Before you can sit it
- All 12 Essential Driver Training lessons with an Approved Driving Instructor, each one stamped and signed in your EDT logbook. Bring the completed logbook to the test.
- Your first learner permit held for at least six months. If you hold a full licence from a country Ireland has no licence exchange agreement with, you may qualify for reduced EDT: 6 lessons, and no six-month wait.
- Apply and pay at rsa.ie. The car test is €85. You are then sent an invitation to book, and you have 10 days to choose an appointment. If you are not ready, you can hold off and rejoin the queue later.
You can reschedule twice without losing your fee, as long as you give at least 10 days' notice through MyRoadSafety.
What to bring
- Your learner permit: in date, for category B, and matching who you are.
- A certificate of motor insurance showing you are insured to drive the car you bring. A copy or a digital copy is fine. If your name is not on it, also bring an email or a letter on headed paper from the insurer saying you are insured to drive that car for the test. You can cover other people's details; the tester looks and hands it back.
- Your completed EDT logbook.
- Suitable shoes. Flip-flops, sandals, backless shoes and bare feet are not accepted.
Arrive early and wait in the test centre, not in the car. Nobody else can come on the test with you, though an RSA official sometimes sits in to supervise the tester and takes no part in it.
What the car needs
You bring the car, and you sign a statement that it is roadworthy. A test that cannot go ahead because of the car costs you the fee again.
- On display: an original, valid insurance disc and motor tax disc, an NCT disc if the car needs one, and L plates front and rear that are not faded.
- No dashboard warning lights. One that shows before or during the test stops it.
- Working brake lights, amber indicators, handbrake, wipers and washers, and a clean windscreen without bad cracks.
- Tyres legal, with no bulges or cuts, and no space-saver spare on the car.
- For the tester: a working seat belt and head restraint on the front passenger seat, a passenger door that opens from inside and out, and windows that open on both sides.
- Nothing recording. A dashcam or any camera must be off. No smoking or vaping in the car beforehand, no pets, and loose things put away or secured.
- A hired car needs a stamped note from the hire company saying it is insured for a driving test. A car registered outside Ireland is not accepted.
On the day
The whole visit takes about 50 to 100 minutes.
- At the desk: 14 questions. 6 on the Rules of the Road, 6 road signs and 2 hand signals you show the tester. Pedestrian crossings, traffic lights, dipping headlights, road markings and right of way always come up.
- At the car, technical checks: you explain how you would check 3 of these, picked by the tester: tyres, lights, reflectors, indicators, engine oil, coolant, wipers and washer fluid, steering, brakes and horn. Oil, coolant and washer fluid mean opening the bonnet and closing it securely yourself.
- In the car, secondary controls: with the engine running you work 3 of these: wipers, lights including dipping the headlights, washer, fan, air vents, rear window heater, air conditioning, temperature, rear fog lights and air intake. Then you set your seat, belt, head restraint and mirrors.
- The drive: at least 25 minutes on the road, with a reverse around a corner, a turnabout and a hill start. The tester says where to turn in good time; otherwise follow the road, and ask if a direction is not clear. At the end you are asked to park; a reverse park is not asked for.
How it is marked
The tester gives no advice or encouragement on the way, so that every test is judged the same. Faults are marked by how serious they are:
- Grade 2: a serious fault.
- Grade 3: a dangerous or potentially dangerous fault, or a total disregard of traffic controls.
- Minor faults are not recorded at all.
You fail with any one of these:
- 1 or more Grade 3 faults
- 4 of the same Grade 2 fault in a single aspect
- 6 or more Grade 2 faults under the same heading
- 9 or more Grade 2 faults overall
Getting 3 or more of the desk questions wrong or unanswered, hand signals included, is one Grade 2 fault; the same goes for the technical checks.
A mistake does not have to mean a fail. Put it behind you and keep driving well.
Your result
You get it back at the desk.
- A pass: you sign your Certificate of Competency, valid for two years. Apply to the NDLS for your full licence as soon as you can: the certificate is not a licence, so until the licence arrives you still have to be accompanied, keep the L plates on and stay off motorways, even on the drive home. With your first full licence come N plates for two years.
- Not this time: you get a detailed report of your faults. Work on them with your instructor and reapply through MyRoadSafety.
From the RSA's Checklist for your practical driving test (July 2026), its standard procedures for driving tests (2025) and marking guidelines, Citizens Information, and the EDT regulations (S.I. 173 of 2011), checked October 2026.