Theory Test

When can I take the theory test?

You can take the theory test from your:

  • 16th birthday onwards if you’re learning to ride a moped (no more than 50cc)

  • 17th birthday onwards if you’re learning to ride a motorcycle

You can take the theory test before or after you’ve taken compulsory basic training (CBT).

Who needs to take the theory test

You usually need to have passed a motorcycle theory test before you take your motorcycle test. Find out which motorcycles you can ride and which tests you need to take. You do not need to take the theory test if you passed a moped test after 1 July 1996 and want to either:

  • take the motorcycle test on a category A1 small motorcycle

  • upgrade your motorcycle licence under the ‘progressive access’ (also known as ‘staged access’) rules

If you have a car licence

You have to pass a motorcycle theory test before taking the motorcycle test.

Rebook your test

Rebook your theory test if you failed your test and want to resit it. You have to choose a date at least 3 working days away.

Theory test revision and practice

You can use books and software to revise for the theory test and take practice tests.

Multiple-choice questions

The questions in the theory test are based on 3 books:

Study these to learn the rules and skills you’ll be tested on.

You can buy them from most high street and online book shops.

You have 57 minutes to answer 50 multiple-choice questions.

Before the test starts you’ll get:

  • instructions on how the test works

  • the chance to do some practice questions to get used to the screens

How the test works

A question and several possible answers appear on a screen. You have to select the right answer.

Some questions are given as a case study. The case study will:

  • show a short story that 5 questions will be based on

  • be about a real life situation you could come across when driving

Leaving a question

You can ‘flag’ questions that you want to come back to later.

Changing your answers

You can go back to any question to review and change your answer at any point.

When you’ve finished

You can finish the multiple-choice questions part when you’ve answered all of the questions. You do not have to use the full 57 minutes.

You can have a break of up to 3 minutes before the hazard perception test starts.

Take a practice test

Take a practice theory test to check how much you’ve learnt.

The practice questions are not used in the real test, but they’re based on the same topics as the test.

Hazard perception part

Buy the official guide to hazard perception for your PC or Mac to learn hazard perception skills and then test them.

You can buy it from most high street and online book shops.

Hazard perception test

Before you start the hazard perception test, you’ll be shown a video about how it works.

You’ll then watch 14 video clips. The clips:

  • feature everyday road scenes

  • contain at least one ‘developing hazard’ – but one of the clips features 2 developing hazards

You get points for spotting the developing hazards as soon as they start to happen.

What a ‘developing hazard’ is

A developing hazard is something that would cause you to take action, like changing speed or direction.

Example

A car is parked at the side of the road and is not doing anything. It would not cause you to take action, so it’s not a developing hazard.

When you get closer, the car’s right-hand indicator starts to flash and it starts to move away. You’d need to slow down, so it’s now a developing hazard.

How the scoring works

You can score up to 5 points for each developing hazard.

To get a high score, click the mouse as soon as you see the hazard starting to develop.

You do not lose points if you click and get it wrong. However, you will not score anything if you click continuously or in a pattern.

You only get one attempt at each clip. You cannot review or change your responses.

Pass mark and test result

You get the result at the test centre after taking the theory test. You need to pass both parts to pass the test.