- You need 70% correct - 35 of 50 questions - on the DPS-administered Company Representative Examination.
- The exam is open-book: bring printed Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1702 and Texas Administrative Code Chapter 35.
- You get 2 hours for 50 multiple-choice/true-false questions, no partial credit for near-misses.
- One exam attempt is included with your original company license fee; retakes cost $100 each, subject to a 90-day scheduling window.
The Number You Need: 70%
If you searched for "TX-QM passing score," you want one number, and here it is: the Texas Department of Public Safety Private Security Program sets the passing threshold for the Company Representative Examination at 70%. On a 50-question exam, that means you need 35 correct answers to pass. There's no curve, no rounding favor, and no partial credit for questions you leave blank or answer with a guess that's "close enough." Thirty-five right answers out of fifty is a pass. Thirty-four is not.
This exam still shows up in searches under its legacy name, "Texas Qualified Manager," because the older qualified-manager registration is what many license holders and training programs called it for years. That standalone registration requirement ended on September 1, 2019. What replaced it is the company representative designation - not a separate license or pocket card, but a role tied to your company's DPS licensing. The exam content, however, still tests the same regulatory backbone: Chapter 1702 of the Texas Occupations Code and Chapter 35 of the Texas Administrative Code.
Exam Format That Produces That Score
Understanding the passing score requires understanding the format that generates it. DPS administers a written, open-book examination consisting of:
- 50 questions in multiple-choice and true/false formats
- 2 hours to complete the exam
- 70% (35/50) as the minimum passing score
Two hours for 50 questions works out to roughly two and a half minutes per question - generous for a straightforward statute lookup, tight if you're flipping through unmarked pages trying to find a specific subsection under time pressure. That's why the practical difficulty of this exam has less to do with raw knowledge and more to do with navigation speed through your reference materials. If you want a deeper breakdown of exactly why some candidates find the pacing harder than expected, see How Hard Is the TX-QM Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
You'll need to bring your own printed copies of the statutes and rules, a driver license or other state-issued ID, and two sharpened pencils with erasers. There's no digital lookup, no searchable PDF on a testing center screen - just paper, tabs (if you make them), and the clock.
What Counts Toward Your Score
Every one of the 50 questions carries equal weight toward your 70% threshold. There's no domain-by-domain minimum you have to clear separately - a strong showing on records-related questions can offset a weaker showing on licensing-eligibility questions, as long as your total lands at 35 or above. That said, DPS study guidance concentrates heavily on a defined set of subject areas, and candidates who skip studying any one of them are gambling with a meaningful chunk of the 50-question pool. The core areas to master include:
Individual-License Eligibility
Who qualifies for various license categories, minimum age and experience thresholds, and disqualifying criminal history factors.
- Guard-company representative minimums: age 21+, three years relevant employment, one year managerial/supervisory experience
- Investigation-company eligibility paths, including the degree-plus-experience combinations
Pre-Employment Procedures
What a company must do before placing an applicant into a licensed role, including required checks and documentation timing.
- Sequencing of background checks relative to job placement
- Documentation retention obligations tied to hiring
Applications and Licensing Documents
How applications move through TOPS, what supporting documentation is required, and how service categories affect representative requirements.
- Additional service categories can require additional qualified representatives
- Licensing-document changes effective July 2, 2026 under Chapter 35 amendments
Employee and Business Records
Recordkeeping duties for both the company and its individually licensed employees.
- What records must be maintained and for how long
- Who at the company is responsible for record accuracy
Disciplinary Actions and Administrative Fines
The consequences DPS can impose for violations, and the process behind them.
- Categories of violations that trigger fines versus license action
- Company-level exposure when an individual license holder violates the code
For a fuller walkthrough of how these topic areas map onto the question pool, the TX-QM Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All Content Areas breaks each one down with more granularity than a passing-score article can cover.
Why "Open-Book" Doesn't Mean Easy
Candidates sometimes assume an open-book exam with a 70% threshold should be simple - after all, the answers are physically in front of you. In practice, the open-book format changes what the exam is testing. It's not primarily testing memorization; it's testing whether you can locate the correct statute or rule section fast enough, under time pressure, to answer 50 questions in 120 minutes.
That distinction matters for how you prepare. Highlighting and tabbing your printed Chapter 1702 and Chapter 35 materials in advance is not optional if you want a comfortable margin above 35 correct. Many candidates who fail don't fail because they didn't know the material existed - they fail because they burned too much time searching for it during questions in the middle of the exam and ran out of time on questions at the end.
Key Takeaway
Tab your printed statute and rule book by topic (licensing eligibility, records, disciplinary actions, fees) before test day. Speed of lookup, not just knowledge, determines whether you clear 35/50 within the 2-hour limit.
If You Fall Short: Retakes and Costs
One examination is included with the original company license fee. The posted company fee schedule lists Class A at $361, Class B at $412, and Class C at $556, each including subscription charges - with additional applicant, fingerprint, and insurance costs billed separately. If you don't clear the 35-question threshold on your first attempt, a retake costs $100, and scheduling depends on appointment availability within the 90-day application window tied to your original filing.
That 90-day window is the part candidates most often overlook. A retake isn't open-ended - if you fail and then delay rescheduling, you can run into the edge of your window and complicate the rest of your application timeline. For a full accounting of every fee involved, from the base license tiers to fingerprinting and insurance, see TX-QM Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Passing score | 70% (35 of 50 questions) |
| Time allowed | 2 hours |
| Question format | Multiple-choice and true/false, 50 total |
| First attempt cost | Included with original company license fee |
| Retake cost | $100 per attempt |
| Retake scheduling | Subject to appointment availability within 90-day application window |
Who Actually Sits for This Exam
The company representative designation applies to individuals who meet defined experience or education thresholds tied to a licensed security company - guard companies and investigation companies alike. Guard-company representatives generally need to be at least 21 years old, with three years of relevant accumulated employment and one year of managerial or supervisory experience. Investigation-company eligibility runs through a different set of paths: three consecutive years of investigative experience, a qualifying criminal-justice or related bachelor's degree, specified degree-plus-experience combinations, or completion of a qualifying university-affiliated specialized course of at least 200 instructional hours.
Applications move through TOPS with both company and representative documentation attached, and companies offering additional service categories can be required to designate additional qualified representatives to cover them. If you're still confirming whether you meet the eligibility bar before you even schedule the exam, the detailed breakdown in TX-QM Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify is worth reading before you commit to a testing date.
Allocating Study Time Around the Threshold
Because every question counts equally toward your 35-correct target, the smartest prep strategy isn't "study everything equally" - it's weighting your remaining study hours toward the sections most likely to appear in volume and most likely to trip up first-time candidates: licensing eligibility, recordkeeping, and disciplinary/fine provisions. A short, focused rotation through your printed statute book, done in blocks with a timer so you're used to working under time pressure, tends to outperform passive re-reading.
Eligibility and Definitions
- Read Chapter 1702 sections on individual-license eligibility and company categories
- Build tabs for age, experience, and degree-equivalency provisions
Records and Pre-Employment Procedures
- Work through Chapter 35 recordkeeping requirements
- Time yourself locating specific sections cold
Disciplinary Actions and Fines
- Review violation categories and associated administrative fine ranges
- Run a full 50-question practice set in under 2 hours
For a more complete week-by-week plan built specifically around this exam's content, not generic test-prep advice, see the TX-QM Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. And if you want to gauge where your timed practice performance actually sits relative to the 35-question target, running full-length questions on our practice test platform before test day is the most direct way to find out.
Frequently Asked Questions
You need 70% correct, which is 35 out of 50 questions, within the 2-hour time limit set by the Texas Department of Public Safety Private Security Program.
No. The threshold is a fixed 70%. Scoring 34 out of 50 is a failing result exactly as much as scoring 20 out of 50.
You can retake the exam for $100, but the retake depends on appointment availability within your 90-day application window, so schedule promptly rather than waiting.
The standalone qualified-manager registration ended September 1, 2019. The exam now covers the company representative designation, but the underlying statutory content in Chapter 1702 and Chapter 35 that people associate with "TX-QM" is still what's tested.
Yes - the exam is open-book, and candidates should bring printed copies of Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1702 and Texas Administrative Code Chapter 35, along with a driver license or state ID and two sharpened pencils with erasers.
For a broader look at how this passing score compares to reported outcomes across candidates, see TX-QM Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows, and if you're still deciding whether pursuing the company representative role is worth the licensing effort, Is the TX-QM Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 walks through that decision in detail. Whichever stage of preparation you're at, running timed questions on our practice platform is the fastest way to see exactly where you stand against the 35-out-of-50 target before you walk into the testing room.