---
title: "What is legally required of a newly qualified… | Theory Test"
description: "What is legally required of a newly qualified driver? The correct answer is “Valid motor insurance”. Read the instructor's explanation of the rule behind this"
lang: en
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          "text": "Valid motor insurance. By law, every driver must have valid motor insurance before driving any vehicle on public roads, regardless of how recently they passed their test. Driving without insurance is illegal and carries severe penalties. Newly qualified drivers may choose to display green probationary P plates to alert other road users, but this is optional. They are also legally allowed to drive on motorways unaccompanied."
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# What is legally required of a newly qualified driver?

DVSA-style practice question · Essential Documents

## The answer options

-   Valid motor insurance**Correct** 
-   To be accompanied on motorway journeys 
-   Display green L plates 
-   Take a new photograph for their licence 

## Why that is the answer

By law, every driver must have valid motor insurance before driving any vehicle on public roads, regardless of how recently they passed their test. Driving without insurance is illegal and carries severe penalties. Newly qualified drivers may choose to display green probationary P plates to alert other road users, but this is optional. They are also legally allowed to drive on motorways unaccompanied.

## How this comes up in the real test

Questions from essential documents appear throughout the 50-question multiple-choice section, and the wording changes between versions. Learn the rule rather than the sentence: the DVSA can ask the same point from the opposite direction, and a memorised answer falls over the moment the phrasing moves.

The pass mark is 43 out of 50, so seven wrong answers is your entire margin. If a whole category is shaky, run the topic practice below until you are getting every question right for the right reason, then go back to full mocks under the clock.

[Practise Essential Documents](/theory/quiz/essential-documents)[Sit a full mock test](/theory/mock-test)

## More essential documents questions

-   [A police officer requests to view your paperwork. They are not with you at this time. How many days do you have to produce them at a police station?](/theory/questions/a-police-officer-requests-to-view-your-paperwork-they-are-not-with-you-at-this-time-how-ma)
-   [Before you can legally use a motor vehicle on the road, what do you need?](/theory/questions/before-you-can-legally-use-a-motor-vehicle-on-the-road-what-do-you-need)
-   [Before you drive someone else's vehicle, what must you ensure?](/theory/questions/before-you-drive-someone-else-s-vehicle-what-must-you-ensure)
-   [For how long is a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) valid?](/theory/questions/for-how-long-is-a-statutory-off-road-notification-sorn-valid)
-   [For how long is an MOT certificate normally valid?](/theory/questions/for-how-long-is-an-mot-certificate-normally-valid)
-   [The vehicle registration document will tell you what?](/theory/questions/the-vehicle-registration-document-will-tell-you-what)

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