A Norwegian class B licence, step by step

Stage 1: the basic traffic course (from 15)

You can start in the year you turn 15. The course is 17 hours and includes first aid and night driving; night driving is only held in the winter half of the year, 1 November to 15 March, so if you take the course in summer you do that part later. Without a completed basic course you cannot practise driving.

If you are over 25 you are exempt from the course itself – but you must still do the first-aid and night-driving parts.

Stage 2: basic driving (from 16)

From 16 you may practise driving a car. The accompanying driver must be at least 25 and have held a class B licence continuously for the last five years; the car carries an L plate at the back. The stage is about operating the car until it is automatic, and ends with a compulsory stage assessment at the driving school.

Stage 3: driving in traffic

Independent driving in varied traffic. Towards the end of the stage you take the safety course on a practice track (4 hours) and another stage assessment. This is when the theory pays off most: you recognise the situations from the car, and the rules have something to hang on.

The theory test (from 17 ½)

Can be taken at the earliest six months before you turn 18, once your licence application is approved on Din side. 45 questions, 90 minutes, 38 correct to pass, NOK 480 per attempt – and a two-week wait if you fail. A pass is valid for three years.

The whole test day is described in how the theory test works, and the two-week plan says how to study. You can start practising long before you can sit the test – the course and the fixed mock exam need only a free account.

Stage 4: final training and the driving test (18)

The safety course on the road is 13 hours in four parts – risk, country roads and overtaking, driving in traffic, reflection – and is taken towards the end, after a lot of practice. Statens vegvesen recommends several thousand kilometres of practice driving before the test.

You take the driving test from 18, at Statens vegvesen, and it starts with a safety check where you show and explain something on the car. A passed theory test must be in place first. The practical test costs NOK 1,490 online (prices from 1 February 2026), and the licence card NOK 160.

Afterwards: probation

A first licence carries a two-year probation period. During it penalty points count double, and if you lose the licence you must retake both the theory and the driving test. The risk for new drivers peaks in the first months alone – which is why the chapter on risk and attitudes is the last in the course.