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Florida, what to bring, 18 and over

What to bring for the Florida permit test if you are 18 or over

At 18 or over in Florida the course changes, the list gets shorter, and one option disappears. Instead of the teen DETS course you bring completion of the 4-hour Traffic Law and Substance Abuse Education (TLSAE) course: Florida Statutes s. 322.095(1), as amended by ch. 2025-104, requires it of every driver license applicant 18 or older unless they have been licensed in another jurisdiction or completed a Department of Education driver education course under s. 1003.48, and FLHSMV applies DETS only to applicants under 18. What you no longer need is a parental consent form, the 50 hours of certified behind-the-wheel practice or the 12 month learner's license holding period, all three of which apply only to applicants under 18. The catch is delivery: the Class E knowledge exam may be taken online only by applicants under 18, so at 18 or over you sit it in person at a driver license service center, a tax collector office or an FLHSMV-approved third-party administrator, whatever you may have read about at-home testing. Checked in September 2026.

Source: Florida Statutes s. 322.095(1) (ch. 2025-104); FLHSMV DETS page and Class E Knowledge Exam page; Florida Statutes ss. 322.05, 322.09, checked September 25, 2026.

Which FL test do you needFL
EExam simulatorFull FLHSMV format: 50 questions, 40 to pass, every answer keyed to a statute.1Warm up runA shorter 20 question run pulled from across the FL bank, for a first look before the full sitting.SSigns and lane markingsSigns, signals and lane markings on their own: 61 questions, the group that costs the most points.LState statute questionsThe 30 rules that belong to Florida alone, each carrying the statute number it was drafted against.
Every Florida test and ruleNo account needed

At 18, do I still bring DETS, or a different course?

You bring Traffic Law and Substance Abuse Education (TLSAE), not the 6-hour DETS course used for first-time drivers under 18. Section 322.095(1) of the 2026 Florida Statutes, as amended by ch. 2025-104, requires each driver license applicant aged 18 or older to complete a traffic law and substance abuse education course, unless that applicant has been licensed in another jurisdiction or has completed a Department of Education driver education course offered under s. 1003.48.

The same section sets the format. Subsection (9) calls for a minimum of 4 hours of course content, minus no more than 30 minutes of breaks. Subsection (4) adds a $3 assessment on top of the course fee, which the provider sends to the department to get your unique completion certificate number. Subsection (10) makes the electronic certificate in the Driver Improvement Certificate Issuance System the only valid one: paper certificates do not count for any licensing purpose, and a provider may not make you buy one.

FLHSMV draws the line at the same age. Its DETS page applies the 6-hour course to people under 18 who have never held a license, and its DETS FAQ tells providers they may keep teaching approved TLSAE to people 18 and older. A license from another jurisdiction, or DOE driver education under s. 1003.48, removes the course requirement altogether under s. 322.095(1).

Why the learner's license statute can look like it says DETS

Section 322.1615(1)(c) asks every learner's license applicant for a driver education course at the DOE 1900300 level and names no age. Read alone, it seems to reach adults too. FLHSMV, which administers both sections, applies DETS only to first-time applicants under 18, and s. 322.095(1) sends applicants 18 and older to TLSAE.

Can I take the Class E knowledge exam at home now that I am 18?

No. FLHSMV's Class E Knowledge Exam page keeps the online option for applicants under 18, who sit it with an approved third-party administrator, and the teen FAQ states the same age limit outright.

At 18 or over the choices are a driver license service center, a tax collector office, or a third-party administrator's classroom sitting. The online route in s. 322.56(8) depends on a parent, guardian or responsible adult under s. 322.09 supplying a driver license number and certifying that they monitored the exam, and neither the statute nor FLHSMV offers an adult version. A classroom pass with a third party carries the same spot check teens face: FLHSMV may call it back for a no-fee re-test at a driver license or tax collector office, and a failed re-test means paying the re-exam fee, $10 for the knowledge exam, at the next attempt.

What an adult first-time applicant actually carries in
  1. 1
    Finish TLSAE first

    Complete a department-approved 4-hour TLSAE course unless you already hold a license from another jurisdiction or completed DOE driver education under s. 1003.48.

  2. 2
    Pick an in-person sitting

    A driver license service center, a tax collector office, or an approved third-party administrator testing in a classroom. Online delivery ends at 18.

  3. 3
    Pack identity, Social Security and two Florida address proofs

    Follow the U.S. Citizen What to Bring list. Originals for primary identification. Two different Florida address documents. Out-of-state addresses are not accepted for a Class E license.

  4. 4
    Sit vision, hearing and the 50-question exam

    Section 322.12(3)(a) requires eyesight, hearing and knowledge tests, and FLHSMV sets the pass at 40 of 50. Since February 6, 2026 every Florida knowledge and skills exam has been given in English, with no interpreter, under a policy FLHSMV announced on January 30, 2026.

  5. 5
    Pay the original Class E fee

    $48.00 on the FLHSMV fee schedule and in s. 322.21(1)(b), plus $6.25 if a tax collector office issues the credential. No Parental Consent Form 71142. No 50-hour Form 71143.

What identity and Florida address papers does an adult first-timer bring?

You bring one primary identification document, proof of Social Security number, and two Florida address proofs. The U.S. Citizen What to Bring page is the working list, and s. 322.08(2) is the statute behind it.

Primary identification FLHSMV lists for a U.S. citizen
DocumentWhat FLHSMV actually accepts
U.S. birth certificateCounty health department or CDC Bureau of Vital Statistics. Hospital certificates are rejected. Puerto Rico: issued after July 1, 2010.
U.S. passport or passport cardValid. If it shows your current name, no extra name change document is needed.
Consular Report of Birth AbroadAccepted on the U.S. Citizen page and listed in s. 322.08(2)(c)6.
Certificate of Naturalization or CitizenshipForm N-550 or N-570, or N-560 or N-561. Original.

From FLHSMV What to Bring, U.S. Citizen, checked September 2026.

For the Social Security number, bring one original showing your full name and number: the card itself in your current name, a typed W-2 or 1099 (handwritten ones are refused), an SSA-1099, or a paycheck or stub. Two different documents must show your Florida residential address. Printouts and faxes count, and dated items such as utility bills and bank statements can be no more than 60 days old. If your address documents are all in a roommate's or parent's name, that person completes Certification of Address HSMV-71120 and either comes with you or signs before a notary. A name change needs an original or certified marriage certificate, divorce decree or court order, and church-issued marriage certificates are not accepted.

The Neil Kirkman Building on Apalachee Parkway in Tallahassee, headquarters of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
The Neil Kirkman Building on Apalachee Parkway in Tallahassee, headquarters of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor VehiclesPhoto: The Bushranger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Do I still need 50 hours, a parent signature, or a year on a learner's license?

No. All three attach to applicants under 18. Section 322.09(1)(a) requires a parent or guardian signature on the application of a person under 18, so Parental Consent Form 71142 is not part of an adult file. Section 322.05(3) requires the 50 hours of behind-the-wheel experience, with at least 10 at night, only from applicants aged 16 or 17. Form 71143 is that under-18 upgrade document, not an adult item.

The 12-month hold is the same age gate. Section 322.05(2) bars a license for a person aged 16 or 17 who has not held a learner's license for at least 12 months, and FLHSMV's Class E page puts it as one year on the learner's license or reaching 18. At 18 the year is not a prerequisite, but the tests are. Section 322.12(1) states the Legislature's intent that every original applicant pass an examination and lets the department waive the tests only when you surrender a valid license from another state, a Canadian province or the U.S. Armed Forces for an equal or lesser class. Section 322.12(3)(a) lists what the Class E examination covers: vision, hearing, the knowledge test, and an actual demonstration of vehicle control.

What does the sitting cost, and what happens if I fail?

The knowledge exam is 50 multiple-choice questions and FLHSMV requires 40 correct, which is 80 percent; the Class E page states both figures. Section 322.12(3)(a)3. also requires at least 25 questions in the bank to address bicycle and pedestrian safety.

Florida Class E Knowledge Exam
40 right answers needed10 can be wrong
FLHSMV's pass line is the same for adults and teens: 40 right out of 50. Ten wrong answers still pass; the eleventh rules out a pass at that sitting.

The original Class E credential costs $48.00, which covers a learner's license, on FLHSMV's fee schedule and in s. 322.21(1)(b), and a tax collector office must add its $6.25 service fee under s. 322.135(1)(c). Section 322.12(1) charges only after a failure: $10 for each later knowledge test and $20 for each later skills test. How soon you may try again is not stated on the Class E page, the teen FAQ or the fee schedule, and none of them limits the number of knowledge tries. The skills test is different: Florida Administrative Code rule 15A-1.015(3) suspends the driving privilege for one year if you fail to pass the driving test within five attempts in a one-year period. Cheating brings a forced retake: s. 322.12(3)(b) sends anyone caught cheating, or getting around any part of the examination another way, back to sit it again.

Worked example

Andre, 22, Tampa, never licensed, September 2026

  1. 1Andre Cole is 22, rents a room in Tampa, and has never held a driver license anywhere. On September 2, 2026 he finishes a 4-hour TLSAE course with an FLHSMV-approved provider, which collects the $3 assessment and reports his completion electronically. At 22, s. 322.095(1) points him to TLSAE, not DETS.
  2. 2The online exam is closed to him because he is over 18. On September 8, 2026 he goes to a tax collector office in Hillsborough County with his valid U.S. passport, his Social Security card, a Florida cell phone bill dated August 15, 2026 and a Florida bank statement dated August 22, 2026. Both are inside the 60-day window, at 24 and 17 days old.
  3. 3He passes vision and hearing, then scores 41 out of 50 on the Class E Knowledge Exam, one above the pass line. Nobody asks for Form 71142, Form 71143 or a driving log. He pays the $48 original Class E fee plus the $6.25 service fee, $54.25 in all, and is issued a learner's license.

Outcome. Andre has no holding period to serve, because s. 322.05(2) covers only applicants aged 16 and 17. The learner's license rules in s. 322.1615(2) and (3) name no age, so through December 8, 2026 he drives in daylight only, and on every trip a licensed driver aged 21 or over rides beside him in the nearest right-hand seat. He can take the Class E Driving Skills Test when he is ready. Each retake after a failed skills test costs $20 under s. 322.12(1), and when he passes, s. 322.12(2) spares a learner's license holder the replacement license fee.

What does FLHSMV not publish on this?

Who is refused the test waiver. Section 322.12(1) lets FLHSMV waive the knowledge and skills tests for an applicant who surrenders a valid license from another state, a Canadian province or the U.S. Armed Forces. FLHSMV's What to Bring FAQ says a valid out-of-state license is accepted in exchange for the written and driving exams, but that every out-of-state driver takes the vision test and other testing may apply where issues suggest the driver may not be able to drive safely. Neither the statute nor the FAQ lists those issues.

More questions about this in Florida

Does a 6-hour DETS course count for a Florida applicant who is already 18?

FLHSMV built DETS for first-time drivers under 18. For anyone 18 or older, s. 322.095(1) of the 2026 Florida Statutes requires a traffic law and substance abuse education course unless they were licensed in another jurisdiction or finished DOE driver education under s. 1003.48, and the DETS FAQ says providers may keep offering TLSAE to people 18 and older. Bring TLSAE completion, not a teen DETS certificate, unless one of those two exemptions applies.

Can an adult take the Florida Class E knowledge exam on a home computer?

No. Online Class E testing runs only through approved third-party administrators and only for applicants under 18, as both the Class E Knowledge Exam page and the teen FAQ state. Section 322.56(8) is built around a parent, guardian or responsible adult who gives the administrator a driver license number and certifies that they monitored the sitting. At 18 or over you test in person at a service center, a tax collector office or an approved third-party classroom.

Do I need a parent with me at the Florida office if I am 18?

No. Section 322.09(1)(a) requires a parent or guardian signature only on the application of a person under 18, and Parental Consent Form 71142 is a teen form on FLHSMV's Required Forms for Teens page. An adult first-time applicant brings identity, Social Security and two Florida address documents, has TLSAE on file, and pays the original Class E fee. A parent may still come along to sign Certification of Address HSMV-71120 if the bills are in their name.

If I fail the Florida knowledge exam at 18, how long do I wait?

No waiting period appears on the Class E page, the teen FAQ or the fee schedule, and none of them caps your knowledge exam attempts. The published consequence is a fee: s. 322.12(1) sets $10 for each knowledge test after a failure and $20 for each skills test after a failure, the fee schedule lists the same amounts, and a tax collector office must add its $6.25 service fee (s. 322.135(1)(c)). The later driving skills test does carry a limit: under Florida Administrative Code rule 15A-1.015(3), failing to pass it within five attempts in a one-year period suspends the driving privilege for one year.

I have a valid Georgia driver license. Do I still take the Florida permit test?

Probably not. Section 322.12(1) lets Florida waive the knowledge, endorsement and skills tests when an otherwise qualified applicant surrenders a valid driver license from another state (or a Canadian province or the U.S. Armed Forces) for an equal or lesser class, and s. 322.095(1) drops TLSAE for someone already licensed in another jurisdiction. You still bring primary identification from FLHSMV's U.S. Citizen list, Social Security proof and two Florida address documents.

Sources

Other questions about Florida

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How this works in other states

The under-18 stack and the 18-and-over stack for Florida, Texas, California and New York, including REAL ID and name changes. Read the guide.

Written by Vikas. Checked against the source above on September 25, 2026. FLHSMV does not run this site and does not endorse it.