Course frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Support/General
The Plates Plus platform is an interactive, online learning and assessment tool, designed to improve your learner driver education and give new drivers a safer start to their time on the road.
Assessment is embedded throughout the training content and covers a range of topics to verify learners’ knowledge and understanding of concepts. The Plates Plus platform is designed to improve learner driver education by focusing on developing safe behaviours and attitudes.
It will ensure new drivers build an in-depth understanding of the road rules and why they are in place. It also builds learners’ understanding of safe driving behaviour. This includes a focus on the impact of the fatal five road behaviours: speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, fatigue, distraction, and drink and drug driving.
The old driver knowledge test used much older technology that makes it harder to interpret some questions and does not reflect how driving looks like in real life. The new test uses newer 3D technology to mirror real life situations and make questions a lot clearer. This provides a much better experience with no second guessing what you are being asked.
The new driver knowledge test also links to the learning content in the pre-test course making it easy to build your road rules knowledge and get the preparation you need to have the best chance of passing the test.
No, Plates Plus currently only covers the car driver knowledge test so it can only be used to get a car learner licence.
Pass rate – our data tells us that people who complete the Plates Plus course and test are more likely to pass the driver knowledge test than people who attempt the standalone test at a Service Tasmania shop. People who attempt the standalone test are very unlikely to pass.
Road Safety – road trauma is the second leading cause of death for young people in Tasmania. As part of the Tasmanian Government’s Toward Zero Action Plan 2020-2024, a commitment was made to help young drivers improve their road safety knowledge and skills through an enhanced Graduated Licensing System, including improved tools and resources.
The previous driver knowledge test focused on ensuring licence applicants could demonstrate a basic knowledge of the road rules. While this provides a foundation for predictable on-road behaviour, it is less effective at developing higher order thinking which shapes safer attitudes and on-road behaviour.
There is strong evidence suggesting that emphasising behavioural factors and higher-order skills improves road safety outcomes.
Learning – the learning strategy hinges on three core concepts:
- a focus on higher-order driving behaviours as per the best practice Goals of Driver Education framework, especially the attitudes and beliefs of new drivers
- the provision of a sound educational structure for the pre-learner driver period
- a comprehensive assessment methodology to prevent cheating.
Customer experience – currently, each time an applicant fails they need to return on another business day to re-sit the test. Having to return to re-sit the test places additional stress and inconvenience on applicants who need to organise transport and time off study or work.
The new driver knowledge test offers greater convenience and a much improved design. The test can be completed on most devices and in any location with internet or mobile data access. The improved design includes 3D in-car view graphics that reflect real Tasmanian settings. This assists visual learners and add greater context to the question text.
Education and Technology – Advances in educational theory and developments in technology and communications offered the opportunity for the Department of State Growth to provide an online learning experience for people applying for a Tasmanian learner licence. Online delivery of the driver knowledge test with enhanced educational components has the potential to support the development of a stronger understanding of the road rules. It can also develop safe driving attitudes, which in turn could deliver road safety benefits.
The course should take around four to six hours to complete. Each topic has an approximate time estimate listed above it. These are estimates only, you may find the course take a little longer or you may be done sooner. Remember, you don’t need to finish it all in one go.
The driver knowledge test takes approximately 30-40 minutes and must be completed in one sitting.
The time you need to complete the course might seem long compared to attempting the standalone driver knowledge test at a Service Tasmania shop. However, our data tells us that people who attempt the standalone test are unlikely to pass.
You have 12 months to complete the Plates Plus course and pass the driver knowledge test.
Yes, unless you are halfway through an assessment including the driver knowledge test.
You need to log in to access the course, so you can stop your progress will be saved when you are working through the learning content. When you log in again, you can continue where you left off with the learning content on the same or a different device.
It is recommended that you complete the quiz, activity, or challenge you're attempting within the learning content before leaving the course, as if you leave part-way through, you will lose your progress.
You must complete the driver knowledge test in one sitting. It is recommended you only commit to sitting the test if you have at least the recommended 30-40 minutes free to focus and complete the test.
You should also avoid refreshing or using the back button on your browser during an assessment unless you are having issues with your page loading.
You have 12 months to complete the course and pass the driver knowledge test.
After you have completed the ‘Your driving attitude’ section, you can complete the course content in whichever order you like.
You will need to complete the quizzes, activities and challenges to earn the three keys before you can attempt the driver knowledge test.
You will be able to attempt the driver knowledge test when the keys are unlocked as in the image below.
The minimum enrolment age is 15 years and 11 months. This provides applicants four weeks to complete the program and still be eligible to be issued their learner licence on their 16th birthday if they choose to do so.
We encourage a shared learning experience.
The new process represents a shift from just having a “test” to a “process”. During this process discussion with family members about important road safety concepts is encouraged.
It is hoped these discussions will improve learning outcomes and knowledge retention for all involved. Someone who has not completed the course and gained an understanding of the road rules would be unlikely to progress to the next stage of the licensing system.
It is also important to recognise that a learner will still be supervised for a minimum of 12 months after their licence is issued. This is why the learner stage is recognised as the safest period of driving.
The P1 practical driving assessment will remain in place as a prerequisite to being able to drive unsupervised. A person who does not know the rules would be unlikely to pass the practical driving assessment.
The goal is to effectively leverage online learning to lead to a lasting shift in attitudes that will result in safer driving behaviours when drivers get their P1 licence and get behind the wheel on their own, whilst at the same time covering the road rules and other important licensing information.
By moving from a focus on a pass/fail test to an interactive assessment process, the motivation to cheat is expected to decrease, resulting in improved learning outcomes. A range of features are built into the process to ensure that the person completing the learning and assessment is the same person who will be issued with their learner licence. This includes:
- assessment questions being embedded throughout the content and being contextualised in such a way that knowledge of the learning components of the course is required to correctly answer questions
- the inability to skip content and go straight to the assessment
- a significant amount of time being required to complete the process, between four and six hours learning time is expected
- the person not being able to ‘fail’ assessments during the learning content, they will need to be repeat modules until they are successfully completed
- the potential for pause and reflection points to ensure the learning and assessment is appropriately paced and learners cannot randomly guess the answers to questions until they are correct
- randomised pools of assessment questions, so the questions being asked are not always the same.
To pass the Plates Plus course you will need to successfully complete the quizzes, activities and challenges in each key area. Once the three key areas are achieved you can attempt the driver knowledge test.
You will need to answer at least 27 out of 30 questions correctly in order to pass the driver knowledge test.
There are no compulsory questions you need to answer correctly in order to pass.
Remember, you have one attempt at the driver knowledge test every 12 hours for 365 days from your first enrolment date.Good Luck.
Tutorials are NOT assessed and do not count towards your final assessment results. They are included in the course to assist in your learning experience. Challenge tutorials allow you to apply your knowledge of the road rules while practising in a test environment.
Once you have finished you will be notified if you have passed or failed. You will also be provided with feedback on each question to review.
If you have failed you will need to wait 12 hours before you can complete the test again. The time and date you can access the test are displayed at the bottom of the home page. We recommend you use the time to revisit the relevant course content to improve your understanding.
On the home screen a passed driver knowledge test will look like:
A failed test during the lockout will look like:
And an unlocked test that has not been attempted or you can resit after lockout will look like:
If you have passed you will need to go into a Service Tasmania shop to complete your learner licence application and payment. You will need to provide evidence of your identity and pay a fee. You have 12 months to complete this application. You will follow the licence pathway outlined in the image below once your learner licence is issued.
If you need, we encourage you to complete the Plates Plus course and test with someone who can translate or interpret for you.
If you need a professional translator or interpreter for the test, this service is available for free if you complete the driver knowledge test at a Service Tasmania shop.
Yes, you may continue to sit the driver knowledge test at a Service Tasmania shop. The previous driver knowledge test has been updated with a standalone version of the test available on the Plates Plus platform.
However, we recommend you complete the Plates Plus course and online test if you can access it. Our data tells us that people who attempt the standalone test are unlikely to pass.
If you attempt the driver knowledge test at a Service Tasmania shop, you must take in your evidence of identity.
You will be provided with a test ID to access the standalone test. If you fail and decide you want to go through the Plates Polus course the printout with your test ID will also have your client ID that is used to access this.
There is no longer a practice test that you can sit to prepare for the driver knowledge test. The education course on the plates plus platform acts as an ongoing practice tool. Anyone sitting the standalone test at Service Tasmania can use the Tasmanian Road Rules Handbook to prepare themselves.
There is no cost to complete the Plates Plus course or driver knowledge test. You will only pay a fee once you have passed the test for the issue of your learner licence.
Visit www.platesplus.tas.gov.au and click the link on the welcome screen or within the pre-learner section to get to the login page. You can bookmark this page to make it quicker to return to.
To login you will need to enter your Client ID and date of birth.
You can obtain your client ID in one of two ways:
- Go to www.platesplus.tas.gov.au/login and complete the online application form for a Client ID. Your client ID will be sent to you within one to two business days.
- Visit a Service Tasmania shop, along with your evidence of identity.
On the Plates Plus login page, click the “I’ve forgotten my Client ID number” button. You will need to provide your date of birth and either the email address or mobile phone number you provided when you signed up for Plates Plus.
If you are still unable to login, you will need to contact Service Tasmania by calling 1300 13 55 13 between 8am and 5:30 pm weekdays or visiting a Service Tasmania shop. You will need to provide your full name and date of birth.
On the Plates Plus login page, click the “I’ve forgotten my Client ID number” button. You will need to provide your date of birth and either the email address or mobile phone number you provided when you signed up for Plates Plus.
If you are still unable to login, you will need to contact Service Tasmania by calling 1300 13 55 13 between 8am and 5:30 pm weekdays or visiting a Service Tasmania shop. You will need to provide your full name and date of birth.
No. As you need to login to undertake the course, it will save your progress. We recommend you complete the learning content over multiple sessions.
The Plates Plus platform gives you the ability to stop and start the learner driver course whenever you want. When you log back in, it will continue from where you last were in the Plates Plus course.
You have 12 months to complete the course and pass the driver knowledge test.
Please use the chat function in the Plates Plus platform to submit an enquiry. Please note, we cannot provide you with the answers to any of the questions in the driver knowledge test.
You will be provided with a response within two to three business days.
Support/Technical
Yes, you can toggle videos to full screen with the button in the bottom right corner of the video player.
All videos have closed captions as well as a text alternative that you can read instead of watching the videos.
Please close all other browser windows and refresh your page.
If it is still stuck, please clear your cache and refresh the page once this has been done.
If you are unsure on how to clear your cache, please find the relevant link below.
Desktop Guides:
Mobile Guides
Internet Explorer is not supported.
An Error code 500 is generally known to be a server connectivity issue. The server cannot process the request to connect for an unknown reason. If you are experiencing this error please advise us using the chat function in the Plates Plus platform. Please attempt the course in a few hours while we rectify the error.
We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
If you have a slow internet connection, you may have trouble loading the media in this course. A download speed of 1.5mbps is required for the Plates Plus platform to work on any device and you will need to allow 1.5GB to download the whole course. The content will download as you progress through the Plates Plus course.
If finding a connection fast enough to play videos is not an option, all videos have a text alternative that you can read instead of watching the video. This contains all of the relevant information you will need to answer any questions.
If you are struggling to load the images and animations you may need to check your internet or phone data availability and signal. If you are unable to improve this you may need to complete the course in a different location.
Videos in the challenges and driver knowledge test will automatically skip if the video takes too long to load.
For the best experience we make your page go full screen so we can fit as much content on the screen as possible.
Plates Plus will work on most major computer, phone and tablet devices and major browsers.
If you are experiencing technical issues, we recommend making sure your operating system (Windows or Mac) and your browser is up to date.
We recommend you explore other options if you have difficulty accessing the course.
This could be using the computers or free Wi-Fi through your own device at a library, school or similar location. Service Tasmania shops also have public access computers that you can use to learning content.
If these options will not work you can still complete a standalone version of the new driver knowledge test at a Service Tasmania Shop.
Make sure that you've completed all three sections (Your driving attitude, Signs and rules, and Sharing the road) and that you have earned the key for each section. You need to successfully complete the Challenge for each section to earn the key.
If you attempted the driver knowledge test and did not pass, you will be locked out for 12 hours. The time and date you can access the test is displayed at the bottom of the home page.
If you have technical difficulties while attempting the driver knowledge test, you can restart the test on another device, or after refreshing or restarting the same device.
You will lose all progress and will need to start the test again.
You will not be locked out of the test unless you have submitted your answers and a fail is recorded.
Support/Content
For any general questions on the road rules, please contact rsac@stategrowth.tas.gov.au or phone 1300 135 513. Please note, we will not be able to provide you with an answer to any of the questions in the driver knowledge test.
If you are having trouble answering a question you can revisit the learning content after finishing a test or challenge.
Remember that there can be more than one correct answer for certain questions and feedback is provided at the end of each test or challenge.
Make sure that you've completed all of the topics inside a section. You'll know the topic is complete when you see a tick on the picture, and it says 'Passed' underneath the image.
You need to answer all questions correctly to earn three stars. If you have trouble answering all of the questions correctly, you can review the content for that section.
All challenge and driver knowledge test questions have a hint that let you know if there are multiple correct answers. If more than one answer is correct, select all answers that you believe are correct.
Some questions require you to select multiple answers. You must select all correct answers to be marked correct for these questions.
You should read the feedback given on a question carefully. The question feedback is an explanation of the road rule and not the answer. You need to make sure you understand what it is saying, revisiting the learning if needed, and apply it to the situation of the question.
If you still have concerns regarding the content of a question or the answer being incorrectly marked, please use the chat function in the platform to get in contact with us. This is not a live chat and your enquiry will be responded to within two to three business days.
If you failed the driver knowledge test, you can still re-sit the test after the 12 hour lockout period ends.
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