What happens on the day
The test is not the paper booklet most people were told about. If you have not seen the computerised version before, the format itself will cost you marks.
Before you go in
- Arrive about 15 minutes early
- Bring your appointment sheet and your identity document
- Bring the issue fee — you pay it if you pass, on the day
- Bring your glasses or contact lenses if you use them
Checking in
At a centre running the computerised test, you are identified by fingerprint at your assigned terminal. There is no paper, no invigilator marking anything by hand, and no way for anyone to influence your result — which is the entire reason the system was introduced.
The test itself
Your 68 questions are drawn at random from a national bank of over a thousand, so no two candidates sit the same paper. You answer on a touchscreen, and you have about an hour.
| Section | Questions | You need |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle controls | 8 | 6 |
| Road signs, signals & markings | 30 | 23 |
| Rules of the road | 30 | 22 |
All three gates, in one sitting. Miss any single one and the whole paper fails, no matter how well the other two went. This is the thing people most often misunderstand — a strong total cannot rescue a weak section.
Signs is the tightest gate at 23 out of 30, and it is where most failed papers die.
You can write in your own language
The test is offered in all eleven official languages, and there are on-screen instructions for candidates who are hard of hearing. Ask when you book, not on the morning.
Be aware that the translations have been widely criticised — the authorities have confirmed no independent language check was done on the question bank before it went live. If you are comfortable in English as well, it is worth having read the questions in both.
Two things about the format
You generally cannot go back. Most installations move you forward one question at a time with no returning to change an answer. If you are used to skimming a paper and coming back to the hard ones, that habit will not work here.
The clock is real. An hour for 68 questions is about 50 seconds each. That is comfortable if you know the material and punishing if you are reasoning each one out from scratch.
Your result
Marked instantly. You know before you leave the building, and if you pass, the licence is issued the same day once you pay the issue fee.
If you do not pass, you rebook and wait again — which is why it is worth sitting a mock test under the same conditions before the real one. Our exam mode runs one question at a time, on the clock, with no going back.