut” become scored questions
Un-scored questions do not affect a candidate’s score
They are not marked in any visible way to the test-taker (candidates
can’t distinguish between a scored or an un-scored question)
They are scattered randomly throughout the test
“What if a law changes that affects a test question?”
All questions are reviewed annually
If a new law affects a question, it will be addressed
During maintenance, pretest questions can become scored and old scored
questions may be retired
After maintenance, new versions of the tests are released
If an outline changes, it will be updated online (with new date posted)
“What if a law change goes into affect prior to the scheduled
maintenance cycle?”
Updates to laws and rules are consistently monitored
If a question is found that is no longer accurate, the following steps
may occur:
Subject Matter Experts may be called on to access the validity and edit
or revise if necessary
A question may be retired and replaced with another
NMLS CONTENT OUTLINES
NMLS has provided Content Outlines of the test.
No
additional study guides or study materials will be developed or endorsed by NMLS.
NMLS Content Outlines are:
The basic structure or blue print for the test
The roadmap for constructing test questions
A tool to help candidates prepare for the test
An overview of what will be on the test.
The national and state components of the test each have their own
outline. The Content Outlines map out specific
test content and question
distribution (weightings).
Outlines are on the NMLS Resource Center HERE
TEST FORMS
“What are test forms?”
Forms are the different versions of a test
The purpose of having multiple forms in a test is to enhance test
security
For example, the national test component has 90 scored and 10 un-scored
questions.
The different forms (versions) of the test all have the same number of
questions.
To ensure fairness and reliability, different forms of the national test
are all of equal difficulty.
Questions present in random, computer-generated order each time for each
form.
TEST ADMINISTRATION
Preparing to Take the Test
A candidate does not have to complete education prior to enrolling or
taking a test.
Before enrolling in a test, a candidate must have a unique NMLS ID
number (must either already have made a filing or created a base record).
A candidate must request and pay for an enrollment in NMLS before scheduling
a test session (*enrollment fees are non-refundable– listed on testing page).
Each enrollment window is open for 180 days, during which the candidate
must schedule to take the test.
“After candidates create enrollments, how do they schedule test appointments?”
To schedule, must have an NMLS ID number
500 test centers for candidates to choose from (Pearson and Prometric)
After selecting a state on “Find a Test Center”
page, a list of all test centers in that state will appear
Scheduling– online or over the phone
All tests are available at all test centers (i.e. candidate may take AZ test component in PA)
A company can request a group appointment (see Prometric or Pearson web
sites for more info)
*Special accommodations requests may also be made if necessary.
“Can a test-taker schedule the national test
component and a state component on the same day?”
Yes, but only if a test center has two back-to-back appointments
available.
However, please encourage candidates not to overlap their testing appointments
or they can run out of time!
(*The test time for the national component is 3 hours and
each state component is 2 hours.)
“What if a candidate needs to reschedule a test appointment?”
Must contact Pearson VUE or Prometric directly
to reschedule
Must be
rescheduled no later than 12 p.m. local time two business days prior to
appointment
Appointment scheduled for: Must be cancelled or rescheduled later
than 12:00 p.m. local
Sunday, Monday Thursday
of the preceding week
Tuesday Friday
of the preceding week
Wednesday Monday
of the same week
Thursday Tuesday
of the same week
Friday Wednesday
of the same week
Saturday Thursday
of the same week
*If a holiday occurs during the normal
cancellation/reschedule period, this
schedule adjusts to define "timely
cancellation" as one day earlier than stated
above.
THE TEST CENTER.
Arrive 30 minutes prior to test time
Must bring a current, government-issued ID with candidate’s photo and
signature.
Will be photographed; finger or palm print may be taken
Candidate may not bring anything into testing room (may be asked to
show empty pockets)
All belongings such as notes, cell phones, watches, wallets must be
placed in locker
Basic calculator (not financial calculator) and scratch paper are
provided
Must read and agree to the Rules of Conduct
TEST SECURITY—POLICIESAll candidates must read and agree to the “Rules of Conduct” prior to
taking the test.
They stress the confidentiality of all of the test questions and test
materials, as they are the copyrighted, proprietary property of NMLS.
Any attempt to modify, publish, transmit, or create derivative works of
the test materials, in whole or in part, is a direct violation of copyright
laws, the Agreement and the Rules of Conduct and will subject you to federal
and/or state sanctions.
Also, when creating a base record, NMLS users agree to use the system
and its test “only for activities related to obtaining or maintaining a
mortgage loan originator license”.
Candidates who violate or may violate the Agreement, the Rules of
Conduct, or copyright laws, who own, operate, are employed by, or are otherwise
affiliated with organizations that are NMLS Approved Course Providers or
organizations that intend to seek NMLS Course Provider Approval status, may
cause their NMLS Course Provider applications to be denied or their Approval
status to be revoked, suspended, or subject to other sanctions.
COMPUTER TEST OPERATIONS AND FUNCTIONALITY
Test Time—National component
2.5 hours test time (150 minutes)
15 minutes allotted for tutorial (before test)
15 minutes allotted for optional survey (after test)
Total seat time = 3 hours
100 questions in 150 min. = 1.5 min. per question
Test Time– State Components
1.5 hours test time (90 minutes)
15 minutes allotted for tutorial (before test)
15 minutes allotted for survey (after test)
Total seat time = 2 hours
Approx. 60 questions in 90 min. = 1.5 min. per question
*State test lengths vary from 55 to 65 total questions
“What is the computer test functionality? Is it simple to use? How does
it work?”
Tutorial and Test Functionality
Tutorial walks candidates step-by-step through test functionality.
Some key features that candidates can utilize:
Toggle back and forth between test questions
Mark a question for review and then come back to it later on
Change an answer
Exit Survey
The exit survey is completely optional.
All of the data collected in the survey is monitored and shared with us.
Candidates may also provide feedback to the test center administrator on
the enrollment process, test center facilities, content of test questions, etc.
All comments will be reported.
Score Reports
At the end of the test session, candidates will:
see their test scores on their computer screens
receive a paper copy of their score report
These scores do not become official until they are entered in NMLS.
Within 48 hours of completing a test, candidates will receive an email
informing them that their official scores are now ready to be viewed in NMLS.
“What happens if a candidate fails?”
Score report has a diagnostic table that informs candidates of how they
performed on each outline content area.
A passing score is 75% for either the state or national component.
Retake Policy
Must wait 30 days between each test taking attempt
May create an enrollment and schedule an appointment, but can’t take the
test prior to the end of prescribed wait time
After every fourth failed attempt, a 180 day wait time is instituted
*After passing a test component, a test taker will not be allowed to
retake that particular test component.
Click HERE for AAMB's Part 1 of Test Information
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