I've failed the Learners License Registration written test twice and I'm embarrassed to admit it. Both times I scored in the low 60s and the passing mark is 75%. I've been reading the road code manual but clearly that's not translating to correct answers on the actual questions.
The specific areas where I keep losing points are the speed limits in urban vs rural zones, right of way at different intersection types, and the rules around following distance. I've read those sections multiple times and I still get caught by questions that phrase things in ways I don't recognize from the manual.
Is there a different way to study this that works better than reading? I'm a hands-on learner generally and reading dense regulatory text isn't my strength.
Two failures isn't unusual for the written test — more people fail it than most will admit publicly. The key insight I got from a driving instructor was that the exam tests "what does the law say" not "what do experienced drivers do." Those two things are often the same but not always, and the exam always picks the legally correct answer over the practical one.
Passive reading of the road code is almost never enough on its own. You need to do questions — lots of them — and read the explanation for every wrong answer. The manual tells you the rule; practice tests force you to apply it in the exact phrasing the real exam uses. After my first failure I switched to doing 40 questions per day and passed on the third attempt with 84%.
The right of way questions are notoriously tricky because they depend on small details like whether a vehicle is already in the intersection or approaching it. Draw the scenarios out on paper if that helps — I'm a visual learner too and sketching the intersection configuration made those questions much clearer.
I've been exactly where you are, failed mine first time with a 64 and I couldn't figure out what was going wrong either. The thing that finally clicked for me was realizing the manual gives you the rules but the test asks you to apply them in weird little scenarios. Reading it cover to cover wasn't enough. What actually changed my score was sitting down and doing practice questions over and over until I stopped second guessing myself. You start to see the same traps come up. The questions about stopping distances, right of way at intersections, and what the road signs mean were where I kept losing points, so I drilled those specifically instead of just reviewing everything evenly.
Honestly the biggest difference second time round was slowing down and reading the full question, including all the answer options, before picking one. I was rushing before and they word things to trip you up. Don't be embarrassed either, loads of people fail it, the pass mark is high and the wording is sneaky. Figure out which topics keep catching you and hammer just those. I passed with an 88 the second attempt and I genuinely wasn't any smarter, I just practiced the actual question style instead of only reading.
Honestly I almost gave up after my second fail. Same as you, stuck in the low 60s both times, and I was convinced the test was just badly written or trying to trick people. Turns out I was the problem. I'd been reading the manual cover to cover like a novel, but the actual questions don't test whether you read it, they test whether you can apply the specific rules. Right of way, stopping distances, what the signs actually mean in a real situation. Reading isn't the same as drilling.
What changed it for me was doing practice questions over and over instead of re-reading. Once I started getting the same type wrong repeatedly, I'd go back and look up just that one rule, and it finally stuck. The other thing nobody tells you is to slow down and read every question twice, because half my wrong answers weren't knowledge gaps, they were me rushing and missing the word "not" or "except." You're closer than you think. Low 60s after two tries means you basically know it, you just haven't drilled the weak spots yet. Keep going.