Search engine: these are the passing percentages in each driving school in Spain

Last year, just over 2.5 million people took an exam to obtain a driving license.. The majority, 70%, did so to obtain a car driving license, known as a B permit.. In total, 1.8 million tests were carried out, distributed almost 50% between practical and theoretical exams, according to data from the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT).

In the case of the theoretical exam, the majority of those who took it passed, although the success rates this year have not been particularly high. Specifically, 52% of the tests passed the practical test. But in the driving exam, passing is complicated: only 46% of the trips taken by the candidates resulted in a license..

These data should not be interpreted as the percentage of people who pass or fail, since the same person who fails two or more times counts for each of them.. However, they do serve to measure the rate of passing or failing over the total number of tests carried out..

The DGT figures allow us to know the results for each of the more than 8,000 driving schools in Spain. Thus, the Luis Barakaldo center, in the province of Vizcaya, appears as the one with the highest passing rate in the last five years for the theoretical exam, on average. 95% of the exams taken by students of this driving school passed the first test to obtain the license.

Luis Javier is the director of this driving school that his father founded in 72.. Furthermore, he himself teaches the theory classes.. The good result does not come as a surprise to him, since he acknowledges following these data from the DGT closely.. “Since they were published, we are always among the ten best driving schools in Spain,” he says..

In the following table, you can consult the figures for each driving school. To avoid bias, those in which at least 50 exams were not carried out throughout 2023 have been excluded, so they are not all. In the cases of franchised centers (such as Hoy voy or Gala, for example), when the name is repeated in different establishments but in the same province, the grouped rate of all those in that province that have the same name is shown..

For Luis Javier, the trick is not to neglect training and to maintain face-to-face theoretical classes. According to his perception, the trend in recent years with the proliferation of low-cost centers has consisted of “eliminating theoretical classes and placing students in front of a computer to take dozens of tests.”. This translates into lower approval rates.. “They make you a very aggressive recruitment offer but, in the end, they make money with the renewals”.

“We think that classes are essential, because the better the rule is assimilated, the better it is followed later,” considers Luis Barakaldo's manager.. “This way, students better face the theoretical and also the practical,” he says..

The pilot is usually, however, the most complicated barrier to obtaining the license.. But some centers manage to obtain better results than the national average. In the following table, you can see the percentage of passes for each school with at least 50 presented in the last year.

In 2023, one of the driving schools that achieved the best pass rate in Spain was Sobre Ruedas, in Soria: 67% of those examined passed the practical. “I'm glad! It will be because of the new cars we bought,” jokes Ángel, manager of the center. He opened his driving school ten years ago and says that he has seen how in recent years the results, in general, have gotten worse..

According to his experience, in order to pass the theory there is more and more “laziness” on the part of the students, something that, in his opinion, the pandemic and online classes have not helped. Regarding the practical, he believes that achieving a higher or lower pass rate may depend on several factors.. “In summer here in Soria there is a boom of young people, with fresh minds…”. For him, sometimes the examiner and the way he gives the orders also influence, which can make the student feel more or less comfortable, although he explains that in the end the passing rates do not vary so much between one examiner and another..

Toledo, the province where approval is faster

In addition to each driving school, thanks to the DGT data you can also know if there are provinces where the number of approved students is higher.. Ceuta, Badajoz and Toledo are the places where the pass rate is highest. And another 22 provinces exceed the national average of 46% success in obtaining the practical. And on the opposite side of the scale, the Balearic Islands, Zamora, Almería, Las Palmas and Ourense register pass rates even below 40%, with the Galician province having the lowest figure in Spain.

For the proportion of people who get the practical on the first try, the ranking is similar to the previous one, although Toledo climbs one position, positioning itself as the Spanish province where getting the license is faster: almost 30% get it on the first try.

The DGT figures are monthly, which confirms that there is no “magic month” in which the number of approved people is higher.. Of course, the time of year when most students take the practical is July, giving way to August, the time when fewer people take the exam.