Vermont Drivers Ed for Adults: Your First License at 18 and Up

The short answer: no course is required

Vermont DMV gives a Driver's License to eligible applicants 18 or older who pass the required exams. The course requirement belongs to the junior license rules, and those apply only to people under 18.

The year-long permit hold and the certified 40 hour log are junior license rules as well. You still need a learner's permit and a qualified supervisor to practice legally, but DMV's adult license requirements set no minimum time on the permit.

If you want training: the 6+6 course

DMV's Driver Education page describes the state-approved 6+6 Adult Driver Education Course for beginners: at least 6 hours in the classroom and 6 behind the wheel. Licensed schools also run refresher training for people who already drive but feel rusty.

It is optional. It earns its cost if you lack a licensed friend or relative aged 25 or older to ride with you, or if a road test went badly and you want an instructor to correct specific habits.

Before the permit: the test and the application

The test is open to anyone 15 or older. The manual describes 20 questions, each with four answer choices, and you need 16 right. A fail means waiting at least one day before trying again.

Watch for one snag DMV calls out: passing does not by itself produce a permit. If you passed after May 1, 2025, but never finished the application, it still needs completing. Call DMV at 802-828-2000 if yours seems stuck.

Before the permit: documents DMV accepts

DMV will not take a photocopy or fax, so bring the original or a copy the issuing office certified. To prove identity, a Real ID license from another state is enough on its own; so are a passport that has not expired, a green card, a certified birth record, or papers showing naturalization or citizenship. For Social Security, bring the card, an SSA ineligibility letter, a W-2, an SSA-1099 or a pay stub with at least the last four digits.

Your address has to be a street address, not a PO box. Two pieces of mail sent there normally do it, and if you live with others and get no mail at that address, use a Vermont Residency Certification. A foreign national with less than 30 days of lawful presence left cannot be issued a license.

On road test day: the checklist

You cannot drive yourself to the test alone, so bring a qualified licensed companion (25 or older, a parent or guardian, or an instructor), sober and with a license that is valid. Check the car the night before: emergency brake working, inspection sticker current, nothing mechanically wrong, interior tidy.

Your insurance card or letter should show who insures the car, the coverage dates, the policyholder and the VIN; pack the registration too. Any state's registration is fine as long as the car is registered and inspected. Rentals need a letter from the rental company accepting responsibility, and dealer, agriculture, antique and exhibit plates are turned away.

Your license is issued once you pass and pay. If you fail, wait at least a week; after a third failure the wait grows to at least a month, and each attempt costs the $23 road test fee again.

What you will pay

DMV's fees as of October 2026: $39 for the permit knowledge test, $24 for a two year learner's permit and $23 for the road test. A standard license or Real ID is $39 for two years or $62 for four.

A first Vermont license lasts until your fourth birthday after issue, with some exceptions, so the actual term can fall a little short of four years. Driving schools set their own course prices.

If you are moving to Vermont

The clock is 60 days from your move, cut shorter if your current card runs out first. Holders of a license that is still valid, or lapsed by less than three years, read an eye chart and give up the old card in exchange.

If it has been expired three years or longer, or you never had one, plan on vision, written and road tests. Commercial licenses must be transferred within 30 days of becoming a resident.

A word on insurance

DMV says nothing about an insurance discount for the 6+6 course. Some insurers credit formal training, but that is up to them, so ask your agent before enrolling if saving money is the goal.