Guides
Guides to the Australian licence tests
15 written guides to how the tests actually work: formats, pass marks, courses, logbook hours, and what the published figures mean once you read them properly.
Every figure in these guides names the agency or dataset it came from and the date it was checked, and every guide carries the date it was last reviewed. Anything that has not been confirmed against an agency or an open dataset is described as being verified rather than filled in with a number. The official handbooks and courses remain the material you are tested on. The photographs on these cards and at the head of each guide are generated images used for atmosphere. They are not pictures of real test centres, and every road sign and scenario diagram in the guides themselves is drawn by hand.
9 guides
Getting the learner licence
One guide per jurisdiction covering the theory test or the course that has replaced it: the format, the pass mark, what it costs, and the part of it that ends most sittings. Start with the state you are actually sitting in, because no two of these tests are the same shape.
- New South WalesHow the NSW Driver Knowledge Test worksForty five questions in two sections, with a pass mark that changes halfway through. Here is the format, the marking, and why the second section is the one that ends sittings.
- New South WalesDKT Online explained: the paid course that replaced sitting the testSince 2024 New South Wales has been moving learners onto an online course with the Driver Knowledge Test built into the end of it. Here is what that changes for you.
- VictoriaThe Victorian learner permit knowledge test explainedThirty two questions at a 78% pass mark, sat as part of the learner permit appointment. Here is the format, the cost, and why our Victorian questions are written differently.
- QueenslandPrepL explained: Queensland's online course and 90% assessmentQueensland replaced its written learner test with an online course ending in a 30 question assessment that needs 27 correct. That is the highest pass mark of any learner test in the country.
- Western AustraliaWestern Australia: an easy theory test in front of the hardest practical in the countryThe Western Australian theory test is one of the gentler ones. The practical driving assessment passed 42.3% across 244,557 assessments, and the logbook comes afterwards, which no other state does.
- South AustraliaSouth Australia: eight give way questions, then a choice of two pathwaysThe South Australian theory test opens with eight give way questions where every answer has to be right. After it, you pick between a one off practical test and a competency logbook.
- TasmaniaTasmania: the free knowledge test and the highest practical pass rateTasmania has the cheapest entry point in the country and, on an unattributed figure of around 86%, the highest practical pass rate. Several format details are still being verified, so this guide says what is checked and what is not.
- Northern TerritoryDriveSafe NT: what we can verify about the Northern Territory learner stageThe Northern Territory runs the least documented licensing system in the country. This guide covers the shape of the process and states plainly which specifics are still being checked.
- Australian Capital TerritoryThe ACT knowledge test: 35 questions, 31 correct to passThe Australian Capital Territory sets a tighter pass mark than most people expect from a small jurisdiction. Here is the format and what is still being checked.
2 guides
Between the learner licence and the full one
Supervised hours, the courses that credit some of them back, and the hazard perception test that sits in the middle of the sequence in most jurisdictions. This is the longest part of the process by a wide margin and the part people plan for least.
- New South WalesThe NSW 120 hour logbook and the Safer Drivers Course creditOne hundred and twenty supervised hours is the largest single time commitment in the New South Wales licence process. Twenty of them can be credited. Here is how the arithmetic works.
- Australia wideHazard perception tests explained, state by stateEvery jurisdiction tests hazard perception differently, and the official clips are protected material. Here is what the formats have in common and how to practise the skill rather than the footage.
2 guides
The practical test, and what the numbers say about it
Two guides written off published outcome data rather than off folklore. One reads the Victorian release for what it says about tests that never reach the end, and the other explains why two test centres in the same state can be twenty points apart.
- VictoriaMore than one Victorian drive test in five ends earlyFreedom of information data covering 492,504 Victorian drive tests shows over one in five terminated mid drive for a critical error. Here is what that number means for how you prepare.
- Australia wideWhy driving test pass rates vary by centre, and why it mattersWestern Australian centres range from 28.3% to 56.4% under the same rules and the same agency. Here is what actually drives the gap and how to use the numbers sensibly.
1 guide
Studying so it sticks
The one guide here is about method rather than about a jurisdiction. Practice tests are easy to do badly, and doing them badly feels identical to doing them well right up until the sitting.
1 guide
Bringing a licence from another country
Conversion deadlines are shorter than most people are told, they start from different days in different states, and three jurisdictions changed their rules recently. This is the guide to read before the deadline rather than after it.
The same guides, by state and territory
Eight licensing systems, eight sets of rules. If you already know where you are sitting the test, this is the faster way in.
| Where | Agency | Guides | Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Transport for NSW and Service NSW | NSW tests | |
| Victoria | VicRoads | VIC tests | |
| Queensland | Department of Transport and Main Roads | QLD tests | |
| Western Australia | Department of Transport | WA tests | |
| South Australia | Service SA | SA tests | |
| Tasmania | Service Tasmania | TAS tests | |
| Northern Territory | Northern Territory Government | NT tests | |
| Australian Capital Territory | ACT Government | ACT tests | |
| Everywhere | Not jurisdiction specific |
| Compare all 8 |
Where to go next
The guides explain the test. The rest of the site is where you sit one.