Knowledge exam — Virginia Permit Test
Knowledge exam on the Virginia permit test — 7 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
The knowledge exam has two parts, and you must answer all ten traffic sign questions in part one correctly before you may take part two.
Signs are how the road speaks to you, so the exam refuses to move on until you can read them.
Part two of the knowledge exam tests general knowledge, and you must answer at least 80 percent of those questions correctly to pass.
Part two is scored on its own, so a strong part one does not carry it.
Exam questions are taken from the information in the Virginia Driver's Manual.
Everything the test can ask is somewhere in the book you were given.
If you fail the exam and are under 18, by law you must wait a full 15 days before retaking it.
The wait is there so the next attempt involves some studying.
The exam may be taken only once per business day.
One attempt a day keeps the test from being guessed at repeatedly.
If you fail the knowledge exam three times you cannot take it a fourth time until you complete an approved course.
Three failures suggest the studying, not the test, is the problem.
While testing you may not get or give help, seek questions or answers beforehand, or use a cell phone.
A license earned by cheating puts somebody on the road who cannot read a sign.
On the test
How many of the ten sign questions in part one must you answer correctly?
Every one of the ten. Signs are how the road speaks to you, so the exam refuses to move on until you can read them.
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.
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against Virginia Driver's Manual, published by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-06.