The Texas Learner License: A Parent's Visit Checklist

Before you book: does your teen qualify?

Section 521.222 of the Transportation Code lists four conditions. Your teen is at least 15 but not yet 18, has finished the classroom portion an approved course requires for the permit, meets the attendance requirement, and has cleared each exam piece other than the road test.

Starting class early is normal. DPS lets a student begin at 14 but issues nothing before the 15th birthday. Plenty of parents plan the first six hours to wrap up a few weeks before that birthday, then book DPS for the birthday week.

Concurrent versus block: picking the pace

This choice decides when driving begins. Concurrent means six classroom hours, the knowledge test, the learner license, and then the other 18 hours of class while your teen is already practicing. Block means every one of the 24 hours before any driving.

Concurrent starts the six month clock sooner, which matters if you want the provisional license right at 16. Block suits a teen who wants the whole classroom foundation first. Either way, the certificate you hand DPS has to show the hours your chosen method requires.

Here is a sample calendar for the concurrent route: class starts two weeks before a February birthday, the six hours finish by the birthday, the learner license is issued that week, and six months later in August your teen has served the holding period, though the road test still waits for the 16th birthday.

Where the knowledge test happens

Under Section 521.1655, licensed schools and online companies may test their own students on vision, road signs and traffic law. Parent-taught providers can handle signs and law but not vision. Whatever was not done through the provider is done at DPS.

The questions are based on the state's driver handbook, which TDLR says is now only published online, in English and Spanish, and they cover signs, traffic laws, cyclists' rights and how distraction affects driving. DPS must offer the test in Spanish, although sign text stays in English. One application gives three tries at each part.

Before you go: the document folder

DPS rules allow three ways to prove identity: a single primary document (a U.S. passport, say); a pair of secondary documents, a certified birth certificate being one; or one secondary document and two supporting ones, like a Social Security card and school records. Bring originals or certified copies. Photocopies and laminated certificates are turned away.

Residency needs two printed items with your teen's name and Texas address. The common answer for a teen is a current-year Texas report card or transcript, plus something like an insurance card or bank statement in the teen's name. At least one has to show 30 days of living in Texas.

Summer wrinkle: if the school cannot produce a VOE over the break, DPS takes the most recent report card listing name, attendance and grades for a student still enrolled. A teen preparing for a high school equivalency exam may substitute proof of 45 days of active enrollment in that program.

• DL-14B, signed by a parent, or a notarized copy
• Course certificate: DE-964, DEE-964 or DE-964E
• School proof: VOE, diploma or GED
• Identity, citizenship or lawful presence, two residency items, and the Social Security number
• Car registration and insurance, or a signed no-vehicle statement
• Parent-taught families only: the instructor present and the TDLR designation receipt

After you get it: driving on a learner license

The person riding along sits up front, holds a license for that kind of vehicle, is at least 21, and has a year or more behind the wheel. Under Section 521.222, a supervisor commits an offense by being asleep, intoxicated, or so occupied with something else that they cannot watch and react.

No phone use at all for your teen while driving, hands-free included, unless it is an emergency. A suspension tacks its days onto the six month holding period. While a qualified adult is up front, the provisional-stage curfew and passenger cap are not in play.

If your 15 year old must drive alone: the hardship license

The minor restricted driver license (MRDL) lets a 15 year old drive unsupervised when DPS sees a genuine need: a family facing unusual economic strain, someone in the family who is sick, or a vocational program the teen cannot attend without driving. Driver ed and the complete exam, including the road test, are still required.

The application is DPS form DL-77, which spells out the qualifying reasons and the proof for each. DPS says this license expires on the next birthday and skips the six month learner period. A refusal can be appealed to your home county's court under Section 521.223.

If the card is lost or damaged

A replacement learner license, whether the old one was lost, stolen or damaged, is $11 as of October 2026, and the expiration date stays the same. When nothing on the card is changing, the online replacement needs the license number, birth date, last four Social Security digits, and the audit number from the latest card.

Missing the audit number? Book an office visit and carry an identity document. For a card that was stolen and then misused, file with the police first and take the report along, since DPS may give your teen a new license number.