TheoryQuest

How to get a driving licence in Denmark

This is the whole process for a car licence (category B) in Denmark: what to sort out before you start, how the driver training is built up, the tests, what it costs and the rules for new drivers. At the end there is some advice.

Checked against the rules on 2 November 2026

In short

the youngest age for a car licence
17
theory lessons at least
30
driving lessons at least
24
of stricter rules as a new driver
3 yrs
  • You can start driving three months before you turn 17 and get your licence from your 17th birthday. Until you turn 18, you need an accompanying adult between 8 pm and 5 am.
  • You apply at borgerservice (citizen service) with a photo, a medical certificate and proof of a road-traffic first-aid course. If you are under 18, your parents must consent.
  • The training has five modules: theory, a closed practice area, driving on the road, motorway and darkness, and finally the skid pan. All practice driving is with an instructor.
  • For the first three years the alcohol limit is 0.2 per mille, and two penalty points or one serious offence lead to a driving ban.

Before you start

To get a licence you complete driver training with an instructor approved for cars and pass a theory test and a practical test. You must live in Denmark (or have stayed here as a student for at least six months), and you must meet the health and eyesight requirements.

  • Age. A car licence can be issued from the age of 17. You can start the theory lessons earlier, but practice driving – including the closed practice area – no earlier than three months before your 17th birthday. The theory test can be taken one month before, and the practical test from your 17th birthday.
  • Driving school. All lessons must be with an instructor approved for category B. You choose the school yourself, and the packages vary a lot – see the advice further down.
  • Application. You apply on Færdselsstyrelsen's form (P23) at borgerservice in any municipality. Usually your instructor hands it in. You show valid ID, such as a passport or a driving licence from an EU or EEA country.
  • Photo. A good likeness, 35 × 45 mm, taken straight on without headwear against a light background. Many municipalities take the photo at borgerservice for a fee.
  • Medical certificate. You fill in your part of the digital medical certificate on borger.dk and then see your own doctor, who completes it and sends it to the municipality. The doctor charges for it. It may be at most six months old when your application is handed in complete.
  • First aid. For your first licence you need a road-traffic first-aid course: 8 hours, 4 of them CPR and 4 of first aid at road accidents, with an instructor registered with Dansk Førstehjælpsråd (the Danish First Aid Council). The certificate may be at most one year old when your application is handed in complete, and borgerservice must have it before the theory test can be booked.
  • Under 18. Everyone with parental responsibility for you must consent on form P23T, signed by hand. If there are two, both sign.

Tip: Take the first-aid course and get the medical certificate in good time, but not too early. If they are too old by the time your application is complete, you need them again.

The driver training

The training has five modules with at least 30 theory lessons and 24 driving lessons. A lesson only counts if it lasts at least 45 minutes in one go. You move on to the next module only when your instructor judges that you have reached its goals, and the theory for a topic must be covered before you practise it in the car.

  1. Module 1: Basic understanding of traffic
    At least 7 theory lessons
    How cars and road users behave, how roads are designed, and the basic traffic rules. The module starts with the rules for the driver training itself.
  2. Module 2: Preparing to drive
    At least 5 theory lessons and 3 driving lessons
    You get to know the car's equipment and controls and learn to spot faults that matter for safety. Then you drive for the first time – on a closed practice area (manøvrebane), alone in the car, practising moving off, braking, reversing, turning round and parking at low speed.
  3. Module 3: Driving on the road
    At least 8 theory lessons and 6 driving lessons
    Now you drive in traffic, first on quieter roads: road position, speed, meeting other vehicles, junctions, roundabouts and changing lanes.
  4. Module 4: More demanding roads
    At least 9 theory lessons and 6 driving lessons, one of them in the dark
    Heavier traffic and harder roads, overtaking, turning round and parking, motorways and expressways, tunnels and light rail. In theory you cover particular risks in traffic and the rules for the test and the licence. You can take the theory test once modules 1–4 are done.
  5. Module 5: Final theory and driving
    At least 1 theory lesson and 9 driving lessons, 4 of them at a skid-pan centre
    At the skid-pan centre (køreteknisk anlæg, often called glatbanen) you practise stopping in the shortest possible distance, braking and swerving on both normal and slippery surfaces, and straightening the car when it skids. The point is not to drive faster but to feel how much speed matters. The module ends with independent driving on the road.

Good to know

  • Only with an instructor. Practice driving in a car is only allowed with an approved instructor (or a trainee instructor under supervision) next to you. So you can't practise with your family.
  • Pace. You can have at most 8 lessons a day, at most 3 of them driving (4 at the skid pan), and the training must be spread over at least 14 teaching days.
  • Theory. Theory lessons take place in a classroom with the instructor present. Up to 7 of them can be agreed as self-study in certain topics.
  • The module plan. You get Færdselsstyrelsen's module plan by your first lesson, and your instructor signs it when a module is complete. You bring it to the tests.
  • Manual or automatic. If you take the practical test in an automatic, you get code 78 and may only drive automatics – unless at least seven of your driving lessons were in a manual car (a trial scheme).

The tests

The driving test is a theory test and a practical test, held by Færdselsstyrelsen (the Danish Road Traffic Authority). The tests are booked online once the municipality has approved your application.

  • The theory test can be taken once modules 1–4 are done and your instructor has signed. It has 25 questions, and you may make at most 5 mistakes. A passed theory test is valid for 18 months.
  • The practical test can be taken once all the mandatory lessons are done – the skid pan included. You provide the car. The test starts with a check of the car, followed by at least 25 minutes of driving.
  • Fee. The driving test and issuing the licence cost 1,600 kr. (2026).

Everything about test day – what to bring, the control questions, the manoeuvres and how you are assessed – is in How the Danish driving test works.

Once you have passed

You get a temporary paper licence on the spot. It is valid for three months in Denmark and the Nordic countries (in Denmark only, if you are under 18), and the plastic card arrives about four weeks after it has been ordered. The licence is valid for 15 years. Category B lets you drive cars and vans up to 3,500 kg with at most eight passengers, and tow a trailer of up to 750 kg – or a heavier one, if car and trailer together weigh no more than 3,500 kg.

If you are 17: an accompanying adult at night

Until you turn 18, you may only drive in Denmark, and between 8 pm and 5 am you must have an accompanying adult (ledsager) with you. Your licence carries code 141 and becomes an ordinary licence automatically on your 18th birthday. The accompanying adult must:

  • be at least 24
  • have held a car licence issued in Denmark or the Faroe Islands for at least five years, and carry a valid licence
  • not have been disqualified from driving, conditionally or unconditionally, in the last five years
  • sit in the front passenger seat, watch the traffic and be ready to advise you – and keep to the same alcohol and drug rules as a driver

The accompanying adult signs Færdselsstyrelsen's form for accompanying adults before you drive, and the form must be in the car. It is up to you to tell them about the requirements. If you drive with someone you know doesn't meet them, you can be fined.

The first three years

  • 0.2 per mille. For the first three years after you get your car licence, the alcohol limit is 0.2 per mille instead of 0.5. Above it counts as drink-driving.
  • Driving ban. Two penalty points (klip), or one offence that would otherwise lead to a conditional disqualification – such as driving more than 60% over the limit, or drink-driving at up to 1.2 per mille – give you a driving ban (kørselsforbud). The three years count from the first time you got a licence for a car, motorcycle or moped (category AM).
  • Getting your licence back. With a driving ban you may not drive until you have completed special driving lessons (at least 8 theory and 8 driving lessons over at least 8 days) and/or – for alcohol or drugs – an ANT course (four sessions of three hours over at least four weeks), and passed a check test (kontrollerende køreprøve) with theory and practical parts.
  • Again within three years. If, within three years of the driving ban, you commit another offence that would lead to a conditional disqualification, you are disqualified unconditionally.

What gives a penalty point?

A penalty point (klip) is an offence that doesn't cost you your licence on its own, such as running a red light, driving against the direction of traffic or across a solid line, illegal overtaking, failing to give way, driving more than 30% over the limit, or using a hand-held phone while driving. After the first three years, three points within three years lead to a conditional disqualification.

Cost and time

The only fixed amount is the fee to Færdselsstyrelsen: 1,600 kr. for the driving test and issuing the licence (2026). The rest depends on the driving school and on how many lessons you need. The figures below are typical prices from FDM (the Danish motorists' association) from 2025, not official prices, and they are from before the rules changed in 2026.

  • Basic package (lovpakke): typically from 9,000 kr. up to about 18,000 kr., depending on where in the country you live and how popular the school is. A basic package covers the legal minimum of lessons.
  • Medical certificate: typically 500–1,000 kr.
  • On top of that, maybe: the first-aid course, the photo, extra driving lessons, renting the school car for the test, and a new test if you fail. Some packages include some of these, others don't.

On time, the rules only say that the training must be spread over at least 14 teaching days and that you may have at most 3 driving lessons a day (4 at the skid pan). How long it takes in practice depends on the school's schedule, how quickly you learn and when test slots are free. Some schools offer intensive courses of a few weeks, but the promise of finishing that fast only holds if you pass first time.

Advice

This is advice, not rules. It is based on how the training and the tests are put together.

  • Compare driving schools. Check what the package includes: test fee, first aid, renting the school car, access to theory material and extra lessons. FDM advises against paying large sums up front – if the school goes bankrupt, the money can be lost – and points to Ankenævnet for Køreundervisning (the complaints board for driving lessons) to look up complaints.
  • Practise theory all the way. The theory test comes once modules 1–4 are done. Practise questions on a topic while it is fresh from class, instead of cramming the week before. Practise the theory test with 25 questions in 25 minutes.
  • Learn the road signs early. You need them from your first drive on the road, and they are part of the theory test. Practise road signs.
  • Prepare the control questions. The practical test starts with a check of the car, which you learn in module 2. Keep practising so it sticks by test day. See all the control questions with answers, or practise them.
  • Budget for extra lessons. The basic package is a minimum, and according to FDM few people manage with it alone.

If you fail

  • The theory test: there is no waiting period, but you pay again. Use practice tests to find the topics you get wrong.
  • The practical test: if this is your first car licence, you must wait seven days (until the same weekday the following week) before you can retake it, and you pay again. The examiner goes through an assessment form with you – use it to plan your next lessons.
  • Mind the deadline: you must pass the practical test within 18 months of the theory test, or take the theory test again.

Tip: Failing a test is not unusual. You don't have to drive without a single fault to pass; the examiner judges your driving as a whole. Read more in How the Danish driving test works.

Frequently asked questions

How old do you have to be to get a driving licence in Denmark?
You can get a car licence from the age of 17. Practice driving can start three months before, the theory test one month before, and the practical test from your 17th birthday. Until you turn 18, you may only drive in Denmark, and between 8 pm and 5 am you need an accompanying adult.
How many driving lessons do you need?
At least 24 driving lessons and 30 theory lessons of at least 45 minutes. Of the driving lessons, at least 3 are on a closed practice area, 4 at a skid-pan centre and 1 in the dark.
How much does a Danish driving licence cost?
The driving test and issuing the licence cost 1,600 kr., paid to Færdselsstyrelsen (2026). A basic package at a driving school typically costs 9,000–18,000 kr. according to FDM (2025), plus things like the medical certificate, the photo and extra lessons.
Can you practise driving with your parents in Denmark?
No. Practice driving in a car is only allowed with an approved driving instructor (or a trainee instructor under supervision) next to you.
Who can be the accompanying adult for a 17-year-old driver?
Someone aged at least 24 who has held a car licence issued in Denmark or the Faroe Islands for at least five years, has a valid licence and has not been disqualified in the last five years. They sit in the front passenger seat and sign a form for accompanying adults before you drive.
What happens if a new driver gets two penalty points?
Two penalty points (klip) within the first three years give you a driving ban. You may not drive until you have completed special driving lessons and passed a check test.

Practise along the way

Practise the theory testPractise control questionsPractise road signs

Sources

The rules on this page are based on these acts, orders and pages (in Danish), checked on 2 November 2026. The prices from FDM are a guide only. The rules change from time to time.