Passenger car – B
See the steps you need to go through to obtain a driving licence for category B. You can see your progress in your driver training on Your page.
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When you have completed the Basic Traffic Course, you will be issued a learner’s permit (provisional driving licence) which gives you the right to practise
You must take the Basic Traffic Course before you can take driving lessons with a driving school or practise driving with a lay instructor.
The Basic Traffic Course is mandatory and consists of 17 hours of instruction. This will give you a basic understanding of what it means to be a driver. You must be at least 15 years old in order to take the Basic Traffic Course at a driving school.
You may also take the course in Year 10 in secondary school.
What do you learn in the Basic Traffic Course?
- About driver training and traffic awareness
- About traffic and the driver’s role
- About interaction and human factors in traffic
- About driver training, practice driving and driving experience
- About traffic accidents: your responsibilities and first aid
- About traffic accidents: what to do?
- About night driving (course)
About night driving
If your practical driving test takes place between 16 March and 31 October you can take the night driving course after you have passed the practical driving test.
Learner’s permit
When you have completed the Basic Traffic Course, you will be issued a learner’s permit (provisional driving licence) which gives you the right to practise driving. You must show your learner’s permit and valid proof of identity with a photograph if you are stopped for inspection. This applies both when you are taking driving lessons with a driving school and when you are practice driving with a lay instructor.
Where will you find the permit?
You can log in to Your page and show your learner’s permit from the website. You may also present the original paper version of your learner's permit, issued by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.
A printout or picture of the permit from Your page is insufficient if you are stopped for inspection.
Is your learner’s permit valid?
Once you have completed the Basic Traffic Course, including night driving course, your learner’s permit is valid until you receive your driving licence. If you take the Basic Traffic Course in the time period from 16 March to 31 October, you will not be able to take the night driving course. In this case, your learner's permit will be valid until 1 November the same year. After this, you must complete the nightdriving course before you can practise driving again.
You can see how long your permit is valid on the permit itself. The online version of your permit at Your page will tell you whether you have completed your night driving course and whether your learner’s permit is valid.
Have you lost your learner’s permit?
You can always find your learner’s permit at Your page. You may also contact a driver and vehicle licensing office (trafikkstasjon) and ask for a new learner’s permit to be sent to you by post.
Are you more than 25 years old?
If so, you are exempt from parts of the Basic Traffic Course, and may practice drive without a learner’s permit. Remember to always carry valid proof of identity.
First aid and night driving are mandatory components for everyone. You may complete the night driving course after the practical driving test if you take the test between 16 March and 31 October.
Do you already have a driving licence?
If so, you are not required to take the Basic Traffic Course and may proceed to the next step.
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At this step you will learn about people in traffic, how to drive in an environmentally friendly manner, your responsibilities as a driver, and more.
In order to drive in traffic you need to handle your vehicle well enough to be able to focus your attention on other road users.
Training may take place at a driving school, with a lay instructor, or in a combination of the two. How many lessons you need will depend on your individual requirements and how much you practise with a lay instructor. It is important that you reach the goals for this step.
Automatic or manual transmission?
You can choose whether you want to take your practical driving test with automatic or manual transmission. If you choose automatic transmission for your practical driving test, your driving licence will be marked with a code that restricts your driving entitlement to cars with automatic transmission. If at a later date you wish to expand your entitlement to include manual transmission, you will need to take a new practical driving test.
Mandatory end-of-step assessment
Towards the end of step 2 there is a mandatory assessment. Together, you and your instructor will assess whether you have the skills required to go to step 3.
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At this step you will learn to drive independently and safely in varied traffic.
You will learn about issues such as
- different road user groups and conflicts of interest
- driving in an efficient, economical and environmentally friendly manner
- reducing the risk of accidents
- overtaking and being overtaken
Training may take place at a driving school, with a lay instructor, or in a combination of the two. How many lessons you need will depend on your individual requirements and how much you practise with a lay instructor. It is important that you reach the goals for this step.
Mandatory safety course on a practice range
Towards the end of step 3 you are to complete a safety course on a practice driving range. The course lasts for 4 hours and will help you learn how to avoid accidents. Among other things you will learn
- how to secure passengers and loads
- how your manner of driving will determine whether you retain or lose control of the car
Mandatory end-of-step assessment
Towards the end of step 3 you and your instructor will jointly assess whether you have the skills required to go to step 4.
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You are about to complete your training. Before you can take the theory test you must have applied for a driving licence. Consider applying now.
At this step you will develop your skills to a level where you can drive responsibly and interact well with other road users.
Among other things, you are to be able to choose low-risk ways of driving, counteract accidents, and be conscious of how you can improve as a driver also after receiving your driving licence.
Individual adjustments and extensive driving practice
Some of the training at this stage is mandatory, but the mandatory training is usually not sufficient to reach the main goal. It is therefore important that you practise extensively at a driving school or with a lay instructor. Ideally, you should practice driving for several thousand kilometres before taking the practical driving test.
Mandatory safety course on the road
This is a 13-hour course. It has 4 parts:
- Risks involved in driving a car
- Driving on country roads, and overtaking
- Final driving in traffic
- Reflection and summing up
In order to benefit from this course, you need to be at a sufficiently high level of skill. Ideally you ought to be at a level where you can pass the practical driving test before you take this course.
In this course you are to further develop:
- your understanding of the risks of driving
- your ability to counteract accidents such as head-on collisions, run-off-the-road accidents and overtaking accidents
- your ability to assess yourself as a driver
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You take the theory test at a Driver and Vehicle Licensing Office. You must book an appointment for this. You need to apply for a driving licence first.
You can also fill in an application form on paper, and send it to us by mail.
You need to book the theory test in advance. When you present yourself for the theory test, you will have to show valid proof of identity and pay the fee for the theory test. You take the theory test on a computer in our test room, and you will be given your result immediately after completing the test.
When you have passed the theory test, you can take the practical driving test if you have completed all mandatory training and it has been registered in our system. You can track the progress of your training under Your applications on Your Page.
You must pass the practical driving test within 3 years of having passed the theory test. For licence categories where the theory test is the final test (Snowmobile S, Moped AM146 and AM147), the theory test is valid for 5 years.
Age
You can take the theory test at the earliest 6 months before you reach the age requirement for the driving licence in question. Exceptions are moped and snowmobile. For these categories the age requirement must be met since the theory test is the final test.
Assisted theory test
You may apply for an assisted theory test if you have difficulties reading and understanding the questions. Such tests are carried out with an examiner present in order to help you understand what is written in the questions.
Did you fail the theory test?
If you do not pass the theory test, you need to wait 2 weeks before you can take a new test. You can find out which topics you answered incorrectly, but not the exact questions. When you present yourself for a new test, you once again need to show valid proof of identity and pay for the theory test.
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You take the practical driving test at a Driver and Vehicle Licensing Office.
You are the driver, and you are responsible for what is done during the test.
You can either authorize the traffic school to book an appointment for you, or choose which Driver and Vehicle Licensing Office you want to book a test at.
When you arrive for the test, you will have to present valid proof of identity. You can pay for the test in advance on Your Page, or over the counter before the test. Paying online is cheaper.
The test consists of several parts or tasks. You must solve all tasks without assistance, including the driving itself. The way you solve the tasks will be assessed as a whole, to the extent that this is possible.
The result will be determined when you have completed the test. As soon as the test is over, you will be told whether or not you passed. You will be given a written statement, explaining the decision made.
The car you use for your practical driving test must be approved as a test vehicle by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and rented from a driving school.
What the test comprises
- You will be driving for 55-60 minutes, under varying road and traffic conditions.
- The route you drive will have been determined in advance. Your route is selected by a computer.
- You will get a safety check question/task before the driving begins.
- How you prepare yourself and the car for the drive, and how you park afterwards, are also parts of the test.
Safety check
You may be asked, for example, to check the lights, brakes or warning lamps. In addition you will be asked to explain what the cause or consequence might be if something is wrong.
Tasks you will be given while you drive
You will be given directions in good time as to where to drive, and most of the time you will be asked to drive towards destinations in the form of place names for which you will find direction signs along the way. You may be asked to turn around, park and reverse.
The driving examiner’s assessment
The driving examiner will assess whether you have reached the goals to the extent that you can now practise on your own.
- Emphasis will be placed on how well you handle the car and whether you drive comfortably and efficiently.
- At the same time you must be able to pay attention to the road and traffic situation around you.
- Your driving must be predictable and safe and promote efficient traffic flow.
- You must plan ahead as you drive, be considerate of the needs of others and seek efficient interaction with other road users.