The RERA exam
The short answer
Check the Dubai Land Department's current exam fee and whether an exemption applies before booking. Use its exam-registration service and confirm how to register in your circumstances. Ask for the current format, pass mark and resit terms. Passing the exam does not by itself authorise you to start brokerage work.
The Dubai Land Department publishes a fee for the broker exam and a list of exemptions. Confirm both before you book, and check what the card itself requires once you have passed.
By House Of Orange editorial. A licensed Dubai real estate brokerage, ORN 49865, at The Opal Tower, Business Bay. About the firm
Key points
- Exam fee on the training page
- AED 772.50 for the Real Estate Brokerage Exam. DLD training page, read 21 Oct 2026
- Itemised on the card page
- Broker exam AED 700, AED 10 knowledge fee, AED 10 innovation fee, and an ERES fee of AED 50 plus VAT. DLD, read 21 Oct 2026
- Exemptions are published
- Individuals above 55, brokers with 5 consecutive years of service in the same office, and start-up licence (رخصة انطلاق) holders
- Before you book
- Confirm the format, pass mark and resit terms, and how to register in your circumstances
What the exam costs
The Dubai Land Department's training page lists the Real Estate Brokerage Exam at AED 772.50. Its practice-card page separately itemises the exam and associated charges. Confirm the amount and what it includes before paying.
On the practice-card page, in the fees for a real estate broker card, the Department lists these lines:
Broker exam: AED 700
The exam fee as itemised on the practice-card page.
Knowledge fee: AED 10
Listed alongside the exam fee.
Innovation fee: AED 10
Listed alongside the exam fee.
ERES fee: AED 50 plus VAT
Listed as a separate line.
Who is exempt from the exam
The practice-card page lists exemption from the Real Estate Broker Exam "only for" three groups: individuals above 55 years of age, brokers with 5 consecutive years of service in the same real estate office, and start-up licence (رخصة انطلاق) holders, who the page says are exempt from exam attendance.
The page names the start-up licence specifically (رخصة انطلاق), so confirm with the Dubai Land Department that the exemption covers your licence. Confirm too whether any of the exemptions applies to you before you book or pay for preparation.
Where to register and what to confirm
The Department runs an exam registration service, linked in the sources below. Its form asks for a trade licence number and company name, as well as the number of attendees. Confirm with the Department how to register in your circumstances.
Before you pay, confirm each of these separately, because they are different questions:
Eligibility
Whether you may sit the exam, and whether a published exemption applies to you.
Registration
How to register in your circumstances, and who pays.
Fee
The amount payable and what it includes.
Training requirement
Whether any training is required before the exam.
Training language
The language any training is delivered in.
Exam language
The language the exam is taken in, which may differ from the training.
Format and results
The current format, pass mark and resit terms, in writing.
Preparing for it
Ask for the current format, pass mark and resit terms before you pay, and prepare from current material you can trace to its source. Question lists from forums or old courses cannot be checked for currency, and any course or list that promises a pass deserves caution.
If you take a course, ask what it covers and how recently its material was updated. Aim to understand the rules rather than memorise answers, because you will practise under them after the exam.
The annual test on the card page
Among its terms, the practice-card page lists: "The applicant must have passed the annual test to practice the mediation profession." A note beside it says the validity of the card is linked to the validity of the trade licence.
The page does not describe what the annual test involves, when it takes place or how it relates to the broker exam. Ask the Department before relying on any description of it.
Because card validity is linked to the firm's trade licence, it is reasonable to ask a prospective firm how its own licence renewal affects your card.
After the exam
Passing the exam, or being exempt from it, does not by itself authorise you to start brokerage work. The practice-card page states that nobody may practise the activity registered in a licence without first registering and obtaining the card for that activity.
The card has its own conditions, including a certificate of good conduct issued by the Dubai Police, and its validity is linked to the firm's trade licence. The broker-card guide explains BRN and ORN, and the how-to-become guide sets out the steps in order.
What this page relies on
Government bodies and regulators only. Each link carries the date we last read it against the text above.
Questions about this
The ones that come up most often, answered without a pitch.
The Dubai Land Department's training page lists the Real Estate Brokerage Exam at AED 772.50. Its practice-card page separately itemises the broker exam at AED 700, with an AED 10 knowledge fee and an AED 10 innovation fee, and an ERES fee of AED 50 plus VAT as a separate line. Both were read on 21 October 2026. Confirm the amount and what it includes before paying.
The practice-card page lists exemption from the Real Estate Broker Exam only for individuals above 55 years of age, brokers with 5 consecutive years of service in the same real estate office, and start-up licence (رخصة انطلاق) holders. Confirm with the Dubai Land Department whether one applies to you.
Not by itself. The practice-card page states that the activity registered in a licence may be practised only after registering and obtaining the card for it. The broker-card guide covers the card and its conditions.
This page states no resit rule. Ask the Dubai Land Department or your course provider for the current resit terms and any fee, in writing, before you book.
The practice-card page lists having passed the annual test to practise the mediation profession among its terms. It does not describe the test, its timing or its relationship to the broker exam, so confirm the current requirement with the Department. This page states no retake rule.
The Department's exam registration service is linked in the sources below. Its form asks for a trade licence number and company name as well as the number of attendees, so confirm with the Department how to register in your circumstances.
Read next
Written by House Of Orange, a licensed Dubai brokerage that also recruits agents
House Of Orange Real Estate is a licensed Dubai brokerage, ORN 49865. We publish this because we recruit, and we would rather you put the questions on these pages to us than take our word for anything. If a firm cannot answer them, that is the answer.