Permit tests by state/North Carolina
NCDMV · knowledge test · free practice
North Carolina DMV Permit Practice Test
- SignsScored as a separate section
- RetakeWait 7 days
- Free here20 questions, no signup
This free North Carolina DMV permit practice test covers the state knowledge exam: 37 questions with an 80% passing score (29 correct), cited directly to the official NC Driver's Handbook.
How many questions are on the North Carolina permit test, and what score passes?
The North Carolina DMV Permit test has 25 questions. You need 20 correct (80%) to pass, so you can miss 5 questions.
Source: NCDMV — Driver license tests.
Gauges
What the North Carolina permit test covers
Each gauge is one topic's share of the 300 questions in this bank, written from the North Carolina Driver Handbook. Tap one to read its free questions.
The largest topics in the bank
How strict is North Carolina?
North Carolina asks for 80%. The average of the 36 states that publish a pass mark is 79%; 8 states ask for less.
- Lowest
- 70% New Mexico
- Average
- 79% 36 states
- Highest
- 88% Maryland
From each state agency’s own page; every state’s format.
Warning lights
North Carolina permit test rules that fail people
What NCDMV says ends an attempt.
Separate road-signs test: identify at least 9 of 12 signs.
If you fail, you can retake the test after seven calendar days.
Source: NCDMV — Driver license tests.
Route planner
How to pass the North Carolina permit test
A study plan built from the North Carolina Driver Handbook and the test's own rules, in the order to do it.
Learn the numbers the handbook tests: 2-second following gap, 500 ft visibility to pass on hills and curves, 9 months on the permit, 60-hour driving log
Know the NC-only rules: stop for buses per exact lane layout (undivided four-laners stop everybody), hybrid beacons (not HAWK), 5 driver points for bus passing
Practice 25-question sets until you score 23+ twice in a row — the real test allows only 5 misses
Read every sign by color, shape and meaning together — that is literally how the signs test is scored
North Carolina numbers the test asks about
- Speed limits (unless posted)35 mphCities and townsChapter 4 — Maximum Speed Limits
- Distances2 secondsFollowing distance (the two-second rule)Chapter 4 — The Two-Second Rule
- Parking15 feetNo parking near a fire hydrant or fire station entranceChapter 4 — Parking
- Alcohol and points0.08 / 0.04DWI blood alcohol level / in a commercial motor vehicleChapter 2 — Alcohol and the Law
- Speed limits (unless posted)55 mphOutside cities and townsChapter 4 — Maximum Speed Limits
- Distances100 / 200 feetSignal before turning / when the speed limit is 45 mph or moreChapter 4 — Signaling
From the North Carolina Driver Handbook · Every number on one printable page
Practice
Free North Carolina permit practice questions
Six of the 20 free questions, one topic at a time. Answer them in the quiz, or read every answer and its source on the questions page.
- Alcohol and drugsIn North Carolina, the per se DWI blood alcohol limit for drivers 21 and older is:
- Intersections and turnsAt an all-way stop, if two vehicles arrive at the same time, who goes first?
- Licensing (GDL)North Carolinians may apply for a limited learner permit (Level 1) starting at age:
- ParkingWhen parking downhill next to a curb, you should turn your front wheels:
- Passing a school busBefore passing on a two-lane road, you must be sure:
- Road signsAn octagonal red sign always means what?
Trip
North Carolina permit test: booking, test day and after
From NCDMV's own pages. Read it before you book.
Check Your Eligibility and Take the Tests
If you are 18 or older, you can apply for a learner permit and take the vision, signs and knowledge tests; no driving test is needed. If you are 15 to 17, you first need a certificate showing you completed an approved driver education course of at least 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction, then you pass the written, signs and vision tests for the Level One Limited Learner Permit.
What Happens After You Pass
With a Level One permit, you can drive between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. for the first six months with your supervising driver, and at any hour with a supervising driver after that. You must hold the permit for nine months before applying for a Limited Provisional License, and complete a driving log of at least 60 hours, with at least 10 at night, signed by your supervising driver. Only the driver and the supervising driver may ride in the front seat, and all passengers must be restrained.
If you fail the North Carolina permit test
- Wait to retake
- 7 calendar days
Source: NCDMV — driver license tests · Retake rules in every state
Sources: NCDMV — Driver license tests · NC Driver Handbook
Test drive
North Carolina permit mock test, timed
25 questions on a 25-minute practice clock, one at a time, scored at the end like the real test.
- No feedback until you hand in, like the DMV’s screen
- Flag questions and come back to them
- A score for every topic, measured against the 80% pass mark
The free mock is 20 questions from the free set.
Take the free 20-question mockGlovebox
Free North Carolina permit study tools
Service record
How every question is checked
- Source
- Written from the North Carolina Driver Handbook, never copied from a real test
- Answer
- Every explanation says why the right answer is right and cites where it comes from
- Machine
- No duplicates, no missing explanations, no answer given away by its length
- Date
- Checked October 15, 2026
Spot an error? [email protected] · Editorial policy · Not affiliated with or endorsed by NCDMV.
Start the free North Carolina permit practice test
20 free questions written from the North Carolina Driver Handbook, each with the answer and where it comes from.
North Carolina permit test FAQ
Answered from NCDMV’s own pages and the North Carolina Driver Handbook.
NCDMV requires 80% to pass and does not publish the question count; 25 questions (20 correct) is the commonly reported figure. The road-signs test is separate: you must identify at least 9 of 12 signs by color and shape and say what each means. If you fail, you can retake it after seven calendar days.
All sign-test information comes from the Driver Handbook: signs by color and shape plus their meanings, alongside road rules on passing, right-of-way, school buses, alcohol and sharing the road.
School buses: stop until the mechanical signal withdraws, the reds turn off and the bus moves — with different rules for two-lane roads, turning-lane roads, divided highways and undivided four-laners. And following distance is the two-second rule, with more room when the road is wet.
No. They are original questions written from the NC Driver Handbook (NCDMV) and checked against its text, with the handbook section cited on every answer. QuizCram is not affiliated with the NCDMV.
Here, with no signup: 20 free North Carolina DMV Permit practice questions, each with the correct answer, why the other options are wrong and the source it comes from. You can answer them one by one, read them all with answers on the questions page, or sit a timed mock test of 20 questions that scores you in each exam area.
Permit tests by state
Find your state’s permit test
42 states: the knowledge test format, the pass mark, how long you wait to retake it, and practice questions from the state’s own handbook.
- AK
- Maine permit test, 80% to pass
- Vermont permit test, 80% to pass
- New Hampshire permit test, 80% to pass
- Washington permit test, 80% to pass
- Idaho permit test, 85% to pass
- MT
- ND
- Minnesota permit test, 80% to pass
- Illinois permit test
- Wisconsin permit test, 80% to pass
- Michigan permit test
- New York permit test, 70% to pass
- RI
- Massachusetts permit test, 72% to pass
- Oregon permit test, 80% to pass
- Nevada permit test, 80% to pass
- WY
- South Dakota permit test, 80% to pass
- Iowa permit test, 80% to pass
- Indiana permit test, 80% to pass
- Ohio permit test, 75% to pass
- Pennsylvania permit test, 83% to pass
- New Jersey permit test, 80% to pass
- Connecticut permit test, 80% to pass
- California permit test, 83% to pass
- Utah permit test, 80% to pass
- Colorado permit test
- NE
- Missouri permit test, 80% to pass
- Kentucky permit test, 80% to pass
- West Virginia permit test, 76% to pass
- Virginia permit test, 80% to pass
- Maryland permit test, 88% to pass
- Delaware permit test, 81% to pass
- Arizona permit test, 80% to pass
- New Mexico permit test, 70% to pass
- Kansas permit test
- AR
- Tennessee permit test, 80% to pass
- North Carolina permit test, 80% to pass
- South Carolina permit test, 80% to pass
- DC
- Oklahoma permit test, 75% to pass
- Louisiana permit test, 80% to pass
- MS
- Alabama permit test
- Georgia permit test, 75% to pass
- Hawaii permit test
- Texas permit test, 70% to pass
- Florida permit test, 80% to pass
Road signs
Signs the permit test asks about
31 signs, each with its meaning and real questions. Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina and Virginia test road signs as a separate section, so learn them on their own.