What the ICBC knowledge test looks like
The knowledge test is the first step to a B.C. learner's licence. This post covers its format: how many questions, how many you need right, how long you have, what the questions are about, and what the test screen lets you do. Each point links to where ICBC says it.
Questions, pass mark and time
The passenger vehicle test (for Class 5 and 7) has 50 multiple-choice questions, and you need 40 right (ICBC: Get your L). That is the 80% pass mark ICBC applies to all its knowledge tests (ICBC tip sheet). You have up to 45 minutes (ICBC tip sheet), in person or online (ICBC: Take the online knowledge test).
The test can stop before the last question. It ends as soon as you have answered enough correctly, or as soon as you have got more wrong than the pass mark allows (ICBC tip sheet). A status bar at the bottom of the screen shows how you are doing.
What the questions cover
ICBC describes the test as measuring how well you know the information in Learn to Drive Smart, its driving guide (Learn to Drive Smart, p.137). Its chapters cover the driver, the vehicle, signs and road markings, the rules of the road, seeing and reacting to hazards, sharing the road, personal and emergency strategies, and the licence itself (ICBC: Learn to Drive Smart).
Road signs are a large part of it. ICBC says almost one in five questions is about road signs, and it has a separate road signs practice test (ICBC: Get your L). If you are new to North American signs, see reading B.C. road signs by shape and colour.
How the test screen works
At a driver licensing office you answer on a touch screen; online you use a computer with a keyboard and mouse. In both, you can choose to listen to an audio recording of the questions (ICBC: Get your L). The test comes in 12 languages (ICBC); see which languages the test comes in.
There is a skip button for questions you want to come back to, and a skipped question returns at the end of the test. ICBC describes how often you can skip in two different ways. The current tip sheet says "You may skip through each question once" (ICBC tip sheet); Learn to Drive Smart says "You may skip through all of the questions up to two times" (Learn to Drive Smart, p.168). Both agree that a hard question can wait until the end.
At an office, if you do not understand a question, you can ask a staff member to explain it differently. They will not give hints (Learn to Drive Smart, p.168).
What you may not do
The test is not open book. You may not talk, use study materials, or use any electronic device during it; any of those is an automatic fail (ICBC). The guide adds that in some parts of the province the test is offered only as a written test (Learn to Drive Smart, p.137).
Getting ready
ICBC's own preparation material is Learn to Drive Smart and its free practice knowledge test (ICBC: Practice knowledge test). Our free question bank has 530+ practice questions written by us from the guide, with the guide's chapter noted on each. They are not ICBC's test questions, and doing well on them does not tell you how you will do on the real test.