Can you take the permit test online in Florida, Texas, California, or New York?
Written by Vikas. Figures last confirmed 2026-09-25.
There is no national permit test, so the answer depends on the state. Florida lets applicants under 18 take the Class E knowledge exam online through an approved third party. New York also offers an online permit test to applicants under 18, but requires three business days to review the results and identity documents before the office visit. California closed its test to new applicants in January 2025. Texas DPS runs no at-home exam of its own.
| State | Online knowledge test | Who is in | Who is out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | Yes, under 18 only | Class E learner-license applicants under 18, through an FLHSMV-approved third-party administrator. Florida Statutes s. 322.56(8) sets up online testing. The Class E page and the administrator agreement set the age line. | Anyone 18 or older, who tests at a service center, a tax collector office, or a third party's proctored room. |
| Texas | No DPS at-home exam | Students of a licensed in-person or online driver education provider, which may give them the vision, sign, and traffic-law parts. Parent-taught providers give the sign and law parts only. Texas Transportation Code s. 521.1655. | Anyone who wants a webcam exam run by DPS. With no exam from a course, you test at a driver license office. |
| California | Not for a first license since January 3, 2025 | No new driver's license applicant. From 2022 until then, invited Class C and Class M applicants could use the Virtual Test Center: adults first, then under-18 applicants and new residents from September 2023. | Every original applicant since the January 2025 notice. Renewals are pointed to eLearning, a course rather than the permit test. |
| New York | Yes, under 18 only, with office follow-up | Applicants under 18 can start through the DMV interactive pre-screening tool. After passing online, they book an office visit. | Applicants 18 and older take the test at a DMV office. The separate OKTA route is for students at participating high schools. |
Florida: Class E knowledge exam page, s. 322.56 and the Third-Party Administrator Knowledge Agreement. Texas: teen learner page, apply page, and Transportation Code s. 521.1655. California: OLIN 2023-09, the DMV news release of December 28, 2023, and the January 2025 notice on the Online Learning page (archived). New York: Prepare For and Take Your Permit Test and Driver's Manual Chapter 1. Checked September 25, 2026.
Adults do not get the at-home route in Florida. Minors do. FLHSMV's Class E page and its administrator agreement limit online exams to applicants under 18, and s. 322.56(8) ties them to Class E learner licenses. The webcam, weekday hours, and two-attempt cap that circulate online describe California's test, which has been closed to new applicants since January 3, 2025.
Who can take the knowledge test online in each state?
Florida: under 18, and not on an FLHSMV website
Florida Statutes s. 322.56(8) has FLHSMV contract with approved online traffic law and substance abuse course providers to give Class E learner-license applicants their exams online, and s. 322.56(2) requires any third-party test to be the same test the state gives. The Class E page fills in the rest: 50 multiple-choice questions, 40 correct to pass, English only, and online only for applicants under 18 through approved administrators. The Parent Proctoring Form must be notarized or signed in front of a driver license examiner, and a pass reaches FLHSMV electronically. Section 322.12(3)(a) requires at least 25 questions in the bank, not 25 of your 50, to cover bicycle and pedestrian safety.
Every Florida route uses the same engine. FLHSMV's Third Party Administrator Program page says driver license offices, tax collector offices, and contracted third parties all use the Automated Driver License Testing System (ADLTS), which builds a timed 60 minute, 50 question test at random from a bank of about 800 questions. The administrator agreement (rev. 7/15/2022) adds that online, any question still unanswered at 60 minutes is marked incorrect.
Texas: a school may give the exam. DPS will not proctor you at home
The teen learner page asks for evidence that you passed the knowledge exam during driver education, and says that if you did not, you take it at the driver license office. Texas Transportation Code s. 521.1655 lets a licensed in-person or online provider give its own student the vision, highway sign, and traffic law parts, and a parent-taught provider the sign and law parts only. A DPS notice dated June 16, 2022 says driver education schools get the Class C knowledge exams from DPS by email as PDFs, in English or in English and Spanish, for the school's sole use.
Finishing a course's hours is not the same as passing its exam. DPS's course page says you may start the classroom phase at 14 but cannot apply for a learner license until 15. Under the concurrent method you take the first 6 classroom hours, pass the written exam, and finish the other 18 hours while you practice. Under the block method you finish all 24 hours first. DL-7 requires driver education of everyone under 25, and says certain courses remove the Class C knowledge exam from your office visit.
California: open from 2022, closed to new applicants in January 2025
OLIN 2023-09, a DMV industry notice, says the Virtual Test Center opened in February 2022 for original and renewal noncommercial Class C and Class M applicants, who could take knowledge tests on a personal computer or laptop before the office visit. On September 15, 2023 it opened to provisional original applicants, which is the under-18 path. The test ran through MVProctor, an automated remote proctoring tool, inside the online eDL 44 application.
Then DMV shut it for first licenses. A notice posted on its Online Learning page in January 2025 ended online knowledge testing for new driver's license applicants from January 3, 2025, told them to choose the in-office option in the Virtual Test Center step, and sent anyone who had paid online but not yet tested to an office. It gave no reason. The page now describes only eLearning, the renewal course, and none of the DMV pages checked on September 25, 2026 offers a first-time applicant a home test. The December 28, 2023 release, which set out the webcam, the 35 languages, the 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekday window, and two online attempts before an office try, carries no note about the change.
New York: online for under 18, then allow time for review
New York keeps an online route for permit applicants under 18, starting with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles interactive pre-screening tool. Passing online does not finish the application. DMV needs three business days to review the exam result and identity documents, so going to the office sooner means taking and passing the test there. Applicants 18 and older take the written test at a DMV office. A separate school option, the Online Knowledge Test Application, is available to students at least 15 years and 11 months at participating high schools. Neither route is the online Pre-Licensing Course, a 5-hour course for applicants 18 and older who already hold a learner permit.
- Feb 2022Computer option opens
Original and renewal Class C and Class M, before the office visit. DMV later described this phase as for applicants over 18.
- Sep 15, 2023Minors added
Provisional original applicants. Emancipated minors stayed out. New residents who need a test were added that month too.
- Dec 28, 2023Volume that year
More than 537,000 online tests and nearly 200,000 eLearning courses.
- Jun 25, 2024Rules restated
35 languages, a webcam computer, weekday hours, an identity check and monitoring.
- Sep 30, 2024Who still tests
First-time drivers and new residents still take a knowledge test.
- Jan 3, 2025Closed to new applicants
The Online Learning notice sends new driver's license applicants to a field office for the knowledge test.
Who is shut out of the online test?
In Florida, anyone 18 or older. FLHSMV may waive the knowledge, endorsement, and skills tests for someone who surrenders a valid license from another state, a Canadian province, or the U.S. Armed Forces and applies for an equal or lower class, but s. 322.12(1) says "may", so it is not automatic. The monitoring adult must meet s. 322.09, and the administrator agreement asks for a valid Florida driver license number. In California, every new driver's license applicant has been shut out since January 3, 2025; even while the test ran, emancipated minors and applications already started at a field office were excluded. In Texas, DL-7 drops the knowledge and driving exams for an applicant 18 or older who surrenders a valid out-of-state license, and DPS's moving page says a minor transferring a U.S., territorial, or Canadian license skips the knowledge exam but still takes the skills exam.
Joaquin can test at the kitchen table. His sister cannot.
- 1Joaquin Soto was born on June 4, 2010. On Monday, September 28, 2026 he is 16 and lives in Miami, so the Class E page lets him take the 50 question exam online through an approved third-party administrator.
- 2His mother, Marisol, meets s. 322.09. Before the exam she enters her valid Florida driver license number and certifies that he will be monitored and not assisted. Joaquin answers personal security questions before the exam and again during it, as s. 322.56(8)(a) requires.
- 3He has 60 minutes, which is 72 seconds a question if he spreads the hour evenly. He needs 40 correct, so an 11th miss fails him, and a question still blank at 60 minutes counts as a miss.
- 4His sister Lucia was born on August 11, 2007 and turned 19 on August 11, 2026. The online route is closed to her. She takes the same 50 question exam at a service center, a tax collector office, or a third party's proctored room.
Outcome. If Joaquin passes, the electronic record is the official one under s. 322.56(8)(b), and Marisol still has to certify to FLHSMV on form HSMV 71144 that she watched him before a learner license is issued. He can be picked at random for a no-fee re-test. If he fails, each later knowledge test costs $10 under s. 322.12(1). FLHSMV publishes no waiting period, but the administrator agreement allows three tests through third parties in total, so a fourth attempt would be at a service center or tax collector office.
How is the online test watched, and what ends a session?
In Florida, s. 322.56(8)(a) requires personal questions before the exam that the applicant answers again during it. Before the start, the s. 322.09 adult gives a driver license number and certifies they will watch. Before the learner license is issued, that adult certifies they did watch. FLHSMV publishes no webcam rule.
That second certification is form HSMV 71144 (Rev 03/15). The parent or legal guardian swears they were present and that the minor answered with no other materials and no help from anyone, the parent included, and every signature is notarized or witnessed by an examiner. The required-forms page says the form is due when the minor took the Class E exam online through a third party.
Section 322.12(3)(b) makes anyone who cheated on, or otherwise got around, any part of the exam retake it. The administrator agreement adds three controls: a warning that false statements about the exam are fraud that can bring license cancellation for 1 year, a limit of 3 different applicants per computer IP address and 3 exam transactions per credit card in any 24 hours, and a total of three third-party tests before you move to an office. A provider that breaks the electronic filing rule in s. 322.56(8)(b) loses online testing for at least 1 year.
While California's webcam test ran, it required an identity check and agreement to be monitored for the whole exam, and DMV never published a list of on-camera behavior that ended a session. The office test that replaced it for first licenses runs under the handbook, which bans testing aids during knowledge tests and names the handbook and a cell phone. Texas has no remote session run by DPS, and the PDF exams DPS sends schools are for that school's use only.
What equipment and identity checks come first?
California's computer-and-webcam requirement went with its at-home test, and Florida publishes no camera or equipment rule for its online route. New York's under-18 route has no published device requirements. After an online pass, allow three business days for DMV to review the exam result and identity documents before the office visit. Applicants 18 and older test at a DMV office.
- Confirm you qualify
Florida and New York online: under 18 only. California: no home test for a first license since January 3, 2025. Texas: no DPS home exam.
- New York office review
After passing New York's online test under 18, leave three business days for DMV to review results and identity documents before the office appointment.
- California office timing
Book a field office slot and start the knowledge test before 4:30 p.m.
- California documents and fee
Identity and residency documents, the $46 application fee paid before the test, and under 18 a parent or guardian signature and your driver education certificate.
- Florida monitor
The s. 322.09 adult, a valid Florida driver license number, and an electronic certification that the applicant will be monitored and not assisted. Personal questions before the exam and again during it.
- Clear the table
Florida's form forbids other materials and any helper, including the parent. California's handbook forbids the handbook and a cell phone during knowledge tests.
- Know the mark before you start
Florida: 40 of 50 in 60 minutes, and online a blank counts as a miss. Texas, if a school gives the exam: 70 percent, no published length. California: 80 percent, no published length. New York: 20 questions, 14 correct, including at least 2 of 4 road-sign questions.
What happens after you pass online?
- 1Florida files the score
A pass through a registered administrator goes to FLHSMV automatically and shows at driver license offices, and s. 322.56(8)(b) makes that electronic record the official documentation. Before the learner license is issued, the parent still signs HSMV 71144 in front of a notary or an examiner.
- 2Florida can call you back
Section 322.56(3) lets the department audit without notice and test a random sample of drivers a third party approved. The Class E page says a third-party pass may be picked for a no-fee mandatory re-test without prior notice, and a failed re-test means a re-exam fee at the next attempt.
- 3California puts the test back in the office
OLIN 2023-09 listed what stayed at the counter even when the test was taken at home: identity and residency documents, any driver education or training certificate, a photo, a thumbprint, a vision screening, and issuing the permit. Since January 3, 2025 a first-time applicant also sits the knowledge test in that same visit.
- 4Texas: bring the school's proof
If a provider gave you the exam, the teen page wants that evidence plus the classroom certificate: DE-964 or DEE-964, or DE-964E from a public school. The office still takes the application, documents, photo, fee, and vision exam. With no evidence, the exam happens at that counter.
Aisha expected a webcam test and got an office appointment
- 1Aisha Rahman was born on March 2, 2009. On Tuesday, September 29, 2026 she is 17 and applying for a provisional Class C instruction permit on the eDL 44. A video she watched shows a webcam test, but DMV closed that route to new applicants on January 3, 2025, so she books a field office.
- 2Her father, Tariq, signs as her parent, and the $46 Class C application fee is paid before the test. The Learner's Permits page says 80 percent passes and does not say how many questions she will see.
- 3She starts the test at 10 a.m., well before the 4:30 p.m. cutoff, with her documents and driver education certificate in hand and her phone and the handbook left in the car.
- 4She passes, and the photo, thumbprint, and vision screening happen in the same visit. Nothing about the test was done at home.
Outcome. Had she failed on September 29, the minor wait of seven days, not counting the failure day, runs through October 6, so Wednesday, October 7, 2026 is the first date every reading allows. That retry is an office sitting too, and so is a third, no earlier than Thursday, October 15 after a second failure. A third failure means she must reapply.
What happens if you fail, and when do you have to go in?
In California the handbook allows three knowledge attempts before you reapply, and minors wait seven days, not counting the failure day. For a first license all three are office sittings now. The two-online-then-office pattern in the December 2023 release described the route DMV closed on January 3, 2025.
eLearning is not a first permit. On September 25, 2026 the Online Learning page describes it as a pass-only, unmonitored course of seven short sections, about 20 to 30 minutes, open only to eligible noncommercial Class C renewals, and it lists original applicants among those who do not qualify. Two DMV news releases said about 45 minutes, so go by the current page. The September 30, 2024 release confirms that first-time drivers and new residents still take a knowledge test.
Florida charges for a miss but sets no waiting period. Section 322.12(1) sets $10 for each knowledge test after a failed first one and $20 for each skills test after a failed first one. When a tax collector gives the retest, it keeps the fee less the general revenue service charge in s. 215.20(1). Under s. 322.12(2), passing the driving exam costs nothing extra if you hold a learner license. The statute sets no cap on knowledge attempts. The only cap is the administrator agreement's three third-party tests, and after that you keep testing at an office.
In Texas, DL-7 Chapter 1 says you pay before any exam. If you do not pass on the first attempt, the application is held 90 days, and after 90 days or three failed exams you need a new application and fee. Transportation Code s. 521.161(d) sets the same three examinations per application. The pass mark is 70 percent, and DPS does not say how many questions that is.
What does the office route look like when online is closed?
A Florida adult, or a minor who skips the online route, takes the same 50 question exam, drawn at random by the same ADLTS system, at a service center, a tax collector office, or a third party's proctored room, and still needs 40. An unmarried applicant under 18 needs a parent or legal guardian to sign the application in front of the examiner or a notary. Section 322.12(3)(a) also requires vision and hearing tests and, later, a driving test. Use FLHSMV's own identity document list. This guide does not restate it.
California's office test is now the only route to a first permit. The Learner's Permits page lists the same visit for both age groups: documents, fee, vision, photo, and the knowledge test, started before 4:30 p.m. Over 18 there is no driver education certificate and no parent signature.
Texas starts at the office, by appointment. Bring a parent or legal guardian, or the application notarized with their signature, plus the classroom certificate and a high school diploma, GED, or Verification of Enrollment and Attendance (VOE) form. DL-7 says the VOE may be dated no more than 30 days before you apply during the school year, or 90 days in summer. DL-7 lists the learner license for an applicant under 18 at $16 ($15 plus a $1 administrative fee), expiring on the 18th birthday, and the teen page says it must be held at least six months unless you turn 18 first.
Diego takes the written exam at a Houston office
- 1Diego Salinas was born on January 12, 2009. On Thursday, October 1, 2026 he is 17. He has finished the first 6 classroom hours of a concurrent course, which is the point where the written exam and the learner license open up. The other 18 classroom hours come while he practices.
- 2His course did not give him the exam, so the teen page sends him to a driver license office, by appointment. His father comes and signs. His school signed his VOE form on September 21, 2026, 10 days before he applies, inside the 30 days DL-7 allows during the school year.
- 3He pays first, then needs 70 percent. DL-7 does not say how many questions that is, so he cannot count allowed misses in advance. DPS offers no online version he could take instead.
- 4If he passes vision and the knowledge exam, the learner license costs $16 and expires on January 12, 2027, his 18th birthday. That is under four months away, so the six-month hold never binds him: he turns 18 first.
Outcome. If he fails on October 1, the application is held 90 days, and 90 days later is December 30, 2026. After that date, or after three failed exams, he starts over with a new application and fee. There is no online retry. Had he been 22 and surrendering a valid Georgia license, DL-7 would not require the knowledge or driving exam at all.
Can you take the New York permit test online?
Yes, if you are under 18. Start with the DMV interactive pre-screening tool. After you pass, allow three business days for DMV to review your test result and identity documents before going to the office. Applicants 18 and older take the test at a DMV office. Participating high schools also offer the separate OKTA test to eligible students.
What is the New York permit test pass mark?
The New York State Driver's Manual (MV-21) says the test has 20 questions. You need 14 correct, including at least 2 of the 4 road-sign questions. A percentage alone leaves out the separate sign requirement.
Can you take the permit test online in California?
Not for a first license. DMV ran a monitored webcam test from February 2022 and opened it to applicants under 18 on September 15, 2023, but a January 2025 notice closed it to new driver's license applicants from January 3, 2025, and no DMV page checked on September 25, 2026 reopens it. The knowledge test now happens at a field office, started before 4:30 p.m., in the same visit as documents, a photo, a thumbprint, and vision.
Can you take the Florida permit test online at 18 or older?
No. FLHSMV limits online testing to applicants under 18. At 18 or over you take the same 50 question exam in person, at a service center, a tax collector office, or a third party's proctored room, and need 40 correct. FLHSMV may waive the knowledge test if you surrender a valid license from another state, a Canadian province, or the U.S. Armed Forces for an equal or lower class, but the statute says "may", so do not skip the office assuming a waiver.
Can you take the permit test online in Texas?
Not as a DPS exam at home. You take it through driver education or at a driver license office. A licensed in-person or online provider may give its own student the vision, sign, and traffic-law parts, and DPS sends schools the Class C exams as PDFs for their use only. You need 70 percent. A failure holds the application 90 days, and three failures or the end of that hold means a new application and fee.
Do you need a webcam?
None of these four states publishes a webcam requirement for a first permit now. California's webcam requirement ended with its at-home test for new applicants on January 3, 2025. Florida publishes no camera rule. Its checks are the adult's driver license number, a promise to watch, personal questions repeated during the exam, and form HSMV 71144 afterward. Texas has no DPS home session, and New York publishes no device requirements for its under-18 online test.
Is there a time limit?
Florida's ADLTS test is timed at 60 minutes for 50 questions, and FLHSMV says offices and third parties use that system. Spread evenly, that is 72 seconds each, and online a blank at the end counts as a miss. California publishes no minute limit for its office test, and offices will not start a test after 4:30 p.m. Texas publishes no minute limit, only the 70 percent grade and the 90 day hold.
What happens if you fail the online test?
California no longer gives a first-time applicant an online try: all three attempts on one application are at an office, and minors wait seven days, not counting the failure day. Florida charges $10 for each later knowledge test and sets no wait, and after three tests through third parties you test at an office. Cheating means a retake. Texas has no online try: a failed exam holds the application 90 days, and three failures mean a new application and fee.
Is California eLearning the permit test?
No. eLearning is a pass-only, unmonitored course for eligible noncommercial Class C renewals, and original applicants do not qualify. The current Online Learning page says about 20 to 30 minutes on any device, while two DMV releases said about 45. The permit test is the office knowledge test, now that the webcam exam is closed to new applicants.
Does a pass online mean you skip the office?
No. Florida still wants the parent's HSMV 71144 before it issues the learner license, and it can call you for a no-fee re-test without warning. In California a first-time applicant cannot pass online at all now, and the field office visit covers documents, the test, a photo, a thumbprint, vision, and any driver education certificate. Texas wants an office appointment even after a school exam, because that visit covers the documents, photo, fee, vision exam, and the license itself.
What is the rule in Florida, Texas, California or New York?
Each state’s answer on its own page, with the agency source and the date it was checked.
- Can you take the permit test online in Florida?
- Can you take the permit test online in Texas?
- Can you take the permit test online in California?
- Can you take the permit test online in New York?
Sources
- FLHSMV, Class E Knowledge Exam and Driving Skills Test
- FLHSMV, Third Party Administrator Program (ADLTS, 60 minute, 50 question test)
- FLHSMV Third-Party Administrator Knowledge Agreement (rev. 7/15/2022), Sections IV.D, IV.E and IV.G
- FLHSMV, Required Forms for Teens (HSMV 71142 and 71144)
- FLHSMV form HSMV 71144, Parent Proctoring of On-Line Driver License Testing by a Minor (Rev 03/15)
- Florida Statutes s. 322.56, third-party administrators and online Class E exams
- Florida Statutes s. 322.12, examination contents, retest fees, and cheating
- Florida Statutes s. 322.09, who signs a minor's application
- Texas Driver Handbook, form DL-7 (revised January 2026), Chapter 1
- TxDPS, Texas learner license as a teen (page updated February 27, 2024)
- TxDPS, apply for a Texas driver license
- TxDPS, moving to Texas: driver licenses and IDs
- TxDPS, choosing a driver education course (page updated September 29, 2020)
- TxDPS, Section 23: knowledge tests requested by driver education schools (June 16, 2022)
- Texas Transportation Code chapter 521, including ss. 521.161 and 521.1655
- California DMV, Online Learning (eLearning rules, checked September 25, 2026)
- California DMV, Online Learning page with the January 2025 notice ending online knowledge testing for new applicants from January 3, 2025 (archived January 24, 2025)
- California DMV news release, More Californians Fulfilling DMV Testing Requirement Online (December 28, 2023)
- California DMV news release, no-fail eLearning renewal course in Spanish (June 25, 2024)
- California DMV news release, written knowledge test requirement eliminated for most renewals (September 30, 2024)
- California DMV OLIN 2023-09, Virtual Test Center for provisional applicants, effective September 15, 2023
- California Driver's Handbook, Section 3: The Testing Process
- California DMV, Learner's Permits
- California DMV, Licensing Fees (checked September 25, 2026)
- New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Prepare For and Take Your Permit Test
- New York State Driver's Manual (MV-21), Chapter 1: Driver Licenses
- New York State Driver's Manual and Practice Tests (MV-21)