Illinois Office of the Secretary of State, Driver Services Department
Illinois permit test: 35 questions, 15 of them signs
Original Illinois questions with the law cited under every answer, scored the way SOS scores it.
- Exam Simulator35 questions, pass with 28, scored the way SOS scores it
- Practice Test 120 questions, a broad first pass across signs, right of way, rules and safety
- Road Signs Full198 questions, every sign, signal and pavement marking question
- Laws and Limits12 questions drawn from the ILCS
Work through them in order.
IL Practice Test 1
IL Practice Test 2
IL Practice Test 3
IL Practice Test 4
IL Practice Test 5
IL Full Marathon
IL Road Signs Mini
IL Road Signs Full
IL Right of Way
IL Complex Situations
Illinois Laws and Limits
IL Alcohol, Phones and Safety
IL Rules of the Road
Illinois Exam Simulator
Every question you miss saves to a review deck on this device. See how the review deck works.
Know the format before you book.
Illinois writes its exam into administrative code rather than into a brochure. 92 Illinois Administrative Code 1030.80(b) requires a Class D applicant to take a written test of at least 35 questions and answer 80 percent of them correctly, which is 28 of 35, and the SOS Rules of the Road Review Course workbook breaks that paper down: 15 items ask you to identify traffic signs and the other 20 are multiple choice or true and false on traffic law and safe driving. Nearly half the exam is sign recognition, which is unusual, and there is no at home option, so it is sat in person at a Driver Services facility. The state also hands the same exam back to experienced drivers. Illinois requires a written test every eight years and excuses only drivers who have stayed free of traffic convictions, so a few tickets can put a 40 year old back in front of the paper teenagers sit.
Format verified against 92 Ill. Adm. Code 1030.80, Driver's License Testing / Written Test on 2026-08-27. Check the official page before you book, because states do change their rules.
Source: 92 Ill. Adm. Code 1030.80, Driver's License Testing / Written Test, verified 2026-08-27
What the process looks like.
The knowledge test is written from the Illinois Compiled Statutes. Our questions teach those same rules and cite the section behind each answer, so what you learn holds up on test day and on the road afterwards.
Teenagers aged 15 to 17 get an instruction permit only with proof from an approved driver education provider that they are enrolled or will start within 30 days. From age 17 years and 3 months you can get a permit without a driver education course.
The permit is valid for two years and has to be held for at least nine consecutive months, conviction free, before a 15 to 17 year old can be licensed at 16.
Drivers under 18 must log at least 50 hours of supervised driving with 10 of those at night, supervised by a parent or an adult aged 21 or older who has held a license for at least a year.
Night driving is barred from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, for both the permit phase and the initial licensing phase at 16 and 17. Local curfews can be tighter.
For the first 12 months of licensing, or until the driver turns 18, only one passenger under 20 is allowed unless the extra passengers are siblings, stepsiblings, children, or stepchildren of the driver.
Any phone use at the wheel, hands free included, is illegal for every driver under 19 except to call police, a health care provider, or emergency services.
A parent or guardian who consented to a 16 or 17 year old's license can cancel it at any time until the driver turns 18, and getting it back means reapplying and sitting the exams again.
One driver license application fee covers three attempts at the written and road tests within a one year window starting from your first attempt, so a second try does not cost a second fee.
You may usually try a second time the same day at the same Driver Services facility, subject to staff and time. Cheating fails the exam outright and blocks retesting for 30 days.
What the records show.
Questions. 15 items ask you to identify traffic signs and the other 20 are multiple choice or true and false questions on traffic law and safe driving.
Illinois Rules of the Road Review Course workbook, form DSD DS 9, verified 2026-08-27Pass mark. The rule sets a Class D written test of at least 35 questions with 80 percent answered correctly, which works out at 28.
92 Ill. Adm. Code 1030.80(b), verified 2026-08-27Attempts per fee. The license application fee buys three attempts at the written and road tests inside one year, counting from the date of the first attempt.
92 Ill. Adm. Code 1030.86(a), verified 2026-08-27Cheating penalty. An open book in view, looking around, or touching a phone counts as cheating, fails the exam, and bars a retest for 30 days.
92 Ill. Adm. Code 1030.80(k), verified 2026-08-27Illinois permit test questions, answered.
How many questions are on the Illinois written test?
35. The Secretary of State's Rules of the Road Review Course workbook, form DSD DS 9, states that the written exam has 35 questions, of which 15 cover traffic sign identification and the remaining 20 are multiple choice or true and false. The state rule at 92 Ill. Adm. Code 1030.80(b) sets the same figure as a minimum for a Class D license.
What score do you need to pass the Illinois permit test?
28 of 35, which is 80 percent. That threshold is written into Illinois law rather than just published as guidance: 92 Ill. Adm. Code 1030.80(b) says a Class D applicant takes a written test of at least 35 questions and must answer 80 percent of them correctly to be eligible for the license.
Where do you take the Illinois written test?
In person at an Illinois Secretary of State Driver Services facility. There is no at-home option for the car knowledge test. Oral versions of the written test can be requested in person at any facility from Monday to Thursday for applicants facing a language barrier or a reading or learning difficulty.
How many attempts do you get, and does a retake cost extra?
Your driver license application fee covers three attempts at the written and road tests within one year, counting from your first attempt, so a second try does not mean a second fee. You can often sit the written test a second time the same day at the same facility if staff and time allow.
Do Illinois drivers ever have to retake the written test?
Yes, and this catches out plenty of adults. Illinois requires a written exam every eight years, and the only people excused are drivers with a clean record of no traffic convictions. Pick up convictions and the written exam comes back around at renewal, decades after you first passed it.