Every answer below is drawn from the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996, the National Road Traffic Regulations made under it, or the Department of Transport's own learner-driver manuals — and where none of those publishes an answer, the answer says so instead of guessing.
Each one links to the page that goes into it properly.
The numbers people look up most
- Minimum age
- 16 · 17 · 18By vehicle class — Code 1, Code 2, Code 3
- Learner's licence codes
- Three: Code 1, Code 2, Code 3
- Driving licence codes
- Eight: A1, A, B, C1, C, EB, EC1, EC
- Areas tested
- Three, each passed separately
- Photographs
- Two identical, 40 mm by 30 mm
- Licence issued
- On form LL2, within 2 working days
- Valid for
- 24 months from the date of the test
- Renewals
- None — a learner's licence cannot be renewed or extended
Applying and eligibility
What is a learner's licence?
A provisional licence to drive, in the words of section 13 of the National Road Traffic Act. It authorises you to drive on a public road while you learn, subject to the conditions in regulation 99(2) — chiefly that you are supervised. You must hold one before you may be tested for a driving licence.
What age can I get a learner's licence in South Africa?
16 for a Code 1 motorcycle licence, 17 for a Code 2 light motor vehicle licence, and 18 for a Code 3. Section 15(1)(a) of the Act ties the age to the class of vehicle, and there is a trap in it: a motorcycle over 125 cubic centimetres falls into "any other licence", so the age for that is 18.
Which learner's licence code do I need?
Code 2 for an ordinary car or bakkie, Code 1 for a motorcycle or motor tricycle, Code 3 for anything heavier than 3 500 kg. There is no "Code B" learner's licence — B is a driving licence code, and the two systems are set out in different sub-regulations of regulation 99.
What documents do I need for a learner's licence?
A completed form LL1, two identical photographs 40 mm by 30 mm, and acceptable identification, which is a defined term rather than any ID. Applicants aged 65 or older also bring a medical certificate on form MC. The government's own service page additionally asks for proof of address, which regulation 103 does not require.
Do I need a medical certificate?
Only if you are 65 or older. Regulation 103(1)(c) attaches that requirement to those applicants and to nobody else, so a general medical is not part of a learner's licence application.
Can I apply for a learner's licence online?
The application itself is made in person: section 17(1) of the Act says a person desiring a learner's licence shall in person apply at an appropriately graded driving licence testing centre. What some provinces let you do online is book the date.
Does a health condition disqualify me?
Section 15(1)(f) lists the conditions, and most of them turn on the word uncontrolled — uncontrolled epilepsy, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus — rather than on the diagnosis. The section ends with an express proviso that deafness is not of itself a disqualifying defect.
The test
What does the learner's test cover?
Three areas, set by regulation 104(2)(a): the rules of the road, the road traffic signs, and the controls of a motor vehicle of the class you applied for. The examiner must be satisfied on all three before a licence is issued.
How many questions are in the learner's test, and what is the pass mark?
No official source publishes either. Regulation 104 names the three areas and the form and stops; neither the Act nor the three Department of Transport manuals states a count or a mark. The current computerised test presents 64 questions, which is an observation of the terminal rather than a published figure.
Is the learner's test written or on a computer?
Either is lawful. Regulation 104(3) names the approved paper "Theory Test for Learner's Licence" on form TLL, or the successful completion of an approved Learner's Licence Electronic Test. Most centres now use the electronic version.
Are road markings on the learner's test?
Yes, and they sit inside the road signs area rather than forming a fourth section. That is why learners who drill the sign chart and skip the painted lines lose marks in a section they thought they had covered.
Does the test change depending on my licence code?
Only one section of it. Regulation 104(2)(a)(iii) ties the vehicle controls questions to the class you applied for, so a motorcycle, car and heavy-vehicle applicant are asked about different controls. The rules and signs sections are the same for everybody.
What happens on the day of the test?
You report at the day and time the centre determined, your eyesight is checked against the regulation 102 standard, the examiner confirms you are not disqualified, and you write the test. If you pass, regulation 105(1) has the licence issued on form LL2 within two working days.
Can I take the test orally?
Only in one situation. Regulation 104(4) permits an oral test where the applicant is illiterate, and only after that person has obtained the permission of the MEC.
Driving on a learner's licence
Can I drive alone with a learner's licence?
Only on a motorcycle, or in a vehicle with no seating accommodation for a passenger. In anything else regulation 99(2)(a) requires you to be accompanied by, and under the direct personal supervision of, a licensed person in or on the vehicle with you.
Who is allowed to supervise a learner driver, and where do they sit?
Someone holding a licence other than a learner's or similar licence, which authorises them to drive that class of vehicle. They sit next to you — or immediately behind you, but only where they cannot be seated next to you, which is a fallback for vehicles with no seat alongside the driver.
Can a motorcycle learner carry a passenger?
No. Regulation 99(2)(b) says a learner's licence in respect of a motor cycle does not authorise the holder to ride on a public road while carrying another person, which is also why no supervisor rides behind them.
Can a learner driver use the freeway?
The regulations do not prohibit it. Regulation 323(1) restricts freeways by vehicle — animal-drawn vehicles, pedal cycles, small-capacity or electric motorcycles, motor tricycles and quadrucycles, certain disability vehicles and tractors — and says nothing about learner drivers.
Validity, failing and what comes next
How long is a learner's licence valid?
Twenty-four months, counted from the date of the examination and test rather than the date on the card. Regulation 101(1) originally said 18 months; Government Notice 134 of 17 February 2010 extended it to 24.
Can I renew or extend a learner's licence?
No. There is no renewal or extension provision anywhere in the regulations. When the 24 months runs out you apply again and write the test again.
How long must I wait to rewrite after failing?
No waiting period appears in the Act, the regulations or the Department of Transport manuals, and no limit on attempts either. A rewrite is a fresh application on form LL1, so what actually decides the date is how far ahead your testing centre is booking.
When can I do my driver's test?
Once you hold a learner's licence. Section 13 of the Act says nobody may be tested for a driving licence unless they hold a learner's, and section 18(1) lets the holder apply for a licence to drive a class of vehicle their learner's licence authorises. No waiting period between the two appears in the Act.
The full answers
Each of these goes into one question properly, with the provisions it rests on named at the bottom.
- Getting your learner's licence: the full guide
The pillar — what it is, who may have one, and how the whole process runs
- Minimum age for each licence code
16, 17 or 18, and the 125 cc line that catches out 16-year-olds
- Code 1, Code 2 and Code 3 explained
Three learner's codes, eight driving codes, and the mapping between them
- What documents do you need?
Form LL1, the photographs, and what acceptable identification actually means
- How to book your learner's licence test
The official route, and why the fee is not on that page
- Test day checklist: what to bring
The morning itself — glasses first
- What happens on the day of your test
The sequence the law fixes, and what is local practice
- Failed your learner's? When you can rewrite
An absence page: there is no waiting period to find
- Driving on a learner's licence: the rules
Supervision, the two exemptions, and freeways
- How long is a learner's licence valid?
24 months, from a date that is not the one on the card
- How many questions, and the pass mark
Why every website gives you a different number
- How to study for the learner's test
Study to pass your weakest section, not to pass on aggregate
The mistake behind half of these questions
Assuming there is an official answer to everything. There is not. The regulations set out who may apply, what the application must carry, what the examiner must test and how long the licence lasts — and they are silent on the question count, the pass mark, the waiting period after a failure and how long the morning takes.
Where a page gives you a confident figure for one of those, it is repeating an observation. That is not always wrong, but it is worth knowing which kind of answer you are reading before you plan around it.
The one question this page cannot answer for you
Whether you would pass today. Our free readiness test takes about two minutes and scores you by section, the way the real test does, so you can see which of the three areas is the weak one.
Take the free readiness testSources
- National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996 — sections 12, 13, 15, 17 and 18Driving under the authority of a licence and keeping it with you; the learner's licence as a provisional licence and the bar on being tested for a driving licence without one; the disqualifications including the minimum ages in section 15(1)(a); application in person and the centre's determination of the day and time; and the application for a driving licence for a class the learner's licence authorises.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 99Sub-regulation (1) the three learner's licence codes; (2) the supervision rule and the motorcycle and reward restrictions; (4)(a) the eight driving licence codes.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulations 101 to 105Validity; the eyesight standard and the optometrist re-test; the manner of application, the photographs and the form DCT declaration; the three areas tested, form TLL or the approved electronic test, and the oral test for an illiterate applicant; and issue on form LL2 within 2 working days.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 323(1)The vehicles that may not be operated on a freeway. Searched for a restriction on learner drivers; there is none.
- Government Notice 134 in Government Gazette 32959 of 17 February 2010Extended the validity of a learner's licence from 18 months to 24 months.
- South African Learner Driver Manual, Department of Transport (v1.00, June 2012)All three volumes — Rules of the Road, Road Traffic Signs, and Vehicle Components and Controls. The source for the code-by-code minimum ages, and checked for a question count, a pass mark and any guidance on rewriting; it states none of the three.
Last updated 2026-09-21.