Learners permit — Pennsylvania Permit Test
Learners permit on the Pennsylvania permit test — 7 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
The knowledge test has 18 multiple choice questions and you must answer 15 correctly to pass.
Fifteen of eighteen leaves room for three mistakes and no more.
The Knowledge Test consists of 18 multiple choice questions. You must answer 15 questions correctly to pass the test.
A licensed driver at least 21 years old, or a parent, guardian or spouse who is 18 or older and licensed, must ride in the front seat with a permit holder at all times.
The supervising driver is there to catch what a beginner misses, which only works from the next seat.
A licensed driver who is at least 21 years of age or a parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, or spouse who is 18 years of age or older and holds a driver’s license must ride with you in the front seat of your vehicle at all times.
A driver under 18 must complete at least 65 hours of behind-the-wheel practice, including at least 10 hours at night and 5 hours in bad weather, before taking the road test.
The night and bad weather hours are there because those are the conditions that catch new drivers out.
you are required to complete at least 65 hours of behind-the-wheel skill-building including no less than 10 hours of nighttime driving and five (5) hours of bad weather driving before taking your Road Test
Of the 65 hours of practice a driver under 18 must complete, at least five must be in bad weather.
Rain and snow are the conditions a new driver has least chance of meeting by accident.
five (5) hours of bad weather driving before taking your Road Test.
A learner's permit is valid for one year from the date it is issued.
The clock starts at issue, so the practice has to fit inside it.
the examiner will give you a learner’s permit, which is valid for one (1) year
You may take the knowledge test only once on any day, whatever the test location.
One attempt a day keeps the test from being guessed at repeatedly.
You may take the Knowledge Test only one time on any day regardless of test location.
You cannot apply for a learner's permit before your 16th birthday, and the health care provider's part of the application must be completed no earlier than six months before it.
The medical form has a shelf life, so getting it too early wastes it.
The form must be completed no earlier than six (6) months prior to your 16th birthday.
On the test
How many of the 18 knowledge test questions must you answer correctly?
15 of them. Fifteen of eighteen leaves room for three mistakes and no more. PA Driver's Manual, p.5: “The Knowledge Test consists of 18 multiple choice questions. You must answer 15 questions correctly to pass the test.”
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.
Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.
What it costs
- One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
- Free to start: a 10-question test and the first section of cards. No sign-up and no account.
- Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
- Every level up to Prepared — 3 tests passed in a row.
- Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.
All Pennsylvania permit topics
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against PA Driver's Manual, published by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-06.