Enrollment
Welcome to Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP)! This page is for Online Commercial Exams. To schedule exams, please click the button below.
All Exams are administered by the Illinois Department of Agriculture and are remotely proctored. A proctoring service fee is required for each exam attempt. It is recommended (but not required) to schedule exam sessions at least 72 hours in advance.
Already enrolled? Log in and view your course on Learn @ Illinois Extension.
How to Sign Up for and Take the Online Exam
- Step 1: Click the orange "Commercial Exams Enrollment" button above. Create an account or log in with your existing account, then choose the exam set-up course from the dropdown list. If you are taking multiple exams, select all of them before moving to Step 2.
- Note: If you have a Learn@Illinois Extension account (created between 2020 and early 2024) and have not yet claimed your Extension User Account, please create a new account using the same email address. See this FAQ for details.
- Step 2: Check and complete the registration. Make sure your email and course are correct. No payment is needed at this time.
- Note: Changing contact info in Step 1 won’t change your exam email. If the email is wrong, log out and sign in with the correct one.
- Step 3: You’ll receive two emails: one confirming your registration and another confirming your exam set-up course enrollment (usually within 5–10 minutes, but it may take up to 24 hours).
- Step 4: Click on the exam set-up course (it is under "My Courses" when you log into Learn @ Illinois Extension). You’ll find detailed instructions on how to schedule your exam with ProctorU. It is recommended that you read all steps carefully.
- You’ll be asked to download the Guardian Browser, test your equipment, and prepare for your demographic information. You’ll also see a green button in the exam set-up course that will take you to the ProctorU page, where you can create a ProctorU account, schedule your exam, and make your payment.
Exam Information
Not sure which exams you want to take? Check out what we offer:
General Standards - Exam
The General Standards Core Exam is required to become a licensed Pesticide Applicator or Operator in the State of Illinois.
• Maximum Completion Time: 3 hours
• Number of Questions: 100 multiple-choice questions
• Minimum Passing Score: 70%
Aerial General Standards - Exam
The Aerial General Standards Core Exam is required to become a licensed Pesticide Applicator or Operator in the State of Illinois.
• Maximum Completion Time: 3 hours
• Number of Questions: 100 multiple-choice questions
• Minimum Passing Score: 70%
Please Note: This is AERIAL General Standards Exam, NOT General Standards Exam.
Category Exams
The Category Exam is required to become a licensed Pesticide Applicator in the relevant category in the State of Illinois. Categories dictate the areas in which a company may legally apply pesticides.
Category Exams Offered: Aquatics, Demonstration & Research, Field Crops, Forest, Fruit Crops, Grain Facility, Mosquito, Ornamentals, Plant Management, Rights-of-Way, Seed Treatment, Sewer Line Root, Turfgrass, Vegetable Crops
• Maximum Completion Time: 3 hours
• Number of Questions: 50 multiple-choice questions
• Minimum Passing Score: 70%
Pesticide Dealer - Exam
The Dealer Exam is required to become a licensed Pesticide Dealer with the ability to sell restricted-use pesticides (RUPs) or general-use pesticides for the production of an agricultural commodity in containers with capacities equal to or greater than 2-1/2 gallons or 10 pounds.
• Maximum Completion Time: 3 hours
• Number of Questions: 50 multiple-choice questions
• Minimum Passing Score: 70%
Pesticide Exam Tutorial
This tutorial is provided to Pesticide Applicators/Operators to become familiar with navigating the certification exams. You may retake this as many times as you wish.
- No additional fee is needed
- Available on the exam instruction page when registering for any exam
- It doesn’t include pesticide-related questions. It’s not a practice exam
Still Have Questions?
Check some frequently asked questions and/or any categories of licensure you may need. You can also contact us at (217) 244-2123 or email us at uie-psep@illinois.edu.