The driving test: how it works and what is assessed
The whole test takes at least an hour, four areas are assessed and fewer than half pass on the first attempt. Here is everything worth knowing about the Finnish driving test before you book it.
How long is the driving test?
The whole test takes at least 60 minutes, of which at least 45 minutes are driven in traffic. The rest is the opening discussion, the vehicle check and the closing discussion. That is considerably more driving than many expect – tiredness and lapses in concentration towards the end are a typical way to lose a pass.
How does the test proceed, step by step?
- Opening discussion. Identity, documents and the car's suitability for the test are checked. The examiner explains how route directions will be given. Before the test you have completed a self-assessment on the same four areas and the same scale you will be assessed on.
- Preparing the car and the technical check. Seating position, mirrors, seat belts, head restraints. The examiner asks about at least one technical check item, for example lights, tyres or fluids.
- Driving in traffic, at least 45 minutes. The route is varied: junctions, pedestrian crossings, traffic lights, lane changes, roundabouts. At least a third of the time is driven on roads with a speed limit of at least 60 km/h, and always also on a road with a limit of at least 80 km/h. Local knowledge is not required; directions can also come from your own sat-nav.
- Manoeuvres. At least two of four: reversing (straight or around a corner), a U-turn, parking or a hill start. At least one is done in reverse gear. Getting out of the car is always assessed too – do you look behind before opening the door.
- Closing discussion. The examiner gives the decision and the reasons and provides written feedback. After a failed test that feedback is your most important tool for the next attempt.
What is assessed in the driving test?
The examiner grades four areas on a scale of 1–5:
- Vehicle handling and control – control of speed and direction, smooth acceleration and braking, the car's size and space requirements, manoeuvres, economical driving.
- Consideration for other road users – mirrors and blind spots, indicators, following distance, giving way to pedestrians and cyclists and leaving them enough room, flexibility towards others.
- Anticipating and managing traffic situations – speed appropriate to the situation and the limits, spotting hazards in time, positioning and signalling in time, looking ahead, to the sides and behind, obeying traffic rules and lights, smoothness.
- Self-management – calm and decisiveness, care, concentration, considered execution of the route, an understanding attitude towards others.
The assessment is an overall judgement, not a fault counter. The guideline's own wording of a pass is apt: in a passed test the examiner feels safe throughout.
When is the driving test failed?
Under Traficom's guideline the test is failed if
- any area is graded 1 (a clear, serious deficiency), or
- more than one area is graded 2, or
- a driving error or the driving style immediately endangers safety – regardless of whether the examiner had to intervene. If another road user has to brake or swerve because of you, this is it.
So one area graded 2 is allowed if the others are at least 3. The examiner pays particular attention to clear rule violations, the same mistake repeated, and disregard for others. The same small mistake three times weighs more than three different small mistakes.
How many pass the driving test on the first attempt?
Fewer than half. In 2025, 49 percent of first-attempt category B tests were passed, and the share has fallen four years in a row (54 % in 2022). About 30,000 retests are taken every year. Source: Traficom's driving examination statistics, Statistics Finland.
What does the driving test cost?
The test fee is 110 € (Traficom's price list of 1 January 2026). On top of that comes the driving school's car and instructor for the test, typically 50–100 €. With a family teaching permit the test is usually taken in your own car, leaving only the test fee. A failed test costs the same again at the retest, and many take extra lessons before it.
How should you prepare for the test?
Do practice drives that are as long as the test and shaped like it: at least 45 minutes without a break, varied environments, including an 80 km/h road, and the manoeuvres as part of the drive rather than separately. Ask your instructor or parent to grade the four areas on the same 1–5 scale and compare with your own self-assessment – if your own grade is clearly higher than the instructor's, that is where the risk lies.
Inssi does this for you
The app records a practice drive with your phone and assesses it on the same four areas and the same fail rules as the driving test. The quick check is free.
Try it freeHow it worksInssi is not an assessment by Traficom or a driving examiner. This page is based on Traficom's driving-test guideline (TRAFICOM/361579/03.04.03.01/2026, in force from 1 July 2026). See also: Failed the test – what now?