Learner driver rules in the UK
You can start learning to drive a car on your seventeenth birthday. You can apply for your provisional licence up to three months before that. From the first lesson onwards a fairly short list of rules applies to you and to whoever is sitting beside you. Break them and the penalties land on the learner, on the supervisor, or on both. This guide sets out the whole list in one place.
When you can start
The minimum age for driving a car on the road is 17. If you receive, or have applied for, the enhanced rate of the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment, you can start at 16. You can apply for a provisional licence from 15 years and 9 months. This lets you sit the theory test before you turn 17, though you cannot book the practical test until you hold a theory pass.
A provisional licence costs £34 online from DVLA or £43 by post. Once it arrives, check the details on it. Any mismatch with your other ID will cause problems at the test centre. The DVLA licence check will show you exactly what the record says.
L plates
You must display L plates on the front and rear of the car whenever a learner is driving. They have to be the regulation design: a red L on a white background, on a square measuring 178mm across. In Wales you can use a D plate instead. Plates that are the wrong size, faded, or stuck inside a tinted window count as not displayed.
Take them off, or fold them down, when a full licence holder is driving. Leaving L plates up on a car being driven normally is an offence in its own right, and it also tells other drivers to expect hesitation you are not going to give them.
Failing to display plates correctly carries a fine of up to £1,000 and up to six penalty points on the provisional licence. Points collected while learning carry over to the full licence, and six points within two years of passing means the licence is revoked.
Who can sit with you
A learner cannot drive on a public road alone, and the person in the passenger seat has to meet three conditions. They must be at least 21. They must have held a full licence for the type of vehicle being driven for at least three years, so a full manual car licence if you are learning in a manual. And they must be fit to drive themselves, which in practice means sober, not on a phone, and able to see well enough to pass the number plate test.
There are a few things people get wrong here. A driving instructor does not have to be present. A parent or friend who meets the conditions is fine. And around 22 hours of private practice on top of professional lessons is what DVSA recommends. The supervisor is treated in law as being in charge of the car. They can be prosecuted for using a phone, and they can be breathalysed. And the car itself must be roadworthy, taxed, and insured for the learner to drive, which is the point where most families come unstuck. The full detail on the supervisor’s role is in our guide to who can supervise a learner driver.
Insurance for a learner
A learner needs insurance before driving on the road, and the supervisor’s own policy does not cover them. There are three ways to arrange it. The car owner can add the learner as a named provisional driver on their annual policy. This is the simplest option if they are practising in a parent’s car. Most insurers accept it without changing the premium much. The learner can buy a standalone learner policy for the car, which sits alongside the owner’s cover and leaves the owner’s no claims discount untouched if the learner has a bump. Or, for occasional practice, a short-term policy of a day or a week.
Whichever route you take, be honest about who will be driving and how often. Putting a parent down as the main driver of a car that a teenager mostly drives is called fronting. It invalidates the policy, and it is far more common than people think. There is a full explanation in our fronting guide, and the parents’ guide to a child’s first policy walks through the honest options.
Once you pass, the learner cover ends and you need a full policy of your own or to be added properly to someone else’s. That is where Rooster’s new driver insurance comes in.
Motorways
Since June 2018 learner drivers have been allowed on motorways. But only under two conditions: they must be with an approved driving instructor, and the car must have dual controls. A parent cannot take a learner on the motorway, and a learner cannot go on one in a car without dual controls, however experienced the supervisor is. Motorway lessons are optional, and the driving test does not include motorway driving.
Speed limits and other road rules
Learners in Great Britain are bound by the same speed limits as everyone else. There is no reduced limit for L plates, and driving too slowly for the road is itself a fault in a test. Northern Ireland is different: new drivers there display R plates for a year after passing and are limited to 45mph. Our guide to UK speed limits covers the national limits and the 20mph rules in Wales and English towns.
Everything else in the Highway Code applies as normal. Learners can carry passengers, can drive at night, can drive in bad weather, and can tow a trailer up to the weight limit of the licence category, though few instructors would suggest it.
Penalties
The offences that catch learners most often are driving unaccompanied, driving without insurance, and displaying L plates incorrectly. Driving unaccompanied carries up to six points and a fine; driving uninsured carries a fixed penalty of £300 and six points, or an unlimited fine if it goes to court, and the police can seize the car on the spot. Six points before or within two years of passing means starting again from a provisional licence, with the theory and practical tests to retake.
Frequently asked questions
Can a learner driver drive alone?
No. A learner must have a qualifying supervisor in the front passenger seat at all times on a public road.
Do learners have to take lessons with an instructor?
No. The law only requires a qualifying supervisor. Almost everyone uses an instructor for at least part of their learning, and DVSA’s figures suggest around 45 hours of professional tuition for the average first-time pass. The costs are set out in our guide to how much it costs to learn to drive.
Can a learner drive at night or on a dual carriageway?
Yes to both. The only road type with restrictions is the motorway.
Does a learner need to pass the theory test before lessons?
No. You need a theory pass before you can book the practical test, but you can start lessons as soon as you hold a provisional licence. Most instructors suggest booking the theory early because the practical test waiting list is long. See how to pass your theory test.
Can a learner use a phone for sat nav?
Only if it is fixed in a holder and set before moving, the same as any driver.
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