Driving Test WA 2026: The PDA, 35 to 50 Minutes

What happens in the WA driving test?

The Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure (DTMI) splits the PDA into 5 sections. In 3 you follow the assessor’s directions on the road, and in 2 you do set exercises, the kind of everyday tasks drivers often have to do. The assessor looks at how well you operate the car, put the road rules into practice, fit in with traffic, and see and respond to hazards. These are the items DTMI lists:

Flow: combining skills smoothly and confidently
Look behind: mirrors and blind spot checks
Movement: moving forward and reversing smoothly, speed control, accurate stops
Path: choosing and keeping the right track
Responsiveness: spotting hazards and reacting
Signal: showing what you’re going to do
Vehicle management: dashboard, steering, clutch and gears

How many mistakes can you make in the WA driving test?

DTMI doesn’t publish a score sheet or a number of mistakes you’re allowed. It says the assessment looks at the quality of your driving as a whole, not each skill on its own. It does list the things that fail you straight away:

The assessor has to step in or help to avoid a potentially dangerous situation
You disobey a regulatory sign
You speed
You break any traffic rule in a way that threatens safety, now or potentially
You drive without your seat belt on
You don’t respond to a crisis, or potential crisis, that an experienced driver would have seen coming
You cause a crisis or potential crisis
You start the car while you’re not in full control of it
You refuse, or can’t do, any part of an exercise
You refuse a reasonable direction from the assessor

The car you bring

You supply the car, and the assessor checks it before you start. If it doesn’t meet DTMI’s standard, the PDA is cancelled and you pay for another. DTMI’s checklist includes:

A centrally mounted park brake that holds on a slope
Tyres with at least 1.5 mm of tread across the whole width
No windscreen crack over 15 cm, and no chips or cracks in your line of sight
Working lights, horn, demister, speedometer, wipers and seatbelts
No red or amber warning lights on the dashboard, including low fuel
Not under a recall or fitted with Takata airbags

If you pass in an automatic, your licence is limited to automatic cars. The car licence page explains the C and C-A classes.

Car licence classes →

On the day

Arrive 15 minutes early
Bring your learner’s permit, or a Category B identity document
Bring your paper log book, signed by you and your supervisor, if you used one
If you logged every hour in Learn&Log, submit the declaration of completion at least 24 hours before, bring the phone you use for it, and sign Form E109 at the centre

If you arrive less than 15 minutes late, the PDA is cancelled but you keep your entitlement and rebook without paying again. More than 15 minutes late and you lose it. Drive Safe still says to arrive 10 minutes early; DTMI’s PDA pages say 15, so allow 15.

Booking and changing a PDA →Perth test centres →

If you pass or fail

Pass, and you get your provisional licence: you have your photo taken, pay the licence fee and go on red P plates. Fail, and you book and pay $120.50 for another PDA, with a 7-day wait before you can book it.

To prepare, DTMI points you to the exercises in its booklet Driving Techniques for Safer Drivers, and recommends more than the minimum 50 hours, in all kinds of traffic, weather and light.

P plate rules →

Sources: Transport WA · WA Government and 7 more. Checked October 2026.