Getting your Ohio permit

Who can apply, and when

You can take the knowledge test and the vision screening from the day you turn 15 years and 6 months. There is no upper age: adults who have never held a license start the same way. The permit is what lets you practice on real roads with a supervising adult, and you need it for every driving lesson and for the road test.

If you are 18, 19 or 20, read the under-21 law as well: since September 30, 2025, drivers in that age group complete the same course and the same practice hours as teens before the road test. If you hold a limited term (non-renewable) permit, the same course and hours apply at any age.

Study first

The test covers motor vehicle regulations and traffic signs. The State of Ohio publishes the study material for free: the Ohio Driver Manual (the Digest of Ohio Motor Vehicle Laws), section by section, and the BMV sample knowledge test, which shows how the questions are asked. Read the manual once end to end, then once more with a notebook for the numbers: speed limits, distances, ages and hours.

Our free Ohio permit practice test is written in our own words and links the official page behind each answer. It is a warm-up, not the BMV's test.

The knowledge test: 40 questions, 75 percent to pass

The knowledge test is 40 multiple-choice questions about motor vehicle regulations and traffic signs. You need 75 percent correct to pass, which is 30 of the 40. You also pass a vision screening; if you wear glasses or contacts, bring them.

You can take the test online through BMV Online Services from a computer with a webcam, or in person at any driver exam station and at select deputy registrar agencies. Online testers younger than 19 need a supervising adult present who passes the BMV's identity check.

The test is offered in nine languages, in text and audio: English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Japanese, Russian and Somali, plus American Sign Language on video. For another language you can schedule a proctored test with your own interpreter at a driver exam station.

If you fail, you wait at least 24 hours before trying again. In person there is no limit on attempts, one per day. Online you get two attempts in any six-month period, so if the first online try goes wrong, the next one is best taken in person.

What to bring

For the test itself you prove three things: your full legal name, your date of birth and your Social Security number, if you have one. To buy the permit at a deputy registrar you also prove Ohio residency and citizenship or legal presence. The BMV's acceptable documents page lists what counts and has a short interactive checklist, so you do not make the trip twice.

Buy the permit within 60 days of passing the test. After 60 days the pass expires and you start over with the vision screening and the knowledge test. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian comes with you to co-sign the application and shows their own license or ID card. An Ohio ID card, if you have one, is surrendered when the permit is issued: a resident holds one license or ID card at a time.

The rules once you have a permit

The permit is not a license. It lets you drive with a supervising adult beside you, and the rules depend on your age.

• Carry the permit every time you drive.
• Under 16: a parent, guardian, custodian or licensed driving instructor sits in the front passenger seat (or an adult 21 or older who acts in the place of a parent).
• 16 and 17: any licensed driver 21 or older can sit beside you, except from midnight to 6 a.m., when it must be a parent, guardian or custodian (or a licensed driver 21 or older named on a notarized BMV 2438 form).
• 18 and older: a licensed driver 21 or older sits beside you.
• Everyone wears a seat belt, the adult beside you is sober, and you do not use a phone or any other mobile device while driving.

A driving lesson with us is supervised driving too: the licensed instructor is the adult in the passenger seat.

What comes next

Under 21, the permit comes with the Class D driver training course: 24 hours of classroom or online instruction and 8 hours behind the wheel with a licensed instructor, then 50 hours of supervised practice, at least 10 of them at night, logged on the 50-hour affidavit. Under 18 you also hold the permit for at least six months before the road test; at 18 to 20 there is no six-month wait.

Our teen drivers ed and under-21 drivers ed programs are that course. We pick you up for the driving hours from home, work or school (with a parent's OK) in our pickup areas, and we confirm the address when you book; the 24-hour class is online and self-paced. When the hours are done, the road test guide takes it from there.