Permit Test Easy

Lessons · The tests

Your knowledge test day at the DMV

Before you go

  • Start your Driver's License and ID Card application online, then book an appointment at a DMV office.
  • Bring an original or certified identity document, proof of your California address (two documents for a REAL ID card) and your Social Security number if you have one. Photocopies of identity documents are refused.
  • Bring the fee: $46 for a Class C application. It covers three tries at the knowledge test and stays valid 12 months.
  • Under 18: bring your driver education certificate (or proof you are enrolled in an integrated driver education and training program), and your parents or guardians must sign the application (both of them if they share custody). From 17½ you can get the permit without it, but then you cannot take the drive test before 18 unless you finish driver education and training.
  • Bring your glasses or wear your contact lenses: the vision test comes first.

At the office

  • Your fingerprint is scanned, your vision is tested, your photo and signature are taken.
  • In an office, the knowledge test must be started before 4:30 p.m. Ask for an early appointment: the DMV itself suggests the morning, after a good night's sleep.
  • The test is multiple choice, on a touchscreen, in many languages. Every question comes from the California Driver's Handbook. You need 80% to pass; under 18, you may miss no more than 8 questions.
  • No help is allowed: no handbook, no phone.

How to read the questions

  • Each question has one right answer and two others that are wrong or do not fit the question.
  • Read the whole question. Do not imagine extra details that are not written.
  • If you miss a question, a DMV employee can show you where the answer is in the handbook.

If you do not pass

  • You get three tries per application. After a third failure you must reapply.
  • Under 18 you wait 7 days before the next try, not counting the day you failed.

When you pass

  • Go back to the window for your instruction permit. Check that your name and address are right, sign it, and read its restrictions. Under 18, it only becomes valid when you start driver training with an instructor, who signs it.
  • You may never drive alone with a permit, not even to the DMV for your drive test.

Source: California DMV, Learner's Permits; Driver's Licenses (Situation #2: three attempts at each knowledge test); Teen Driver Tips (Test Preparation); Licensing Fees; Fast Facts FFDL 5 (Application Process)

Also drawn from:

Next step: Getting a permit and a license

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