Finland's driving licence law changes on 1 October 2026 – what changes for category B learners

What changes on 1 October 2026?

• Risk-awareness training grows from 8 to 12 hours. The training is mandatory for everyone taking a category B licence, including learners on a family teaching permit, and it is given by a driving school.
• At most half of the driving instruction may be done in a simulator. At least half must be driven in a real car in traffic.
• 17-year-old drivers must display a minor-driver identifier. The identifier must be in the car whenever a 17-year-old drives a passenger car.
• Cheating in the theory test leads to a six-month ban from the test.
• The driving test can in future be taken by police order even during a temporary driving ban.

What already changed on 29 May 2026?

• A night-driving ban for 17-year-olds from 00:00 to 05:00. It applies to all 17-year-old passenger-car drivers, including those who got their licence before the change. Breaking it is treated as driving without entitlement – typically a fine and a driving ban.
• The age exemption became stricter. The applicant must be at least 16 years and 8 months old, the school or work commute over 7 km and at least four times a week, and no exemption is granted if the applicant is or has been under a driving ban. The theory test can be taken at the earliest one month before the 17th birthday. Applications submitted before 29 May 2026 were handled under the old criteria.

What does this mean if you are getting your licence right now?

The driving test and its assessment are unaffected: four areas, the 1–5 scale and the fail rules are the same as before (see how the driving test works). The changes concern instruction before the test and driving after the licence is issued.

The new requirements apply to everyone, including those who started their licence before 1 October 2026: what matters is when the training and the test are completed, not when instruction began. If the risk-awareness training has not been done by 1 October, it is done as the 12-hour version. For learners on a teaching permit the simulator limit is the key change: the smaller the share of instruction allowed in a simulator, the more weight real practice driving in traffic carries.

Anyone getting a licence at 17 should remember the night-driving ban from the very first night – it already applies, and the identifier becomes mandatory in the car on 1 October.