What changed
On January 30, 2026, FLHSMV announced that from Friday, February 6, 2026, all driver license knowledge and skills exams would be given only in English.1 Translation services are no longer permitted for either exam, and the rule covers every license class, including exams given orally.1
If you started studying for the exam in another language before 2026, the exam you take now is in English.
Can you take the Florida DMV test in Spanish?
No. The knowledge exam that many people call the Florida DMV test is given in English only since February 6, 2026, and translation is not allowed.1 The same goes for the road test, where no interpreter or other passenger may ride along.1,3 You can still learn the rules in Spanish, or in another language you read well, as long as you practice answering in English.
Who it affects
Everyone who takes a Florida driver license exam from now on:
- First-time drivers of any age: teens getting a learner's license from 15, and adults getting their first license.5
- Drivers with a license from another country, who take the vision test, the knowledge exam and the skills test.6 The August 2023 handbook names a few countries whose licenses let you skip exams: Canada, France, Germany (the skills test only), Taiwan and South Korea.7
Moving from another US state? With a valid license from another state you take no knowledge exam and no skills test, only a vision test,7 so the rule barely touches you. You still need a Florida license within 30 days of becoming a resident.8
The exam format
The knowledge exam you take in English:
| Questions | 50, multiple choice2 |
|---|---|
| To pass | 40 correct, or 80%3 |
| Time | 60 minutes4 |
| Where | A driver license office or an FLHSMV-approved provider; online for under-18s6,3 |
Study the rules in the language you know best, then practice answering in English. How the Florida permit test works, step by step.
The road test is in English too
The Driving Skills Test falls under the same rule,1 and no other passengers may ride along,3 so the examiner's directions during the drive reach you in English only. After the test, the examiner explains any mistakes.9,3
Practice short directions out loud until you follow them without translating. These are our examples, built on the skills the examiner checks:3
- Turn left at the next light.
- Pull over to the right.
- Back up slowly.
- Make a three-point turn.
- Change lanes when it is safe.
- Stop here.
How to prepare when English is not your first language
Our advice, from building a course around this rule:
1. Read the questions in English from day one
If you only ever read the rules in your language, test day turns into a translation exercise against a 60-minute clock. Learn the rules in your language, then answer in English, every time.
2. Learn the words the questions are built on
A small set of traffic words carries a large share of the questions. Learn what each one means on the road, not only how it translates:
- right-of-way
- yield
- merge
- crosswalk
- curb
- shoulder
- median
- intersection
- pedestrian
- lane
- passing
- tailgating
3. Let shapes and colors do the work
Many sign questions can be answered from the sign alone. An eight-sided red sign is always a stop sign,10 a five-sided sign marks a school zone or school crossing,11 and a round sign warns of a railroad crossing.12 Florida road signs and their meanings, then the 20 free road signs questions.
4. Take timed practice exams in English
Practice in the real format, 50 questions in 60 minutes, until the English is no longer the hard part.
How Road to Permit helps
We built Road to Permit around this rule:
- Questions in English, the language of the exam, in short daily missions.
- Translation on tap: in a mission, the question and the answers in your language, in smaller type under the English.
- Explanations in your language, each citing the handbook page, with a switch to English.
- Practice exams in English only, timed, in the real format, with no translation button.
Free online: 20 questions, 2 missions.