Psychological test on the driving exam: color plates

The theory exam has two parts: a 3-question psychological test in which every answer must be correct, and a 20-question knowledge test in which you need at least 18 correct answers, with 30 minutes to answer. You may answer the knowledge-test questions only if every psychological-test answer is correct, so one wrong answer in the psychological test means the exam is failed. At most 2 mistakes are allowed, and only in the 20 knowledge questions (RA Government Decision No. 385-N of March 26, 2020, Annex 1, points 14, 15, 18 and 20).

The regulation calls this part a psychological test and does not describe its content; candidates report that it shows color plates. The official psychological-test questions are not published, and on bibip you can practice the color plates without an account, in Group 11 · Psychological test (color plates). What the regulation says and what test-takers report is set out briefly, point by point, on the psychological test page.

Below: what is known about the psychological test, and how to prepare for it.

Why colors matter when you drive

Road safety leans heavily on reading colors correctly: the red, amber and green signals of a traffic light, signs with a red background or a red border, the red rear lights of the car ahead. A driver with impaired color vision may read those signals late or wrongly, and that is a direct safety risk.

The regulation does not say what the psychological test measures, so we are not claiming that it tests color vision. But since candidates describe color plates in it, it is worth getting used to images of that kind in advance, so that they are not a surprise on exam day.

How this part works in the exam

The psychological test is the first part of the theory exam and consists of 3 questions. Each question has 2 to 5 answer options, and only one is correct (point 15).

One detail matters most: there is no room for a mistake here. You may answer the knowledge-test questions only if every psychological-test answer is correct, so one wrong answer in the psychological test means the exam is failed (points 15 and 20). At most 2 mistakes are allowed, and only in the 20 knowledge questions, not in these 3. That is exactly why random or rushed answers are most dangerous in this part.

How to prepare

Don't underestimate this part. The psychological test has only 3 questions, so it is easy to forget about while you focus on the bulkier topics of the 20 knowledge questions. Yet a single mistake here is enough to fail the exam, and that alone justifies paying these 3 questions special attention.

Practice the color plates separately. On bibip they are collected in Group 11 · Psychological test (color plates), which, like the other groups, is open without an account. This is bibip's practice set of color plates; the official psychological-test questions are not published.

Take exam simulations too. bibip's simulation starts with 3 questions from group 11, so taking simulations regularly gets you used to these questions at exactly the moment the exam begins.

Don't rush the first questions. This is the very start of the exam, and many people are not warmed up yet and answer with less care. Make a conscious effort to slow down on those first 3 questions.

Test yourself

bibip's exam simulation follows the official format. It starts with 3 questions from group 11, bibip's color-plate set, which stands in for the psychological test. One wrong answer ends the simulation, just as a mistake in the real psychological test keeps you out of the knowledge test. Then come 20 questions, and the simulation is passed if you answer at least 18 of the 20 correctly; the first 3 questions don't count toward the score. The simulation uses the full published question bank, not only the A/B/C set. It is free and open without an account, and once you create a free account, its results are saved.

The rest of the theory exam — the 20 knowledge questions, the 30 minutes and the 18-out-of-20 pass mark — is covered in how to pass the theory exam, and what the day itself looks like in the exam-day guide.

Short answer and sources on one page: the psychological test with colour tables.