US DMV permit tests · Learn · 2 November 2026 · 6 min read
Failed the permit test? Retake waits, fees and attempt limits by state
Failed your DMV permit test? How long you wait to retake it, retest fees and attempt limits in 30 states from official pages, and a plan to pass next time.
Failing the permit test is common, and it is not the end of anything. Missouri's Driver Guide notes that almost 50 percent of test-takers fail the first time. In most states you can try again within days, sometimes the very next day. What changes from state to state is how long you wait, whether you pay again, and how many tries you get before you must start over.
This guide sets out the retake rules that official DMV pages and handbooks state, then gives a short plan for passing on the next attempt.
How long you wait
| Wait before a retake | States (official rule) |
|---|---|
| Next day or next business day | Alaska (the following day), Indiana (next business day), Kansas (next working day), Nevada (next day), Oklahoma (at least one day), Pennsylvania (following business day), South Dakota (next working day), Wisconsin (no sooner than the next day) |
| Next day at first, longer after repeat fails | Georgia (next day after a first fail, 7 days after later fails), Maryland (next business day, then at least 7 calendar days after two or more fails), Nebraska (one day between tests 1 to 3, then 7 days for test 4) |
| 3 days | Idaho |
| 7 days | Connecticut, New Jersey, North Carolina, California (for minors, not counting the day of the failure), Hawaii (Honolulu) |
| One week | West Virginia (not twice within one week) |
| 15 days | Virginia, for applicants under 18 (18 and older: once per day) |
| Same day possible | Oregon (office, if resources allow), New Mexico (up to twice a week, even twice the same day), Utah and Wyoming (twice in one day) |
Some states do not publish a waiting period. Washington, for example, says only that there may be a waiting period before you can retest.
Fees for a retake
Many states charge again, so a fail costs money as well as time.
- Connecticut: wait seven days and pay $40 again.
- Colorado: an $11.50 state fee for each written retest, on top of any testing fees.
- Nevada: each retest costs $10.
- Oklahoma: a $4 fee for each failed test, added to the permit fee.
- Kansas: a $1.50 re-exam fee.
- West Virginia: $7.50 per knowledge test attempt.
- Minnesota: after two failed written tests in a row, the third and every later attempt costs $10.
- Idaho: wait three days and pay the test fee again.
Attempt limits
Several states cap the number of tries, either per application, per fee or per year.
- California: 3 attempts, then you reapply.
- Texas: your application stays open for 90 days; after 90 days or three failed exams you apply again and pay a new fee.
- Illinois: three attempts at each exam within one year of paying the application fee.
- Kansas: four chances; after a fourth failure you wait at least six months from the last failed test.
- South Dakota: three attempts for each fee within six months.
- Utah: the fee covers no more than three attempts within 12 months.
- Wisconsin: five tries at the same test in one year; after five failures you need special permission from DMV staff.
- Virginia: after three failures at any age, you complete the classroom part of a Virginia-approved driver training program before testing again.
Rules about cheating
States treat cheating as a failure with a longer wait. Illinois bars a retake for 30 days, Oregon for 90 days, and Mississippi may bar you for 6 months. South Dakota's manual sets at least two weeks. Illinois adds that taking any part of the exam for someone else is a criminal offense. Leave your phone in the car or locker.
Retaking only the part you failed
Where a state splits the test, a fail may cost only one part. Georgia says you retake only the part you failed, Road Rules or Road Signs. In Virginia, you must pass the sign part before the general knowledge part is given at all. See states with a separate road signs test.
Why people fail
The official pages do not list reasons, but the test format points to the usual traps:
- Thin margins. On a 20-question test with a 16 pass mark, five mistakes is a fail.
- Numbers. Distances, speeds, blood alcohol limits, fines and permit rules from your own state's handbook.
- Look-alike signs. Turn and curve, merge and lane ends. Our hardest road signs guide covers them.
- The wrong handbook. Rules vary by state. Idaho's handbook even warns that web-based practice tests do not accurately represent its test, apart from the state's own sample questions.
- Reading too fast. Words such as "not", "always" and "except" change the answer.
A plan for the next attempt
Start by rebuilding your own picture of your weak spots.
- Write down what you remember straight after the test: the topics that felt uncertain, any signs you did not know.
- Take a full practice test in your state's format the same day or the next, and note every wrong answer. Start on the DMV hub and open your state.
- Go back to the handbook chapter behind each wrong answer. Our state pages split the handbook into chapters, for example New York intersections and turns or Pennsylvania signals, signs and pavement markings.
- Drill signs separately with the road signs practice tests.
- Book the retake only when you score well above the bar on two or three different practice tests in a row. If your state needs 80 percent, aim for 90.
- Use the wait. A seven-day wait is time for a short study plan such as our two-week permit test study plan, compressed.
How to use this
Find your state in the tables above, then open your state page for the full rule and its source. If your state is not listed here, its official pages either set no waiting period or we have not found one; check the state's own site before you rebook. For pass marks, see DMV permit test pass marks by state.
Sources: official DMV, MVD, BMV, MVA and Department of Public Safety pages and driver handbooks for each state named, as linked in the facts box on each Fable Tests state page, including the Missouri Driver Guide (revised August 2026), California Driver's Handbook, Texas Driver Handbook, Illinois Rules of the Road 2026, Kansas Driving Handbook and Virginia DMV knowledge exam page; checked 1 November 2026.