To receive a Learner's Permit, a student must:

• Be at least 15 years of age.
• Be enrolled in an approved driver education program and obtain a permit application from a certified driver education school.
• Bring the following to the Secretary of State branch office:
• Original or certified birth certificate.
• A second form of identification such as a passport or social security card.
• The Permit application signed by a parent or guardian and a driver education instructor.
• Proof of residency such as (but not limited to): a piece of mail with the parent/legal guardian name, picture ID from the student's school, or a school transcript with the student's name and address.
• Glasses or contacts, if they wear them.
• The required fee.

Pass a vision and a written knowledge test at a Secretary of State branch office.

The Permit:

• Allows the student to drive while supervised by a parent or adult and subject to restrictions (see below).
• Is valid for two years.
• Must be held for a minimum of nine months.
• Student must be in possession of the permit during all practice driving or behind-the-wheel training sessions.

Permit restrictions:

The student may not drive between the hours of 10 pm – 6 am Sunday thru Thursday or 11 pm – 6 am Friday thru Saturday.

• The number of immediate family passengers is limited to one in the front seat and to the numberof seat belts in the back seat.
• During the permit phase and first year of initial licensing the student's passengers are limited to one non-immediate family member under the age of 20.
• Students must not acquire any driving convictions during the nine-month permit phase.
• Cell phone use while driving is prohibited except in the case of an emergency to contact a law enforcement agency, health care provider, or emergency services agency.

  PRACTICE DRIVING

• To obtain a License, a student must log at least 50 hours of driving with a parent or adult, including 10 hours of night driving.
• The parent/adult must be at least 21 years of age and must have held a License for at least one year.

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION

A Certificate of Completion issued by the Secretary of State is required for the student to test for his or her driver's license when they are 16 years of age and have met all permit requirements.

Ultimate Driving School applies for the Certificate of Completion with the Secretary of State upon:

Student's completion of all classroom and in-vehicle  driving lessons.

• Once all classroom and in-vehicle training has been completed/verified and the Grade Verification Form has been received, the Certificate of Completion normally will take 10 – 15 business days to be processed by the Secretary of State.
  1. Students can then check the Secretary of State's website to determine when their Certificate of Completion has been processed: https://www.ilsos.gov/deccheck/. Please note that the Secretary of State does not automatically mail the Certificate of Completion however once the information has been processed in their database the student is eligible to apply for their driver's license

What to Bring to Secretary of States Office When Getting License

• Social Security Card
• Permit
• 50 hour log sheet
• Cooperative Driver Test Form ( if eligible to receive  it)
• Classroom and Driving Requirements for Ultimate Driving School

Students may enroll in a driver education course at Ultimate Driving School whose classroom end date is on or after their 15th birthday.

Secretary of State Rules:

A complete driver education course includes:

• 30 hours of classroom instruction.
• 6 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction.
• 6 hours of in-vehicle observation – unless the student enrolls in a program with 8 or more hours of in- vehicle training whereby the observation requirement is waived.
• A student may miss a maximum of 4 classes, but each class must be made up; if the student misses more than 4 classes, he or she must re-enroll and the entire classroom training must be started over.

**Any deviation from the original class dates or times is considered a missed class by the Secretary of State**.