Massachusetts Driving Test Pass Rates: More Than 1 in 4 Fail the Written Test, 2 in 5 Fail the Road Test

In 2025, 27% of Massachusetts Class D learner’s permit exams ended in a fail, and 42.2% of road tests did. That road test fail rate is the highest in the 11 years of data we analyzed.

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) tracks the written knowledge test and the road (skills) test separately. We analyzed RMV records covering 4,071,898 Class D tests from 2015 to 2025: 2,552,213 written exams and 1,519,685 road tests.

The two tests are moving in opposite directions. Written exam pass rates are higher than they were before 2020, while road test pass rates have fallen almost every year, from 69% in 2015 to under 58% in 2025.

Massachusetts Driving Test Pass Rates at a Glance

The road test has become steadily harder to pass, while the written test swung sharply and then settled. In 2025, the road test fail rate (42.2%) was well above the written test fail rate (27.0%).

Written fail rates fell to 14.2% in 2022 after the permit exam moved online, then rose again as test volume doubled in 2023. Road test fail rates rose in 8 of the 10 years since 2015.

Massachusetts Written Test Pass Rates

The written exam pass rate was 73.02% in 2025, up from a low of 58.54% in 2019. It peaked at 85.79% in 2022, then dropped sharply in 2023 as test volume nearly doubled.

From 2017 to 2019, about 4 in 10 permit exams ended in a fail. That fell to about 1 in 7 in 2021 and 2022, after the exam moved online during the pandemic.

Massachusetts Road Test Pass Rates

The road test pass rate was 57.76% in 2025, the lowest on record. It has dropped by more than 11 percentage points since 2015, when 69.04% of road tests ended in a pass.

In 2020, the RMV paused road testing in spring because of COVID-19, so fewer tests were given that year.

2024 was the busiest year in the data, with 219,648 road tests. That is more than double the 95,606 tests given in 2022.

What the Massachusetts Written Test Involves

The Class D learner’s permit exam has 25 multiple-choice questions, and need 18 correct (72%) to pass. The time is limit 25 minutes, and the exam can’t be paused once it starts (RMV knowledge test FAQ).

• Applicants can apply for a permit at 16. Those under 18 need parental consent.
• The first step is a visit an RMV Service Center for identity checks, a vision test and a photo. The exam itself is taken online.
• Questions come from the Massachusetts Class D Driver’s Manual and cover road signs, rules of the road, and safe driving.
• The exam is offered in every language the Driver’s Manual is published in.
• After a failed attempt, applicants pay again and schedule another attempt through myRMV. An expired permit can’t be renewed, so the applicant has to reapply and retake the exam.

What Examiners Check on the Massachusetts Road Test

The road test is short, about 15 minutes of driving, so every mistake counts. Before the drive begins, the examiner asks for hand signals (left turn, right turn, slow down, stop) and checks the car’s lights, turn signals and horn.

On the road, expect to be tested on:

• Parallel parking
• A three-point turn
• Backing up in a straight line
• Parking on a hill with the wheels turned correctly, then using and releasing the parking brake
• Left and right turns into the correct lane
• Checking mirrors and turning your head to look where you are going

The test vehicle must be registered, inspected, in good working order, and allow the examiner to reach the parking brake. A qualified sponsor must also sit in the back seat (RMV: schedule a road test).

After a failed test: applicants must wait 2 weeks before retesting and pay the $35 road test fee again. No more than 6 Class D road tests can be taken in 12 months. Fees aren’t refunded after a failed test, a late or unprepared arrival, or a cancellation made less than 72 hours in advance.

Teens vs. Adults: Who Fails More?

Teens under 18 do far better on the road test than adults. In 2025, just 18.6% of under-18 road tests ended in a fail, compared with 42% to 54% for every adult age group. Fail rates rise steadily with age, and drivers 50 and older failed more than half their road tests.

The gap reflects Massachusetts’ Junior Operator License rules. Applicants under 18 must finish driver’s education (30 hours of classroom, 12 hours behind the wheel, 6 hours observing) and log 40 hours of supervised driving before their road test. Adults 18 and older can take the road test with no required training or logged hours.

On the written test, the gap is smaller. Teens, 21–24s and 25–34s all failed about 1 in 4 exams in 2025, while drivers 50 and older failed more than 1 in 3.

Why Massachusetts Failure Rates Changed

Three trends stand out in the data.

1. A surge of new applicants from 2023. Written exams jumped 97.7%, from 163,125 in 2022 to 322,487 in 2023. Road tests more than doubled between 2022 and 2024. The jump lines up with the Work and Family Mobility Act, which took effect on July 1, 2023 and opened standard licenses to residents regardless of immigration status. In its first year, the RMV issued 183,825 learner’s permits, up 161% on the year before (RMV).

2. The move to online permit exams. In June 2020, the RMV began letting applicants take the permit exam online at home instead of at a Service Center (RMV). Written fail rates fell from 41.5% in 2019 to 14.2% in 2022, then rose back to about 28% from 2023. The data doesn’t show why. The 2023 rise coincides with the wave of new adult applicants, whose share of written exams jumped from 60% in 2022 to 76% in 2023.

5 Tips to Pass on Your First Try

1. Study the Driver’s Manual, not just practice questions. With only 25 questions, missing 8 means a fail. Read the Class D manual cover to cover, especially road signs, right-of-way rules and Massachusetts-specific laws.
2. Take timed practice tests. The real exam has a 25-minute limit and can’t be paused. Keep practicing until finishing on time feels comfortable and scores are well above 18 out of 25.
3. Get real practice hours, even as an adult. Teens with driver’s ed and 40 logged hours fail the road test far less often than adults. If you’re 18 or older, consider a few professional lessons and plenty of supervised driving before you book.
4. Master the set maneuvers. Parallel parking, three-point turns, straight-line backing and hill parking are all on the test. Practice them until they’re routine, and remember to release the parking brake.
5. Check your car and paperwork before test day. A broken light, a cracked windshield or an expired inspection sticker can end your test before it starts, and you’ll lose the $35 fee.

Prepare with Zutobi. Zutobi’s Massachusetts practice tests mirror the real permit exam, with questions based on the official Driver’s Manual. Use them to find your weak spots before test day.

FAQ

What is the Massachusetts road test pass rate?

In 2025, 57.76% of Class D road tests ended in a pass, so about 42% failed. That’s the lowest pass rate since at least 2015.

What is the Massachusetts permit test pass rate?

In 2025, 73.02% of learner’s permit exams ended in a pass, and about 27% failed.

How many questions are on the Massachusetts permit test?

25 multiple-choice questions. You need 18 correct (72%) to pass, within 25 minutes.

How long do I have to wait to retake the road test in Massachusetts?

2 weeks. You pay the $35 fee again and can take no more than 6 road tests in 12 months.

Do teens or adults fail the road test more?

Adults. In 2025, under-18s failed 18.6% of road tests, while adult age groups failed between 42% and 54%.

Why has the road test pass rate dropped?

The share of adult test-takers grew from 66% in 2015 to almost 90% in 2024, and adults fail more often. Test volume also surged after the Work and Family Mobility Act took effect in July 2023.

What is the best app to prepare for the Massachusetts driving test?

Zutobi covers Massachusetts’ 25-question learner’s permit exam and the skills examiners check on the road test, using structured practice rather than passive reading. That approach is linked by research to better real-world driving outcomes.

Methodology & Source

This report is based on datasets provided by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) in response to public records request P001973. They cover Class D learner’s permit (written) exam results by year (2015–2025), Class D road test results by year (2015–2025), and a breakdown of written and road test results by the test-taker’s age for each year (2015–2025). Pass and fail rates were calculated as tests passed or failed divided by tests given for each year. Age-group fail rates were calculated by grouping single-year ages into bands (under 18, 18–20, 21–24, 25–34, 35–49 and 50+). Figures count tests, not people, so anyone who retook a test is counted more than once. All figures in this report were calculated directly from the underlying data.