A Montana barber apprentice has finished 90 percent of the apprenticeship. Who may make the apprentice eligible to test?ARM 24.121.611(3)
A Montana candidate does not pass the Barbering written exam. How long is the wait before retesting, by the bulletin?Montana examiner's Candidate Information Bulletin, section 7.2
Besides a testing center, where may a Montana written exam be taken?Montana examiner's Candidate Information Bulletin, section 1
How long is the practical exam for Montana's barber license in the bulletin?Montana examiner's Candidate Information Bulletin, section 5.8
How many questions does Montana's bulletin list for the Barbering written exam, the one for the barber license?Montana examiner's Candidate Information Bulletin, section 5.2
How many questions on Montana's 110-question Barbering written exam are unscored pilot questions?Montana examiner's Candidate Information Bulletin, section 5.2
Montana's barber checklist names the exams an applicant must pass. Which are they?Montana Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists, Barber Application Checklist
Montana's barber nonchemical license has its own written exam, Barbering No Chemical. How many questions does it have?Montana examiner's Candidate Information Bulletin, section 5.3
What share of Montana's Barbering written outline is Scientific Concepts?Montana examiner's Candidate Information Bulletin, section 5.2
Which content area is the largest share of Montana's 110-question Barbering written outline?Montana examiner's Candidate Information Bulletin, section 5.2
Which of these is on the barber's practical exam in Montana but not on the barber nonchemical's?Montana examiner's Candidate Information Bulletin, section 5.8
Show all 56 questions (45 more)
Barber and barber nonchemical licenses 15
A barber licensed in a state without substantially equivalent requirements has no qualifying course or apprenticeship. How many hours of licensed work must be attested?ARM 24.121.616(1)
A licensed Montana barber enrolls in a cosmetology course in the state. How many hours are credited toward it?ARM 24.121.808(1)
A person with a physical disability is trained to practice by the public health department. For how long after graduation is that person exempt from the examination?MCA 37-31-308
The Board's rules use the word barber. Which licensees does the word cover unless a rule says otherwise?ARM 24.121.301(2)
How long a course of study must a Montana barber applicant have completed?MCA 37-31-304(2)
How long is Montana's teacher training course, by the statute's definition?MCA 37-31-101(23)
How long is the course of study for Montana's barber nonchemical license?MCA 37-31-304(3)
How long must a Montana barber have practiced under the license before taking the teacher's examination?MCA 37-31-305(1)
In the Board's rules, what does facial shaving mean?ARM 24.121.301(9)
May a Montana city charge its own license fee to practice barbering?MCA 37-31-323(3)
Montana exempts a person who does only natural hair braiding. Which of these is outside natural hair braiding?MCA 37-31-101(17)
Montana's definition of barbering lets cosmetic preparations be applied to the scalp, face and neck. Where else?MCA 37-31-101(3)(f)
Montana's statute says barbering is performed for tonsorial purposes. What is it not performed for?MCA 37-31-101(3)
What does Montana's barber nonchemical license leave out of barbering?MCA 37-31-101(5)
Where may barbering services be performed without a license under Montana's exemptions?MCA 37-31-102(4)
Apprenticeship, mentors and school 16
A 2,200-hour barbering chemical apprenticeship in Montana must include at least how many hours of theory?ARM 24.121.621(2)
A barbering apprentice in Montana completes 225 hours of basic training and theory before serving the public. What is the figure for a barbering nonchemical apprentice?ARM 24.121.621(8)
How long is Montana's barbering nonchemical apprenticeship?ARM 24.121.621(3)
How long must a Montana mentor have been licensed in the area of practice to be supervised?ARM 24.121.301(11)
How many apprentices may each mentor employed by a sponsor supervise in Montana?ARM 24.121.622(1)
How many hours of basic training must a barbering student in a Montana school complete before serving the public?ARM 24.121.805(10)
How many hours of haircutting are in Montana's barbering apprenticeship curriculum?ARM 24.121.621(2)
How many students may a Montana barber school have for each teacher?MCA 37-31-311(2)
How much must a Montana mentor have worked in each of the previous six years?ARM 24.121.301(11)
In Montana's 1,100-hour barbering school course, how many hours go to skin care and shaving?ARM 24.121.807(1)
Montana lets theory be taught by distance learning. What must still happen in person?ARM 24.121.604(4)
What is a sponsor in Montana's apprenticeship rules?ARM 24.121.301(16)
What must an apprentice display when serving the public in a Montana shop?ARM 24.121.403(3)
Where must the mentor be while a Montana apprentice serves a client?ARM 24.121.622(2)
Which subject is in the chemical barber's apprenticeship curriculum in Montana and absent from the nonchemical's?ARM 24.121.621(2)
Who is an apprentice in the Board's rules?ARM 24.121.301(1)
Shops, the Board and discipline 14
A Montana barbershop changes its business name. How soon must the board be notified?ARM 24.121.412(1)
A Montana salon that employs no barber puts up a barber pole that may lead the public to think a barber works there. How do the Board's rules class that?ARM 24.121.2310(1)(h)
A room in a Montana assisted living facility is used to cut the hair of the people who live there. Is it a salon or shop under the statute?MCA 37-31-101(19)
Among the things every Montana premises must have, which holds the used towels?ARM 24.121.1501(3)
An existing Montana shop in good standing is relocating. When may it not receive a provisional license?MCA 37-31-312(2)
How many members sit on Montana's Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists?MCA 2-15-1747(2)
How many seats on Montana's nine-member board go to barbers or barbers nonchemical?MCA 2-15-1747(2)
How often must hair clippings be swept in a Montana shop?ARM 24.121.1501(4)
What bond must the operator of a Montana barber school furnish?MCA 37-31-311(11)
What keeps hair clippings off the client's neck under ARM 24.121.1517?ARM 24.121.1517(1)(c)
What may not be operated in connection with a Montana barber school?MCA 37-31-301(2)
Where is an appeal from an action of Montana's board taken?MCA 37-31-333
Which of these is a ground listed in MCA 37-31-331 for refusing, revoking or suspending a license?MCA 37-31-331(1)
Whose approval do the Board's sanitary rules need under Montana's statute?MCA 37-31-204
How this list was compiled: Exam facts: the Montana Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists' barber checklist (https://boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov/_docs/cos/bar-app-checklist.pdf, updated 8/10/24), which asks for the NIC Barber theory and practical exams at 75 percent or higher; ARM 24.121.611; and the examiner's Candidate Information Bulletin for the Department of Labor and Industry (https://provexam.com/test-information/montana-department-of-labor-and-industry/bulletin.pdf): Barbering, 110 questions of which 10 are unscored, 90 minutes, passing score 75; Barbering No Chemical, 60 questions. Questions: Montana Code Annotated 2025, Title 37, chapter 31, and section 2-15-1747, on mca.legmt.gov; Administrative Rules of Montana, Title 24, chapter 121, in the versions in effect on rules.mt.gov; and the bulletin. Each question names its section or rule and links to it. Read 2026-10-16. Licence: Own work. Every question, wrong choice and explanation was written for this site from the statute, the rules, the checklist and the bulletin named. Nothing comes from the examination, a textbook, a prep course or a question pool.
How it works
This unofficial Montana barber practice test asks our own questions on Title 37, chapter 31 of the Montana Code, the Board's rules and the exam outline. It is not affiliated with the Montana Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists or NIC.
Read the full guide
What the Montana barber exam is
The Board's barber checklist asks for the NIC Barber theory and practical exams (ARM 24.121.611). The examiner's bulletin (opened October 16, 2026) lists two written tests: Barbering for the barber license, and Barbering No Chemical for the barber nonchemical license.
What this page practices
Neither test's outline lists Montana law. This bank asks the state's own text: the two barber licenses and their hours, apprenticeship curricula and mentors, shop rules, the Board and discipline. Hair, skin and shaving theory is not asked.
A mentor has been licensed six years and supervises up to two apprentices (ARM 24.121.301 and 24.121.622).
Hair clippings are swept after each client (ARM 24.121.1501).
Questions and answers
How many questions are on the Montana barber exam?
The examiner's bulletin lists the Barbering written exam at 110 questions in 90 minutes, 10 of them unscored pilot questions. Barbering No Chemical has 60 questions in the same time.
What score do you need to pass the Montana barber exam?
75 percent on the theory examination and 75 percent on the practical (ARM 24.121.611). Rounds on this page end with a score and no verdict, because they ask state law, not theory.
What is a barber nonchemical license in Montana?
It covers barbering without chemicals to wave, straighten, color, bleach or highlight hair (MCA 37-31-101). It has a shorter course than the barber license and its own written exam, Barbering No Chemical.
Are these the real Montana barber exam questions?
No. Each was written for this page from the Montana Code, the Board's rules, its barber checklist and the candidate bulletin, with the section under each answer. Nothing comes from the examination or a textbook.
How many hours is barber school in Montana?
At least 1,100 hours for a barber and 900 for a barber nonchemical (MCA 37-31-304). A registered apprenticeship runs 2,200 or 2,000 hours (ARM 24.121.621).