Summary
Victoria's learner permit test (LPT) is how you qualify for a car learner permit. Most people now take it online as part of the learner permit course. The in-person test at VicRoads, for people who need another language or an interpreter or have no internet, has 32 multiple-choice questions and a pass mark of 25 (78%). Both cover the whole Road to Solo Driving handbook. Facts as checked on 30 September 2026.
Who needs to sit the learner permit test?
Anyone getting their first car learner permit in Victoria. The permit is issued from age 16, and you can start the online course at 15 years and 11 months. You also need a Victorian home address, evidence of identity, to be medically fit to drive, not be disqualified or under a Fines Victoria licence suspension, and to pay the fee.
The learner permit test has two parts: an eyesight check, and a multiple-choice test of road law and road safety drawn from the Road to Solo Driving handbook.
What is the online learner permit course like?
For most people the test now happens online. The learner permit course takes about 4 to 6 hours and finishes with a final test. It is in English only, the first attempt is free, and you have 12 months to complete it. VicRoads doesn't publish how many questions the online final test has or what its pass mark is.
What happens at an in-person test?
You sit the test at a VicRoads Customer Service Centre only if you need another language or an interpreter, or if you have no computer or internet access. An appointment fee applies, and you should allow about 45 minutes, because the eyesight test and your permit application happen at the same visit.
The in-person test has 32 multiple-choice questions with three options each, and you need 25 correct, which is 78%. That comes from the VicRoads practice test page, which says its practice test matches the real one in size and pass mark. It is offered in 13 languages: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Vietnamese, Turkish, Persian, Cambodian, Sinhalese, Somali, Albanian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian and Spanish. If your language isn't offered, you can book a free interpreter, including Auslan.
Bring original identity documents: photocopies are refused, even certified ones. You need one Category A document (such as a passport or an Australian birth certificate), one Category B document (such as a Medicare card, a bank card or a utility bill less than a year old) and proof of your Victorian address. If your eyesight is poor, bring an eyesight certificate from an optometrist or ophthalmologist; if you have a condition that may affect your driving, bring a doctor's report.
Once you pass, you pay, have your photo taken and get a paper receipt that lets you start driving straight away. The card arrives by post in about a week, and a digital permit is accepted too.
What does the learner permit test cover?
The whole Road to Solo Driving handbook (April 2023 edition): the licensing section and all four chapters, on the challenges of driving, learning to drive, managing risk, and rules and responsibilities. The VicRoads practice test is a revision aid, and the handbook points out that it doesn't cover everything.
That said, the practice test does show where the emphasis is. When we reviewed it on 30 September 2026, the biggest groups of questions were giving way, learning to drive (including hazard perception), parking, speed limits and pedestrians.
Don't skip the chapters that sound like background. The handbook's early chapters explain why the rules exist, and they are testable. For example, the handbook says new drivers are about three times as likely as experienced drivers to be in a casualty crash, that crash risk jumps to its highest point when you first drive solo on P1, and that new solo drivers with about 120 hours of supervised practice have roughly 30% lower crash risk than those with about 50 hours. It also explains hazard perception: spotting and predicting risks and responding in time, which is different from fast reflexes.
Which Victorian rules are different from other states?
- Hook turns. At traffic-light intersections with a hook turn sign, found mainly in central Melbourne and inner suburbs, you turn right from the far-left lane. Signal right, move forward keeping as far left as you can until you are close to the far side of the road you're turning into, wait there until the lights for that road turn green, check nothing is moving in the lane to your right, then turn.
- Trams. When a tram stops at a stop without a safety zone, stop at the back of the tram without going past it, and don't pass while the doors are open. When the doors close and nobody is on the road, you may pass at no more than 10 km/h.
- Phones for L and P drivers. A phone in a commercially made mounting may only be used for navigation or audio set up before you start, and you mustn't touch it, even at red lights. No calls at all, not even hands-free, and no voice commands. An unmounted phone mustn't be touched or have anything running on it, and it can't sit on your lap (a pocket or pouch is fine).
What are the learner permit conditions?
- Carry your permit (card, paper receipt or official digital permit) every time you drive.
- Show L plates on the front and rear of the car, clearly visible from 20 metres.
- Always have a supervisor beside you in the front passenger seat, holding a current full licence (not a probationary one) for that type of vehicle.
- Your blood alcohol must be zero. Your supervisor must be under 0.05 and must not drink at all while supervising.
- Don't tow a trailer, caravan or any other vehicle, and remember a car permit covers cars only.
Driving without a supervisor is an impoundment offence in Victoria: the car can be impounded, whoever owns it.
How do you get from L plates to P plates?
Your permit lasts 10 years. If you'll be under 21 at your licence test, you need at least 120 hours of supervised driving, 20 or more of them after dark, logged in the myLearners app or the Learner Log Book. From 21 a log book isn't required. You must hold your permit continuously for at least 12 months if you are under 21, 6 months if you are 21 to under 25, or 3 months if you are 25 or older.
Before the drive test you pass the Hazard Perception Test, which you can sit from 17 years 11 months. The probationary licence is available from 18. If you're under 21 when licensed, you spend at least a year on P1 and then at least three years on P2; if you're 21 or older, you go straight to P2 for at least three years.
Ready to practise? The VIC learner permit test practice page sums up the format, and our give way guide covers the biggest topic in the practice test.