Essential documents theory test questions

27 questions in this topic

This is the smallest topic and the one people most often lose marks on, because it is pure recall rather than judgement. What each document is for, when it expires, and what happens if you drive without one.

Worth learning properly rather than guessing. There is no reasoning your way to how long an MOT certificate lasts.

Practise essential documents

Questions come from the DVSA revision question bank, used under licence. You will not see whether an answer is right until you have committed to one, which is the point. A sample of every topic is free and needs no account.

Start practising

The rules that decide whether you can drive at all

This is the least exciting part of the theory test and one of the most useful. Every other topic is about how you drive. This one is about whether you are allowed to be on the road in the first place, and getting it wrong in real life can mean a fine, points on your licence before you have even passed, or the car being taken away.

What has to be in place before a practice drive

As a learner you need a provisional licence and L plates, and whoever sits beside you has to be over 21, qualified to drive that type of car, and have had a full licence for that kind of car for three years or more. The car needs to be taxed, insured for you to drive, and have a current MOT if it is old enough to need one. In Great Britain that is usually from its third birthday, then every year after.

Insurance is where families most often get caught out. Your parent being insured on their own car does not mean you are. You need to be named on that policy, or have a learner policy of your own that covers you in that car.

Mistakes people make after passing

Tax does not move with the car. When you buy a used car, the previous owner's tax ends with the sale, so you need to tax it before you drive it away. If a car is going to sit on the drive unused, untaxed, it needs to be declared off the road with DVLA, which is called a SORN.

Moving house is the one almost everybody forgets. Your licence and the car's logbook both need your new address, and DVLA can fine you up to £1,000 for not telling them.

And for the first two years after you pass, the limit is tighter than you might expect. Six penalty points in that time and your licence is cancelled, which means going back to a provisional licence and passing both tests again. Points you picked up as a learner count towards that total.

In the test

Unlike most topics, these questions have fixed answers rather than judgement calls. That makes them some of the easiest marks in the test, as long as you have actually learned the rules.

How this topic appears in the real test

The car theory test is 50 multiple choice questions in 57 minutes, and you need 43 correct to pass. The questions are drawn from every topic, so you cannot skip one and hope. There is a hazard perception part as well, and you have to pass both on the same day.

These are revision questions rather than the questions you will be asked on the day.