- The GA-PSA passing requirement is 80% correct on 80 scored questions in 90 minutes.
- Legal is 45% of the exam, Scope of Practice is 35%, and Liability is 20% - Legal decides most outcomes.
- Each attempt, including retakes, costs $125, and candidates get three attempts within one year.
- Five to ten unscored experimental questions may appear but don't count toward your score or your time limit.
The Actual Passing Score
If you're prepping for the Georgia Private Security Agency Licensure Examination - the designee exam administered through PSI on behalf of the Georgia State Board of Private Detective and Security Agencies - the number that matters is simple: 80% correct. The Board-linked PSI bulletin (revised September 29, 2020) sets the passing requirement at 80% on 80 scored questions, delivered in a 90-minute, computer-based, closed-book format. That means you need at least 64 correct answers out of 80 to pass, with no partial credit and no curve.
This is not the private detective exam, the employee guard registration process, or a firearms qualification - it's specifically the exam for the individual designated as responsible for a security company's operations. If you're not sure which credential path applies to you, the overview at What Is GA-PSA? clarifies the distinction before you spend money on a scheduling fee.
How PSI Scores the GA-PSA Exam
The GA-PSA is delivered as single-best-answer multiple choice, closed book, on computer. You're permitted a silent, nonprinting, nonprogrammable calculator, but there's no reference material allowed during the test itself - everything you need to answer correctly has to already be in your head or reasoned out from the scenario presented.
Because the exam is closed book and scenario-driven, memorizing definitions in isolation tends to underperform candidates who can apply rules to a described situation - a supervisor confronting a shoplifting suspect, a contract dispute over service scope, a use-of-force call during an incident. The GA-PSA Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt walks through how to convert legal rules into scenario-based recall, which is the skill this format actually tests.
Your score report reflects performance on the 80 scored questions only. Unscored experimental items (covered below) are mixed in but never appear as a separate line on your results, and they don't affect whether you clear the 80% bar.
Domain Weighting and What It Means for Your Score
The 80 scored questions aren't distributed evenly. They're pulled from three domains, and the weighting tells you exactly where your study hours should go if you want to protect your score:
Legal - 45%
The largest domain by a wide margin, covering search and seizure, arrest law, and firearm compliance. Because this domain alone can represent roughly 36 of the 80 scored questions, missing Legal content is the fastest way to fall below 80%.
- Authority and limits of a private security officer's detention powers
- Citizen's arrest standards and probable cause thresholds
- Firearm compliance rules tied to licensure and company policy
Scope of Practice - 35%
Covers service plans, contracts, operations, and the Board's administrative rules. This domain tests whether you understand how a licensed security company is actually supposed to run day to day, not just what the law prohibits.
- Drafting and interpreting client service plans and contracts
- Operational requirements tied to Board rules under Chapter 509
- Recordkeeping and administrative obligations for the designee
Liability - 20%
The smallest domain, but far from optional - it covers supervision responsibilities and use-of-force liability, both areas where a wrong answer often signals a real-world compliance risk, not just a lost point.
- Supervisor responsibility for employee conduct in the field
- Use-of-force thresholds and when force exposes the company to liability
- Chain-of-responsibility questions between designee, company, and employee
For a deeper walkthrough of each of these three areas, including the kinds of scenarios PSI tends to phrase questions around, see the GA-PSA Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 3 Content Areas. Understanding the weighting isn't academic - it directly determines your ceiling. A candidate who is weak in Legal but strong everywhere else is mathematically at greater risk than one who is weak in Liability, simply because Legal controls a larger share of the 80 scored questions.
Key Takeaway
Treat Legal (45%) as your primary study target, Scope of Practice (35%) as your secondary target, and Liability (20%) as the domain you review last but never skip - a 20% domain can still be the difference between 79% and 80%.
Unscored Experimental Questions
The bulletin notes that five to ten additional unscored experimental questions may appear on your exam alongside the 80 scored ones. These are used by PSI and the Board to evaluate future test content - they're not flagged as experimental during the test, and there's no way to identify them while you're testing.
The important detail: time spent answering these unscored items does not count against your stated 90-minute examination time. Practically, this means your actual seat time may run slightly longer than 90 minutes if experimental items are included, but the clock for your scored, timed portion isn't penalized by their presence. Don't try to guess which questions are experimental and skip them - since you can't identify them reliably, the safest approach is to treat every question on screen as if it counts.
If You Don't Pass: Retake Rules and Fees
Falling short of 80% isn't the end of the process, but it isn't free either. Each attempt - whether it's your first sitting or a repeat - carries a $125 fee paid to PSI. Candidates are permitted up to three examination attempts within one year of Board approval, so the math on retakes matters if you're budgeting for the licensure process.
For a full breakdown of what the exam and surrounding licensing steps actually cost - including the surety bond, general-liability coverage, or net-worth options required after you pass - see GA-PSA Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. If you're weighing whether a retake is worth the $125 versus additional study time, it usually comes down to which domain cost you the most points - Legal misses are worth fixing before you resit, given their 45% weight.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scored questions | 80 |
| Time limit (scored portion) | 90 minutes |
| Passing requirement | 80% (64 of 80 correct) |
| Unscored experimental items | 5-10, time excluded from limit |
| Fee per attempt | $125 (initial or repeat) |
| Attempt limit | 3 attempts within 1 year |
Where to Put Your Study Hours First
Given that Legal represents nearly half the scored questions, most candidates get more value from front-loading Legal review before splitting time between Scope of Practice and Liability. A simple two-part rhythm works for most schedules: spend the earlier portion of your prep working through search-and-seizure, arrest law, and firearm compliance scenarios until you can explain the reasoning behind an answer, not just recognize the correct letter. Then shift into Scope of Practice material - contracts, service plans, and Board rules under Chapter 509-3 - before closing with Liability review on supervision and use-of-force standards.
This isn't about cramming a generic weekly template onto the exam; it's about matching your hours to the 45/35/20 split PSI actually uses to build the test. If you want a structured week-by-week version of this approach with specific tasks, the GA-PSA Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt lays one out in more detail.
Legal (45%)
- Search and seizure authority for private security personnel
- Arrest law and probable cause standards
- Firearm compliance requirements tied to licensure
Scope of Practice (35%)
- Service plan and contract structure
- Operational rules under Chapter 509
- Board administrative and recordkeeping requirements
Liability (20%)
- Supervisory responsibility scenarios
- Use-of-force thresholds and liability exposure
- Cross-domain scenario review mixing all three areas
Before you lock in a study plan, it also helps to gauge realistically how difficult the exam is likely to feel for your background - a candidate coming from two years of law-enforcement experience will face different weak spots than one qualifying through a criminal justice degree. The How Hard Is the GA-PSA Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks this down further, and reviewing outcome trends at GA-PSA Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows can help you calibrate how seriously to take each domain.
Day-of-Exam Score Considerations
A few procedural facts affect your score outcome indirectly, and candidates sometimes overlook them:
- Board approval comes first. You cannot schedule the exam with PSI until the Board has approved your eligibility - meaning your score attempt doesn't even start until the paperwork, including fingerprint and criminal-history checks, is cleared.
- Law-enforcement experience and out-of-state licenses don't waive the exam. Even seasoned officers or previously licensed designees from other states still sit for the same 80-question, 80%-threshold exam.
- Chapter 509-3's 24-hour basic classroom training is separate. It's required for covered licensees and employees but is not the same as an exam-prep course, and it does not itself raise or lower your PSI score - it's a distinct compliance obligation.
If you're still confirming whether you meet the underlying eligibility path - two years of full-time supervisory or administrative security experience, two years of law-enforcement experience, or a qualifying four-year degree - review GA-PSA Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify before you invest study time toward a score you can't yet schedule to earn.
Once you've passed, remember the score itself is only one gate. Company licensing still requires the license fee and proof of financial responsibility - a $25,000 surety bond, $1 million in general-liability coverage, or audited net worth exceeding $50,000 - all filed and renewed through GOALS on a biennial cycle ending June 30 of odd-numbered years. Passing the exam clears the biggest personal hurdle, but the licensing process continues afterward.
For candidates who want to see how this credential connects to actual hiring and pay conversations after licensure, GA-PSA Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis and Is the GA-PSA Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 are worth reading once your score is locked in. And if you haven't started practicing under real exam conditions yet, running timed sessions on a full-length GA-PSA practice test is the most direct way to find out where your current score would land against the 80% line.
FAQ
You need 80% correct on the 80 scored questions - that's a minimum of 64 correct answers, with no partial credit and no adjustment for difficulty.
No. All scored questions count equally toward your overall percentage regardless of whether they come from Legal, Scope of Practice, or Liability - the domain weights just determine how many questions come from each area, not how they're graded.
No. Five to ten unscored experimental questions may be mixed into your exam, but only the 80 scored questions factor into your pass/fail result, and time spent on experimental items doesn't count against your 90-minute limit.
Eligible candidates get up to three examination attempts within one year of Board approval. Each attempt, including retakes, requires a separate $125 fee paid to PSI.
No. Law-enforcement experience or holding an out-of-state license does not automatically waive the exam requirement - you still need to meet the 80% passing threshold on the same 80-question exam as any other designee applicant.