DGT Theory Test in Spain 2026: How to Pass the B Licence Exam

If you live in Spain and your licence cannot be exchanged, or you have never held one, the road to a Spanish car licence goes through two exams run by the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT): a theory test and a practical test. The theory test is where most newcomers stumble, not because the rules are hard, but because the questions turn on single words.

In short. The DGT theory test for the B (car) licence has 30 multiple-choice questions with three options each, you get 30 minutes, and you pass with at most 3 mistakes. To sit it you need normal residence in Spain, a medical certificate (valid 90 days) and the tasa 2.1 fee (94.05 EUR as of October 2026), which covers two attempts. A pass is valid for two years, and the test can be taken in English.

Do you actually need to take the test?

Before you book anything, check whether you can skip the exams altogether.

Your licence	What applies in Spain
EU or EEA country	Valid in Spain while it is in force. Exchanging it for a Spanish one is voluntary.
Non-EU country with an exchange agreement (the UK is on the DGT list, among others)	Valid for at most six months after you become a normal resident. Then you exchange it, usually without tests for the B class.
Non-EU country without an agreement (the United States is not on the list, for example)	Valid for at most six months after you become a normal resident. Then you need a Spanish licence through the theory and practical tests.

Residencia normal (normal residence) means living in Spain for at least 185 days per calendar year, according to the DGT. The full list of countries and the exchange procedure are on the DGT site, and we walk through the options in our guide to driving in Spain with a foreign licence. The rest of this article is for everyone who has to take the tests.

Who can sit the DGT exam

Under article 7 of the Reglamento General de Conductores (the General Drivers' Regulation), a foreign applicant must have normal residence in Spain or be a student who has been here for at least six months. You also need:

• the minimum age: 18 for the B licence. You may take the theory test up to three months before your 18th birthday, but you must be 18 on the day of the practical test;
• physical and mental fitness, proved by a medical certificate;
• no court ban or suspension of your driving entitlement;
• no licence from an EU or EEA country (that one is exchanged, not replaced by a new test).

The route to a B licence, step by step

1. Medical check. Go to a centro de reconocimiento de conductores (driver medical assessment centre) and say the report is for a new B licence. The informe de aptitud psicofísica is valid for 90 days, so apply for the exam before it expires.
2. Application and fee. Pay the tasa (fee) and submit the application to the Jefatura Provincial de Tráfico (provincial traffic office). If you study at an autoescuela (driving school), the school normally files it for you.
3. Theory test. A computer-based test at a DGT exam centre.
4. Practical test. You drive in real traffic with an examiner. For the B licence the driving itself lasts at least 25 minutes (annex VI of the regulation).
5. Provisional licence. When you pass the last test you get a permiso provisional valid for three months and only inside Spain. The definitive card arrives by post in about a month and a half, at no extra cost.

Driving school or "por libre"

Most people sign up with a driving school, which books the exam dates and handles the paperwork. It is not compulsory: applying on your own is called going por libre. According to the DGT e-office, you can apply in three ways:

Route	How it works
Driving school	The school submits the application and books your tests
In person	At any Jefatura or Oficina de Tráfico, with a cita previa (appointment)
Online	Through the DGT electronic registry, with an electronic DNI, a digital certificate or Cl@ve

You submit the official form (Mod. 04), the medical report and proof of payment. Identity: DNI or passport, plus a valid residence authorisation (for example your TIE) if you are not an EU citizen. The current list is on the DGT exam application page.

One practical point for newcomers: in Spain, driving without ever having held a licence is a criminal offence (article 384 of the Criminal Code). If you have no valid licence, you cannot practise in a friend's car on public roads, so lessons and the practical test normally happen in a dual-control driving-school car.

Fees, attempts and deadlines

The exam fee for any licence class is tasa 2.1. It does not include the driving school or the medical report, which set their own prices.

Item	Value (as of October 2026)
Tasa 2.1	94.05 EUR
Paying at a DGT office	Card only, never cash
Attempts (convocatorias) per fee	2
Maximum gap between the two attempts	6 months, unless justified
Not turning up	You lose that attempt, unless you have a justified reason
Minimum wait between the 2nd and 3rd attempt	10 days
Validity of a passed test	2 years from the following day

Fail twice, in the theory or the practical, and you need a new application and a new fee. If you are ill on the day, ask for the anulación de convocatoria (cancellation of the attempt) with a medical note so you do not lose it. And if the two years after your theory pass run out before you get the licence, you start all tests again.

The test format: 30 questions, 30 minutes, 3 mistakes

The regulation (article 52 and annex VI) sets at least 30 questions, one minute per question and errors of no more than 10 %. For the B licence that means:

What	How
Questions	30
Options per question	3 (A, B, C), one correct
Time	30 minutes
Mistakes allowed	At most 3 (so at least 27 correct)
Result	Apto (pass) or no apto (fail)
Your result	In the miDGT app about an hour after the test (you need Cl@ve), or on the DGT website from 17:00 the same day

Many questions show a picture: a sign, a junction, a police officer's gesture, a dashboard warning light. Each candidate gets an individually generated test, so memorising "the" exam papers does not work.

What may change. The regulation already allows traffic videos before questions, and in October 2025 the DGT announced a compulsory risk-perception video question (roundabouts, overtaking, distraction and similar situations). Check dgt.es before your exam to see whether it has started at your centre.

Taking the test in English

For the B licence you can take the theory test in Castilian Spanish, in the co-official language of your region (Catalan, Galician, Basque), or in English, French or German. You choose the language when you apply, so tell your driving school or the Jefatura in advance. The DGT also offers an audio aid (questions read through headphones) and an easy-read version (lectura fácil), both on request beforehand.

English is a real option, but think about what comes next. Road signs, police checks and the examiner in the practical test all use Spanish, and the vocabulary of the theory test is exactly what you will meet on the road. Many people learn the rules in Spanish with a translation at hand, so they are ready for both. Our guide to Spanish for drivers covers the phrases you will need from day one.

Exam day: what to bring and what happens

1. Arrive early with your original identity document: DNI, passport or TIE.
2. Switch off your phone and put it away. Using an earpiece or any device to get help gets you excluded with the loss of the attempt, and under the Traffic Law (article 77.u) it is a very serious offence: a 500 EUR fine and six months before you may sit any driving test again.
3. You sit at a touch-screen computer. Each screen shows one question.
4. You can go back and forward, jump to any question with the numbered buttons and change your answers until you finish.
5. When you are done, press finalizar (finish). Before that, check that all 30 questions have an answer.

The examiner will not explain any question. If a word is unclear, read slowly and pick the most complete option.

How to prepare without memorising tests

The test checks whether you understand the rules, so solid preparation has three layers.

The rules. Cover the whole syllabus: road types and lanes, signs and markings, speed, priority, manoeuvres, stopping and parking, lights, seat belts and child seats, alcohol and fatigue, accidents, documents, fines and points. Make sure your material is current: a new road sign catalogue has applied since 1 July 2025 (Royal Decree 465/2025), and the changes of Royal Decree 518/2026 took effect on 1 October 2026. We list them in Spain's new traffic rules of October 2026.

The language. Even if you test in English, learn the key Spanish terms in pairs: arcén (hard shoulder), calzada (carriageway), ceder el paso (give way), glorieta (roundabout). They are on every sign and in every police check.

Exam-style practice. The DGT publishes free sample tests in the real format, with no registration. The DGT itself says they show you the format and are not a preparation tool, so pair them with a full course.

That is why we built Conducir en España: el permiso B: the whole DGT B-licence theory in Spanish at B1 level, with a one-tap English translation of every word and sentence. It has 17 modules, 74 lessons, 1,417 questions (1,187 in the DGT exam format), almost 200 signs from the 2025 catalogue and a 427-term glossary. The exam simulator works like the real thing: 30 questions, 30 minutes, at most 3 mistakes, options shuffled. It is an independent course, not official DGT material, and no course can promise a pass, but it gives you the full syllabus and a lot of practice.

The traps that cost people their pass

Most wrong answers come from reading too fast. Watch the words that flip the meaning:

Absolute words	Exceptions and nuance
siempre (always), nunca (never)	salvo, excepto (except)
en todo caso (in any case)	como norma general (as a general rule)
en ningún caso (under no circumstances)	podrá (may, is allowed to)
únicamente, solo (only)	si las circunstancias lo permiten (if circumstances allow)

A few more habits that help:

• Read every question twice and find the key: who, where, which road, which vehicle.
• Numbers depend on context. Speed limits, distances and deadlines change with the vehicle (car, car with trailer, van) and the road (motorway, conventional road, built-up area).
• Picture first. Decide what the sign or diagram means before you read the options.
• Rule out the clearly wrong answer. Usually one option is obviously false, which leaves two.
• Unsure? Answer, move on, come back. You can return to any question before you finish.
• New drivers have their own rules. A driver with a licence under three years old starts with 8 points instead of 12, and for the first two years the alcohol limit is lower: 0.15 mg/l in exhaled air.

Our free lesson on how the DGT theory test works walks through these strategies with real exam-style questions.

FAQ

Can I take the DGT theory test in English?

Yes. For the B licence the theory test is available in English, as well as French, German, Spanish and the co-official regional languages. Choose the language when you apply. The practical test, road signs and police checks are in Spanish, so learning the key Spanish terms still pays off.

How much does the Spanish driving theory test cost?

The DGT fee (tasa 2.1) is 94.05 EUR as of October 2026 and covers two attempts. The medical report and the driving school are paid separately and their prices vary. At a DGT office the fee can only be paid by card.

How many mistakes can you make on the DGT theory test?

At most three out of 30 questions. A fourth mistake means no apto and uses up one of the two attempts your fee includes.

Can I exchange my UK or US licence instead of taking the test?

The United Kingdom is on the DGT list of countries with an exchange agreement, so a UK licence can be exchanged once you are a resident. The United States is not on that list, so US licence holders who become residents need the Spanish tests after six months. Always check the current list on sede.dgt.gob.es before you decide.

How long is a theory test pass valid?

Two years from the day after you pass. If you do not pass the practical test and get your licence within that time, you have to take all the tests again.

When do I get my theory test result?

In the miDGT app about an hour after the test, if you are registered with Cl@ve. On the DGT website, computer-based theory results appear from 17:00 the same day and stay online for 15 days.

Your DGT exam checklist

• You have normal residence in Spain (or six months as a student), and you will turn 18 within three months or already have.
• Your medical certificate is still valid (90 days) when you apply.
• Tasa 2.1 is paid and the application is filed through a school, in person or online.
• You have chosen the exam language and, if needed, requested audio or easy-read in advance.
• You regularly score 27 or more out of 30 in timed practice tests.
• You know the rule changes of 2025 and 2026.
• On the day: original DNI, passport or TIE, phone off.

If you want to start today, open the two free lessons of the course: how the DGT theory test works and Spanish warning signs. You will see how the one-tap translation works and whether learning the rules in Spanish suits you.