How many questions can you miss on the permit test? By state

How many you can miss by state

State	Questions	To pass	You can miss	Official source
California	Not stated on the DMV’s permit page	80 percent	20 percent of your questions	Learner’s permits, California DMV
Georgia	20 on road signs and 20 on road rules	15 of 20 on each part	5 per part (road signs and road rules)	Drivers Manual, Georgia Department of Driver Services
New Jersey	50	40 (80 percent)	10 questions	Sample knowledge test, New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission
New York	20	14, including at least 2 of the 4 road sign questions	6 questions; at least 2 of the 4 road sign questions must be right	Driver’s Manual, New York State DMV
Pennsylvania	18	15	3 questions	Driver’s Manual: testing, PennDOT
Tennessee	30 (online test for ages 15 to 17, with a parent as proctor)	80 percent	6 questions (online test for ages 15 to 17)	Knowledge permit test online, Tennessee Department of Safety
Texas	DPS’s handbook and rules do not state the number of questions	70 percent	30 percent of your questions	Texas Driver Handbook (DL-7), Texas DPS
Virginia	10 on road signs and 30 on general knowledge	All 10 sign questions, and 24 of the 30	6 general questions; no sign questions wrong	The knowledge exam, Virginia DMV
Washington	40	32	8 questions	Do I need to take a test?, Washington State Department of Licensing

For the minimum age, where to take the test and the rules for teen drivers, see the permit test, state by state.

Check your state’s pass mark

Source: each state’s page in the table. Pennsylvania (PennDOT) and New Jersey (MVC) checked November 3, 2026. Nothing you pick or type is saved or sent anywhere.

State Number of questions on your test (for California and Texas) See the table above.

Texas: how many can you miss?

Texas needs 70 percent. The Texas Driver Handbook, the Texas Administrative Code and the Transportation Code do not state how many questions the test has. If your test has 30 questions, as many websites say, 70 percent is 21, so you could miss up to 9; we could not confirm the 30 in any DPS source. Read the Texas permit test guide or try the Texas practice test.

Common questions

How many questions can you miss on the permit test?

It depends on your state. In the states we checked, the allowance ranges from 3 in Pennsylvania to 10 in New Jersey, with separate rules for some parts of the test.

How many questions can you miss on the Texas permit test?

Texas needs 70 percent, so you can miss 30 percent of the questions. The Texas Driver Handbook, the Texas Administrative Code and the Transportation Code do not state how many questions the test has.

Is the permit test the same in every state?

No. Each state writes its own test; signs follow the national MUTCD.

What happens if you fail the permit test?

You can usually retake it; each state sets its own wait and fees. Texas allows three tries per application and fee (Transportation Code 521.161(d)). In Virginia, under-18s wait a full 15 days (Virginia DMV).

Retake sources: Texas Transportation Code 521.161(d) and Virginia DMV.

Try the free permit practice test for signs and shared road rules. Read the permit test guide for what to check in your state’s handbook before test day.

Sources

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