Im working with a person who is trying to become a notary. Ive gone through the training with her but each time she takes the exam, she get a score of 84 % which is a fail as you need 85 to pass. She has taken it 4 times! The problem I see is that the NNA does not tell you which questions are being answered incorrectly. Im at a loss on how to help her get past this. This is the Notary Essentials course. Any suggestions?
Somewhere on the NNA site is a link (or maybe you can just find it by googling) the Signing Professionals Workgroup (SPW) which was the big whoop a decade or so ago.
Many of the test questions are based upon info found in their handbook or guidelines–whatever they call it. The test is usually the same questions in different order.
@jessiea43 Please correct me (if needed), but the course you reference is the Introductory Course (not the Professional Signing Agent [PSA]) course, correct?
FYI: The Signing Professionals Workgroup [SPW] data is for the PSA exam.
You are correct. The course I’m referring to is the Introductory course for first time notaries. I cant find the questions online anywhere. 
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@jessiea43 You’re correct that the data is not available online anywhere.
You’re also correct that the “correct”/“incorrect” questions/answers aren’t provided.
Those are the reasons I hadn’t replied to your query about the Notary Essentials Course, because there is no Study Guide available. Like you, stumped!
It’s the “old school” or “school of hard knocks” method for that one . . .
Those cards are closely held to their chest & they emphasize to KEEP IT that way as well!
I was afraid that was the answer. We will just keep trying. Thanks for your input.
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Which state are you located in and is it possible to take the notary elsewhere (rather than through NNA) to obtain commission?
The NNA exam is open book.
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Illinois. I believe it is possible to take the exam elsewhere. I took mine through NNA so I recommended the site for the person I’m mentoring. It’s something to look into, however.
@johnsonps306 – The signing agent certification exam for NNA is open book. Is the notary exam also open book?
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Honestly I don’t remember. Because the notary exam is from the state and not the NNA website. I want to say it was but there’s a time limit per question in WA state. So I had the study guide open on my laptop in case I needed it. Because if you exceed time required you have to start again.
Yes, tests are open book. If she has failed the intro notary exam 4x, then I’d say she needs to study the manual a bit closer.
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Is this for california or what state?
My state offers classes and test to get the certifcation. It is free. Some people have more trouble learning andvretsining information on line. I never had issues until a car accident a number of years ago. I had a TBI. This was one affected function. I cringe every time i have to do an online class. Im not sure what the solution is. Maybe have someone read the information. She can take notes and then do the test with someone reading questions out loud.
We were able to find an online traing site that assisted her with the test. So she passed. Thanks for the insight. This is in Illinois.
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In CA it is not. It is a 1 hr exam “with proctors” and some pretty confusing questions … you need 75% to pass. I was told that next to NY, it is the hardest in the country.
Louisiana notaries may give you a good argument about that… 
I’m in California and my brother and I took the same NNA exam on different dates, although we missed the same number of questions, our scores were off by a fraction of a point which causes one to wonder how those scores are given in the first place? We passed, but a good number of the questions were not covered in the on-line class. The same day class and exam applicants I think get good coaching for how to answer the questions and the information is still fresh. When we take the exam, typically we finished the course weeks in advance so it can be more of a challenge in particular to remember the different penalties for notary error i.e. how much trouble, with which agency and what the consequences are.