How to get your provisional driving license
In order to take the theory test, and ultimately the practical driving test, you will need to have a valid provisional driving license. Indeed you need the provisional license in order to be able to learn to drive at all, so you will need to get it before your first lesson.
There is an online service available through the DVLA that you can use to apply for your driving license.
You can also apply through the mail or indeed in person. The form that you will need is called a D1 application form. There is full information about this on the DVLA website; however briefly you will need to ensure that you meet their criteria for proving your identity, and also include a photograph.
Currently the price is set at £38 to receive your provisional driving license. In terms of the time that it takes, then you should expect to wait around three weeks because this is the time in which the DVLA tries to turnaround your driving license from receipt of your application. It is therefore not recommended that you contact the DVLA to follow-up on your application if less than three weeks have passed, as this is normal.
Please note there are different processes for other licenses (for instance buses and other large vehicles); this website is focused on cars exclusively.
Related Articles...
Driving and mobile phones
Some people are confused about the rules about using a mobile whilst
driving, whilst others know the rules and break them. You might see other
people driving with a phone to their ear but you...
Hazard Perception
There has been a significant increase in the focus of hazard perception and hazard awareness in the last few years since the introduction by the DSA of a separate hazard perception element to the...
Reading or hearing difficulties and the theory test
If you have some sort of reading difficulty, which might be but is not limited to dyslexia, then do not panic. You can get the questions read to you in English or Welsh (or indeed if you want the...
What is driving test theory?
Theory is something we understand when it comes to maths or science. A theory is a prediction as to why something that has usually been observed to happen does happen, and scientists use theories...
Your engine temperature gauge
These days many of us get into a car without really understanding how any of it works, and even the engine and how it operates and powers the car is a mystery to many.
Well, essentially it...
Driving Test and Independent Driving
Independent driving - where the candidate is not following the directions given at each stage by the instructor but rather following a route, e.g. following road signs to Town X until the instructor...
The Driving Standards Agency
The Driving Standards Agency has a website at www.dsa.gov.uk.
They are an executive agency within the Department for Transport in the UK.
They deliver tests for theory and practical...
Road conditions: driving in rain
Driving in rain is something that you can be sure you will experience regularly once you are an actual driver, although depending where you live and the time of year you learnt, you might have...
Prepare for driving theory tests
In order to pass tests, whether they are academic tests at school such as english, geography, spanish, french and so on, or to pass some other one - like theory tests - the methodology that can be...
What causes accidents: tailgating
Driving too close to a vehicle is dangerous for the very simple reason that you have too little time to react should something unexpected happen. And when you consider how many road journeys there...
Back to home page of driving theory test questions