RESEARCH STATUSEvery figure on this site is at research status. No reviewer has signed one off, and the national schedule was transcribed by eye from page scans.

The driver's licence theory exam

The 2017 Act that governs this exam, and the 2019 rules written under it, both require LTO to test a candidate's competency. Neither one says how many questions, what the pass mark is, or how long you get — and that is not one document's gap, it is two.

Before you look for a number

Two instruments say the same thing, and neither gives you one

The 2017 Act that created this exam tells LTO to test whether a candidate is competent. Its own 2019 implementing rules repeat that instruction almost word for word. Neither one states a question count, a pass mark, or how long you get to answer — and this is not a case of one document being silent where another might fill in the gap. Both are silent, on the same point, independently.

What this covers

The written exam, for either riding or driving

Both the non-professional and the professional routes to a motorcycle, car or light-vehicle licence sit the same written exam.

Three things a candidate would reasonably want to know before sitting this exam are not answered by any instrument this research reached: how many questions the paper carries, how many you need right to pass, and how much time you are given. The same silence extends to what happens after: neither instrument sets a waiting period before a retake, or a limit on how many times you may attempt it.

That is a genuine finding, not a research shortfall this site is working around. LTO’s own site returns a security check to every method this research could use to reach it, and no archived copy of an operative LTO exam page turned up either — so the authority that might publish these numbers outside the law could not be reached, on top of the law itself not stating them.

SourceSTATUTERepublic Act 10930 (2017), amending Republic Act 4136 s.23, s. 3, adding s. 23-A · IRR of Republic Act 10930 (DOTr, 25 April 2019), Rule III, s. 8Source last read 18 August 2026 — a read date, not a sign-off.

A different, narrower question

How long does a pass stay valid?

This one was not run down as thoroughly as the finding above, and it is presented differently on purpose.

UNRESOLVED

Whether a passed written exam expires before you sit the road test

The exam-structure finding above was checked against both the amending Act and its own implementing rules and came back silent on both. Whether a passing result has a shelf life before you must sit the road test was not confirmed with the same thoroughness, so it stays an open item here rather than joining the confirmed silence above — the honest difference between “checked, and it is not there” and “not yet fully checked”.

Republic Act 10930 (2017), amending Republic Act 4136 s.23, s. 3, adding s. 23-A

The road test that follows this exam is covered on its own page, along with the training you need to complete before sitting either — the practical driving exam. For the licence classes this exam gates and what a licence costs, see licence classes, ages and fees.