How to pass the permit test
The knowledge test checks what's in your state's driver handbook. Study the handbook, practise with questions written from it, learn the exact numbers, and you'll pass.
What the test looks like
Every state gives a multiple-choice knowledge test, usually on a computer or touch screen at the licensing office, and in some states online at home with a proctor. Of the 51 jurisdictions we cover, 33 publish how many questions they ask: from 18 to 50, most often 25. Of the 41 that publish a pass mark, 28 require 80%; the others range from 70% to 88%. Only 10 publish a time limit. The test facts table has the format for every state.
Several states, including Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin, test road signs separately or score them as their own section that you must pass on its own. Virginia requires all 10 sign questions right before you can go on. In those states a strong score on the rules can't make up for missed signs.
A study plan
- Get your state's current handbook. Every state page here links to the official one. The test is based on it, not on other states' rules or general driving knowledge, and handbooks change: use the current edition.
- Read one chapter, then practise. Our practice tests mix topics, and every explanation names the handbook section, so you can go straight back to anything you miss. Two or three chapters a day is a comfortable pace for most people.
- Learn the numbers. Exact figures are where most points are lost (see below). Your state's hardest-questions page collects them.
- Learn the signs. Shapes and colors first, then the signs themselves. Practise with the road signs test.
- Work on your weak spots. The study modes for your state keep track of what you got wrong and bring it back until you know it.
- Take the simulator. Where your state publishes its question count and pass mark, the simulator uses them; otherwise it gives 25 random questions at your state's pass mark. When you've passed it three times in a row, you're ready.
Most people need between a few evenings and two weeks. Spread out short sessions work better than one long night: you remember more of what you've practised on several different days.
What the questions are about
Across our 15,197 questions written from the 51 handbooks, this is how they split by topic. It follows how much space the handbooks give each subject:
| Topic | Share of questions |
|---|---|
| Licensing laws and penalties | 16% |
| Safe and defensive driving | 11% |
| Sharing the road | 10% |
| Road signs | 9% |
| Hazards, weather and night driving | 7% |
| Signals and pavement markings | 7% |
| Alcohol and drugs | 6% |
| Emergencies | 6% |
| Turns and intersections | 5% |
| Right of way | 5% |
| Following and passing | 5% |
| Parking | 4% |
| Lanes, highways and freeways | 4% |
| Speed limits | 4% |
Licensing laws (permit rules, curfews, passenger limits, points) are the biggest group because they are state-specific: they're the questions you can't answer from general driving knowledge.
The numbers to learn
- Permit rules: the minimum age, how long you must hold the permit, supervised hours (and night hours), who may supervise you and at what age.
- Alcohol: the legal limit for adults (0.08% everywhere except Utah, which uses 0.05%), the limit for drivers under 21, and what happens if you refuse a test.
- Distances: how far behind another vehicle to follow, how far ahead to signal, how close you may park to a hydrant, crosswalk or railroad crossing, when to dim your high beams.
- Speed limits: in school zones, residential and business districts, and on highways when no limit is posted.
- School buses and emergency vehicles: when you must stop, and how to move over.
Look these up in your own state's handbook: they differ between states, and the test uses your state's figures. The rules by state pages compare them.
Common traps
- Negative questions. "Which of these is NOT…" catches people who read too fast.
- Two answers that are both partly right. Pick the one the handbook gives; tests reward the handbook's wording, not what most drivers do.
- Other states' rules. Advice from a friend in another state or from a video may be right for them and wrong for you.
- "Always" and "never". Answers that include them are often wrong, but not always: "always stop for a school bus with its red lights flashing" is right in most situations.
On the day
- Bring the documents on your state's what-to-bring list, and your glasses or contacts if you wear them: there's a vision test as well.
- Read every question to the end and every answer before choosing.
- If you're unsure, rule out answers you know are wrong first. A wrong guess costs you no more than no answer, so always choose one.
- If you don't pass, it's common: see what to do if you fail and your state's retake rules.