How to Pass the G1 Test First Try (2026 Guide)

What’s actually on the G1 test

Ontario’s G1 knowledge test is 40 multiple-choice questions split evenly into two sections: 20 on the rules of the road and 20 on road signs, both drawn from the official MTO Driver’s Handbook. You need at least 16 correct in each section — 80% overall — so a strong signs score can’t rescue a weak rules score, or the other way around.

The test is computer-based and you sit it in person at a DriveTest centre, Ontario’s official testing provider, as part of applying for your G1. There’s no separate booking step for the knowledge test itself — you take it the same visit you apply.

The two sections are marked independently, which is the detail most people miss when they hear “80% to pass.” Score 20 out of 20 on signs but only 12 out of 20 on rules of the road, and you fail overall even though your combined average across all 40 questions is exactly 80%. You have to clear 16 of 20 in both halves, not just average across the whole test.

Where most people lose marks

Two areas cause most fails. Road signs trip people up because the test checks shape and colour meaning, not just vague recognition — a yellow diamond with a curve arrow, a black-and-yellow checkerboard, and a chevron marker all mean different things, and the handbook expects you to tell them apart instantly. The other weak spot is right-of-way at uncontrolled intersections and all-way stops, where the rule sounds simple — yield to the vehicle on your right, or whoever stopped first goes first — until the question adds a third car and asks for the exact order.

A smaller but common trap is anything with an exact number attached. Stop at least 20 metres behind a school bus with its red lights flashing. Dim your high beams within 150 metres of an oncoming vehicle, and within 60 metres of a vehicle you’re following. Stay back at least 150 metres from a fire vehicle responding to a call. The handbook states these as precise figures, and the test asks for them precisely — “a safe distance” is never one of the answer options.

Traffic light questions are a third weak spot, because they test a judgment call rather than a fact you can memorize outright. A flashing green light, or a left-pointing green arrow, means you may turn left before oncoming traffic is released, or go straight or turn right — treated very differently from a plain steady green. An amber light means stop if you can do so safely, and proceed with caution only if you’re already too close to stop — it’s neither a green light nor an automatic stop, and the test likes to offer both of those as tempting wrong answers.

A study plan that actually works

Give yourself three to five days of short, focused sessions rather than one long cram. Work through the signs category until you can name a sign from its shape alone — the wrong answers are usually more similar to the right one than you’d expect — then do the same for right-of-way and speed questions.

Once both sections feel solid, switch to full 40-question mock exams timed like the real thing. Don’t book your DriveTest appointment until you’re passing three mocks in a row at 80% or higher — comfortably above the mark, not scraping it on a good day.

Read the explanation attached to every practice question, not just the correct letter. The reasoning behind a rule — why the vehicle on the right goes first at an uncontrolled intersection, why your braking distance roughly quadruples when you double your speed — sticks far better under exam pressure than a memorized answer position, and it’s what lets you work out an unfamiliar phrasing of a familiar rule instead of freezing on test day.

Test day at DriveTest

Bring acceptable identification and be ready to pay the G1 application fee, which bundles your first knowledge test attempt into the package. The test itself is multiple choice on a computer, and you get your result immediately — no waiting days for a letter.

If you don’t pass, you can retry for a small per-attempt fee with no mandatory waiting period. That’s frustrating if you walk in underprepared, but useful once you’ve actually closed the gap in your weak section and just need one more run at it.

Book your appointment online through DriveTest before you go rather than relying on a walk-in slot. Centres in busier cities can fill up days in advance, and showing up without a confirmed appointment risks a wasted trip.

The moment you pass: what changes

Passing the knowledge test gets you your G1 licence on the spot, and the novice-driver rules start immediately: zero blood alcohol, no driving between midnight and 5 a.m., and no 400-series highways or high-speed expressways unless a certified driving instructor is in the car with you.

You’ll also need a fully licensed driver with at least four years of experience in the passenger seat every time you drive, and as many passengers as you have working seatbelts — never more. None of this is a grace-period suggestion; it’s the law from the moment you walk out of DriveTest with a pass.

This is also the moment your graduated licensing clock starts. You’ll hold G1 for at least 12 months — 8 months if you complete an approved driver education course — before you’re even eligible to book your G2 road test. Our full guide to the G1, G2 and G stages covers exactly what each level allows and how the 5-year completion deadline works.

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