What is on the New York cosmetology written exam?

The short answer

The written exam for a New York cosmetology license is multiple choice and is based on the pre-licensing curriculum. The Department of State gives you 2½ hours. You get a pass or a fail, not a number. The state does not publish how many questions there are, or how many you must get right.

Where the questions come from

The curriculum is set in regulation, at 19 NYCRR 162.4. It runs to 1,000 hours split across thirteen subjects. Four hair subjects dominate it: hair styling at 245 hours, chemical restructuring at 180, hair coloring and lightening at 180, and hair cutting and shaping at 175. Together that is 780 of the 1,000 hours.

The other nine subjects are smaller but still part of the course: skin care and procedures (60 hours), nail care and procedures (40), shampoos, rinses, conditioners and treatments (30), safety and health (26), professional requirements (24), anatomy and physiology (15), hair analysis (10), hair and scalp disorders and diseases (10), and chemistry as applied to cosmetology (5).

What the small subjects contain

Do not skip the 24-hour professional requirements block because it is short. The regulation lists New York license requirements, state and federal payroll requirements, state sales tax, professional ethics, and a mandatory online course on domestic violence and sexual assault awareness. Safety and health covers New York laws and rules, OSHA rules on hazardous chemical communication, and the types of infectious organisms. These are the parts a working stylist rarely thinks about and a written test can ask about directly.

Why the license reaches past hair

Under General Business Law section 400, cosmetology includes the services of the nail, waxing and esthetics licenses as well as hair, head, face, neck and scalp work. That is why a cosmetology candidate studies 40 hours of nail care and 60 of skin care, and why the written test can include questions on both.

How we weighted our practice exams

Our cosmetology practice exams have 100 questions each. That length is our choice, not the state's. We gave each subject a share of the questions in proportion to its curriculum hours, so hair styling gets the most and chemistry the fewest. Nobody outside the Department knows the real exam's mix, so hours are the most honest guide available.

The written exam is not the whole license

The law says the cosmetology examinations shall be practical and written. A pass on paper is one of the steps, not the last.