What a topic set gives you that a practice test cannot
A practice test mixes 45 questions from every subject together, which is how you find out where you are weak. A topic set does the opposite. It hands you every question in one subject, in one place, with no mix and no clock, which is how you actually fix the weakness once you know what it is. The order matters more than the effort. Sit a practice test first and let it name the subject. Then come here and work that subject to the bottom. Reading a subject you were already good at feels productive for an hour and changes nothing on the day. The real Driver Knowledge Test is 45 questions, set by Transport for NSW, and it is marked in two parts: 12 of 15 general knowledge and 29 of 30 road safety, with both minimums required. Four wrong in general knowledge, or two wrong in road safety, ends it on the spot. One neglected subject is enough to do that, and that is the whole case for drilling subject by subject.
An evening plan for one weak subject
Work one subject per sitting and give it the whole set rather than the first ten questions, which is where most people stop.
- 1
Mark the subjects that cost you
Take the wrong answers from your last practice test and name the subject behind each one.
- 2
Choose at most three
Three subjects worked properly beat twelve half-read. Leave the rest for next week.
- 3
Say the rule before the options
Cover the answers. If you cannot state the rule first, you are recognising, not knowing.
- 4
Prove it on a set you have not sat
Go back to a fresh practice test. A mixed set is the only honest check.
The twelve car subjects, by size
All 12 car topic sets are free, and together they hold 366 questions. The counts are General Knowledge 82, Intersections 54, Traffic Signs 51, Traffic Lights & Lanes 46, Negligent Driving 30, Pedestrians 28, Fatigue & Defensive Driving 24, Alcohol & Drugs 20, Speed Limits 13, Seat Belts & Restraints 12, Bribery & Cheating 3, and Bicycle Safety 3. Each set holds every question in its subject, so you can work a weak area until it runs out instead of meeting it three questions at a time inside a mixed set. Start with whichever subject your last practice test cost you. If you have not sat one yet, General Knowledge is the largest set at 82 questions and the sensible first drill. Pick a set below and begin.
Alcohol Drugs
Bicycle Safety
Bribery & Cheating
Fatigue Defensive Driving
General Knowledge
Intersections
Negligent Driving
Pedestrians
Seat Belts Restraints
Speed Limits
Traffic Lights Lanes
Traffic Signs
Which sets are an evening, and which are ten minutes
Plan by size, because these sets are nothing like each other in length. General Knowledge is the big one and needs two or three sittings on its own. Intersections, Traffic Signs and Traffic Lights & Lanes are each a solid evening. Negligent Driving and Pedestrians fit into one sitting if you start them fresh rather than at the end of a long night. Fatigue & Defensive Driving, Alcohol & Drugs, Speed Limits and Seat Belts & Restraints each clear comfortably in a single sitting, and two of them together makes a reasonable evening. Bicycle Safety and Bribery & Cheating hold three questions each. They take minutes, and they are the easiest marks on this page to leave unread. Do them last, but do them. So a workable evening is one big set, or two mid-sized sets, and then one short set to finish on something you can actually complete. Finishing matters: a subject you left half-done reads as known and is not.
When a subject is finished
A subject is not finished when the answers look familiar. It is finished when you can give the rule before you read the options, and when a mixed practice test stops catching you on it. That second test is the one that counts. Recognition survives a topic set easily and then collapses the moment the wording changes, which is exactly what the real test does to you. The percentage this page shows after a set is a tally of your own answers here. It is a study signal, never an official result. The result that decides the day is marked in two parts by Transport for NSW, where clearing general knowledge does not cover a miss in road safety.
From a closed subject to a booked test
When two or three subjects have stopped costing you marks, sit a full practice test to prove it, then move to the 8 mock tests and run each one in a single sitting. Mocks are where you find out whether 45 questions in a row is a different animal from 45 questions in pieces. It is. The Hazard Perception Test is the next step after the knowledge test: 15 short videos, $58 for each attempt, with unlimited attempts, and once you pass it the driving test must be passed within 15 months (Transport for NSW). The clips to practise on are at practise the hazard perception clips. Every set here is drawn from an NSW-based bank. The test is run by each state's own authority, Transport for NSW in New South Wales, TMR in Queensland, VicRoads in Victoria, the Department for Infrastructure and Transport in South Australia, the Department of Transport in Western Australia, and the MVR in the Northern Territory, so no figure on this page should be carried across a border. If you are sitting it in the Northern Territory, see our Northern Territory page.
Official sources
The rules on this page follow the official requirements published by Transport for NSW Driver Knowledge Test; Driver and rider licence fees. Always confirm current rules and fees with the authority before you book.