Theory Test Fees, Booking and What to Bring (2026)

How much the theory test costs

The car theory test costs £23 in Great Britain, booked directly through GOV.UK. Northern Ireland runs its own booking system through nidirect but charges the same £23 fee. You pay by card when you book, and there is no separate fee for hazard perception — it is included in the same booking.

That fee buys you one attempt at the whole test, not one attempt per section. If you pass multiple choice but fail hazard perception, or the other way round, you still have to pay £23 again and sit both sections a second time.

How to book

Book through GOV.UK using your provisional licence number, or through nidirect if you are testing in Northern Ireland. You choose a test centre and time slot directly online — earlier morning slots and smaller town centres tend to have shorter waits than busy city-centre locations.

If your instructor thinks you are close but not quite ready, it is often worth booking a provisional date anyway and rescheduling if needed. Slots at popular centres can book out weeks in advance, so waiting until you feel perfectly ready can cost you time later.

Once you are logged in to book, GOV.UK also lets you change or cancel an existing appointment — worth knowing if your lessons run ahead of or behind schedule, so check the current rules on notice periods there rather than assuming you can move a booking at the last minute.

The exact pass mark and format

You are marked on two sections in the same sitting: 50 multiple-choice questions from The Highway Code, needing 43 correct (86%) to pass, and a hazard perception section of video clips where you score points for spotting developing hazards early. You must pass both sections to pass overall — a strong multiple-choice score does not carry a weak hazard perception score, or the other way round.

This is worth planning around, not just knowing in the abstract. If your mock scores show you comfortably clearing 43/50 but you have barely practised hazard perception, you are not actually ready yet — the booking fee does not care which half let you down.

Treat the two sections as two separate readiness checks rather than one combined feeling of "I think I am ready." Run a full multiple-choice mock and a set of hazard perception clips separately in the days before your test, and only book once both are consistently solid on their own.

What to bring on the day

Bring valid photo ID that matches the name you booked under. GOV.UK sets out exactly which documents are accepted, and what to do if you do not hold a photocard licence, so confirm your ID is acceptable a few days ahead rather than the morning of your test.

Arrive at the centre with time to spare. Test centres run back-to-back appointments, and arriving late can mean losing both your slot and your fee.

Once you pass, keep your pass certificate details somewhere safe — you will need them later when you come to book your practical driving test.

If you don't pass

GOV.UK requires a minimum of three working days before you can book a resit, and nidirect applies the same three-clear-working-day rule in Northern Ireland. You pay the fee again in full — there is no discounted retake rate — so it is worth using the wait productively rather than booking on autopilot.

Use those three days deliberately: revisit your mock exam results, isolate whichever category or section actually let you down, and drill that specifically rather than repeating the entire question bank from scratch.

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