How many mistakes are allowed in the theory test?

How many mistakes are allowed?

Three. The threshold is fixed and does not depend on the topics covered: what counts is the total number of errors, not how they are spread. Three errors all on road signs weigh the same as three errors spread across right of way, insurance and first aid. A fourth mistake fails the test, even if the other twenty six answers are correct.

What does the exam sheet look like?

The sheet holds thirty statements, each to be judged true or false, spread across the topics of the ministerial programme: signs, right of way, speed limits, driving behaviour, documents, liability and insurance, parts of the vehicle. Article 121, paragraph 2, of the Codice della Strada gives the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport the task of setting exam methods and programmes, and the test is taken on a computer terminal.

Statements can refer to a picture, for example a road sign, and several statements on the same sheet can touch the same theme. The topic structure is set out in the guide on how the theory test works.

Why do some sites say 40 questions and four mistakes?

Because they describe the test as it was before 20 December 2021. Until then the sheet for categories A and B had 40 questions, 30 minutes and allowed up to four mistakes. The ministerial decree of 27 October 2021, put into operation by a decree of the Directorate General for the Motorizzazione dated 14 December 2021, changed the test for categories A1, A2, A, B1, B and BE to 30 questions in 20 minutes with at most three mistakes. Pages that still quote 40 questions are simply stuck on the old format.

Candidates with a diagnosis of a specific learning disorder (DSA) can have extra time and audio support: the rules are on the page about the driving test with DSA.

Why does an unanswered statement count as a mistake?

Because every statement requires a choice and the system treats anything that is not a correct answer as negative. There is no extra penalty for a wrong answer compared with a blank one, so leaving a statement empty is never worth it: a guess at least has a chance of being right.

Twenty minutes works out at forty seconds per statement. That is enough to read carefully and come back to doubtful sentences, provided no single statement eats the clock.

Which mistakes are the most common?

The Ministry does not publish statistics for individual questions, so there is no official ranking of errors. Driving school teachers do point to recurring traps that depend on reading rather than knowledge: absolute words such as "sempre" (always) and "mai" (never), statements that are only half true, the difference between a prohibition and an obligation, and similar looking distances and limits. Reading the whole sentence slowly cuts these errors more than any amount of revision.

What happens with four mistakes?

The test is failed and the second attempt on the application remains, if there is still time. Two examples show the consequences.

If a candidate in Turin finishes the sheet with four mistakes, all on statements read in a hurry in the last few minutes, the test is failed and the attempt he has left on the same application cannot come sooner than one month later (article 121, paragraph 10, of the Codice della Strada), nor later than six months from filing (article 122, paragraph 1).

A candidate in Cagliari leaves two statements blank because she is unsure and gets two other answers wrong. The errors counted are four, not two: unanswered statements count as mistakes. Had she picked true or false on those two as well, she would have had a real chance of staying within the three mistake limit.

How much does the three mistake threshold matter to results?

A great deal. In 2025, 60.27 per cent of the 919,868 category B theory tests sat in Italy ended in a pass, according to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. The figure counts tests sat, not people. The share varies between offices, from 49.81 per cent in Grosseto to 69.53 per cent in Messina, and the values for each province are on the statistics page.

How to train to stay within three mistakes?

By simulating the real test. Full sheets of thirty statements, a twenty minute timer and an error count at the end give a more reliable measure than a hundred scattered questions. When practice sheets end consistently with zero, one or two errors, the margin for exam day is reasonable. The category B quiz offers original statements written on the exam topics.

Legal source: Articolo 121 del Codice della Strada e programma d'esame del MIT. The consolidated text of the Codice della Strada is on Normattiva.