DMV ChampNew Mexico · New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division
The New Mexico knowledge test has 25 multiple-choice questions, and you need 18 correct answers to pass. DMV Champ teaches every question with its explanation, then checks you with 5 simulated exams in exactly that format.
25
questions
18
correct to pass
72%
passing score
None
time limit
Part of this format is confirmed by NM MVD Driver Procedures Manual ch. 11; the rest is the best figure available, and it is the one DMV Champ’s exam simulator uses. Check the current New Mexico handbook before your exam.
New Mexico’s exam is one of the shorter ones: only 5 jurisdictions ask fewer than 25 questions. You need 72% to pass, which means you can miss 7 questions and still get your permit. There is no time limit, so read every question twice.
The exam is given by the MVD (New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division). Its questions come from the official New Mexico driver’s handbook, which is also where every DMV Champ question is checked.
The New Mexico Driver Manual calls it the knowledge test. Passing it is how you get an instructional permit, which you can apply for from age 15 in New Mexico.
35 topics in New Mexico: the 34 every state tests, plus winter driving, because the New Mexico handbook teaches it.
Exam simulator
Pick New Mexico once in the app and every simulated exam uses these figures. Nothing is revealed mid-exam, and each attempt is graded against the 18-correct passing score at the end. Retake an exam as often as you like, reordered each time.
What you study
Signs and signals, road rules, safe driving and driving laws. The topics come from the AAMVA guidelines every state builds its exam on, checked against the New Mexico handbook. Each is a short group of questions you can get through in a few minutes, and every answer is explained the moment you check it.
No chapters to read first. Every practice question carries its answer and the reasoning, so a wrong answer is how the next thing is taught.
A question you get wrong returns until you get it right. Once you’ve answered every new question and corrected every mistake, you’ve finished the learning phase.
The score you’d likely get on the New Mexico exam today, with the 18-correct passing score marked on it and a 14-day trend.
New Mexico questions
25. The New Mexico knowledge test has 25 multiple-choice questions, and you need 18 correct answers (72%) to pass.
7. With 25 questions and 18 needed to pass, you can get 7 wrong and still pass.
No. New Mexico does not put a time limit on the knowledge test. Only 8 jurisdictions do.
15. In New Mexico the first permit is called an instructional permit, and the handbook sets 15 as the youngest age for it. The knowledge test is part of getting one.
From the official New Mexico driver’s handbook, which is what the MVD writes its test from. Every DMV Champ question is checked against it and explained the moment you answer.
A few questions a day is enough. Not in New Mexico?