Getting your driving license as a foreigner in the UK

If you’re moving to the UK, you’re probably thinking about how you’ll get around. Will you need to drive? Can you drive on your license? If so, for how long? We’ll cover all those questions and more this article.

Will you need to drive in the UK?

This ultimately depends on where you live and your lifestyle. Here’s a few quick questions to help you recognise whether you will need to drive in the UK?

• Will you live in the city? I lived in London for 5 years and never once thought about driving. For me, that was complete bliss! I used the tube and busses and had furniture delivered. It completely worked for me.

• Will you live in the suburbs? After London, my family moved to Sutton Coldfield, a suburb of Birmingham. While there were trains and busses, it wasn’t as well connected as London. After living without a car for a couple months, we decided we would need to drive.

• How will you do large grocery shopping trips? The UK has AMAZING online grocery delivery services. Honestly, they have the best in the world! If you’re not bothered about doing large grocery shops in person, online grocery shops may a good option (especially if living in London). You can find more detail about that here. If shopping in person is important to you, you might need a car. The UK essentially has two different types of grocery shops: local and big shops. The local grocery shops are smaller, carry the essentials and are everywhere. You’ll likely find one or two in walking distance from your home. Shopping at local grocery stores will do the job, but you might suffer from boredom from the lack of variety, going to the big grocery stores or online delivery is necessary. Big shops are less common in walkable distances from residential areas. It’s these shops that often require a car if you want to pick up more than a couple bags of groceries at a time.

• How will you get to work / school / kids’ activities, etc? This is where my family hit the major decision to buy a car. Getting to my daughter’s football matches all over the Birmingham area required a car. The matches were held way too far away from public transport stops.

Can I use my foreign license to drive in the UK?

If you live in the UK and have a non-UK driving license, you can drive for 12 months with your current license. Your license must be valid (not expired) during this 12 month period.

If you’re staying in the UK for only a year, this is perfect! But, if you’re staying in the UK for longer than 12 months, then you’ll need to pass both your theory and practical driving examination to carry on driving in the UK.

Can I exchange my foreign license in the UK?

There is an online tool to help you work out whether you can exchange your non-UK driving license for a UK license. You can access the UK government’s online questionnaire for this here.

Who can drive in the UK?

So, if you’re considering driving in the UK, the first thing you need to satisfy are these three items:

1. Have the appropriate driving license for your scenario. Will your foreign license cover you? (See above) This also means that if you plan on driving a lorry, you need to have a lorry license. If you plan on driving a car, your license needs to cover cars. If you need a UK license, keep reading!

2. Be at least 17 years old (that’s the minimum driving age in the UK) or 15 years an 9 months old to get a provisional license

3. Meet the eyesight requirements (this is likely similar in your home country). You can use glasses or contacts to drive in the UK. The technical minimum requirements are to have visual acuity of at least decimal 0.5 (or 6 out of 12) on the Snellen scale. Since I’m not an optometrist and don’t use the Snellen scale in my day to day lift, thankfully the UK government has provided us with a layman’s way of determining whether you’re likely to meet this minimum eyesight requirement: you must be able to read a license plate from 20 metres away.

4. Have permission to live in the country for at least 185 days

Will I need a provisional license?

A provisional license is like a learner’s permit. Essentially, it allows you to practice driving with an experienced, licensed driver.

If you’ve been driving for years, you might be wondering why you would even consider a provisional license. Here are the reasons you might need a provisional license:

• You plan on getting a full UK driving license and want to practice driving before your test (keep in mind that this tests requires you will to prove your ability to drive on UK roads with a tester in the vehicle with you!)

• You’re new to driving on the left side of the road

• You’re new to European road signs and rules

• You don’t have much experience with roundabouts

Getting a provisional driving license

You can apply online for your provisional license. You’ll need a government issued identity document with a photo (like a passport) and must be able to provide your address history for the past 3 years.

The cost is £34 and you can pay online with a card.

Here’s the bit that’s different from some other countries: you don’t need to pass an exam to get your provisional license. You will need to pass a theory (written) test and a practical (driving) test for the full license.

You can apply online here.

Taking driving lessons

If you would like to have some assistance in learning to drive in the UK, driving schools can help you. If you’re an experienced driver, you might look for a school that allows for lessons to focus on just that. Schools also provide specialised lessons for driving on the motorway and parking.

Note: Manual transmissions are the norm in the UK. If you are an experienced driver but want to drive an automatic transmission, you’ll need to explain this to your driving school. In this case, your license will be limited to automatic vehicles.

Preparing for the theory and perception test

The theory test is made up of multiple choice questions from the Highway Code. This code is published in a book which you can either buy from high street bookshops like Waterstones or you can order a copy online right from here.

My understanding is that most people don’t actually buy this book. Most people study on apps that they download from the Apple or Google app store. There are a ton of them out there. If you are working with a driving school, they might recommend one to you.

The UK government recommends using a paid service to practice for the theory and perception tests online here.

The UK government provides a free practice theory test online here.

The perception test is something I think all countries should adopt! Basically, it measures your ability to recognise and react to driving hazards. The best way of preparing for this is to download an app from the Apple or Google app store to test your perception.

Taking the theory and perception tests

Your theory and perception tests will be taken at a local DVLA office near you. You can book a test appointment online here.

The test costs £23. When you book your online appointment, you will need to provide your UK driving license number, an email address and your credit or debit card information to pay for the test.

They are quite strict about what you can bring into a testing room. Most test offices have lockers where you can store personal items which can’t be taken into a testing room like a bag, mobile phone, watch or earbuds / headphones. If the testing office does not have lockers, you will be required to show that your phone is turned off before your test and your items will be stored for you in a clear plastic bag.

You’ll have only 57 minutes to answer 50 multiple choice questions on your theory test. The test will be presented on a computer and a few questions have short short videos with a common driving scenario. You can skip a question and come back to it later. You can also change your answers at any point before submitting the test.

Then, once you finish your theory test, you can take a break of up to 3 minutes before your perceptions test. The perceptions test requires you to watch videos and identify when a hazard appears.

You will be informed if you have passed or will need to retake your test. If you need to retake your test, you will have to book your appointment at least three days into the future. Also, the theory and perception tests come as a package deal. If you pass one but fail the other, you will have to take both again.

Practical driving test

Once you feel comfortable with the rules of the road (and the signs, the highway code and the pratice perception tests), then you can book your practical driving test.

You can book your practical driving test online for £62 (for cars) here.

When you go to your test, you will need to take with your your UK photo card license (and if you also have a paper component, this will need to be presented as well).

The test will be taken in your car or if you have worked with a driving school, in the car that you have been practicing in. This way, you will be familiar with the car.

In the test, the instructor will sit in the passenger seat and will grade your driving. You will be asked to park (it could be in a bay or parallel), drive for 20 minutes independently, drive with the aid of satnav (Google maps, a satnav attached to the car or similar) and answer questions about how to do practical things like check the oil levels.

The test is notoriously difficult, or rather, that it’s graded harshly. According to Bill Plant, one of the UK’s leading driving schools, the national pass rate for the practical test is around 49%. It’s really necessary to be prepared entirely before taking the test. That’s why so many people use driving schools.

If you have passed your test, you can start driving straight away. You will receive paperwork that will need to accompany your provisional license until you receive your full driving license. Of course, you have to have an insurance policy as well!

How does Brexit affect driving in the EU?

If you’re travelling to the EU, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland for a holiday or for business, then you can drive with a UK driving license. UK licenses come in two forms: the most common is a card with a photo and there are also paper driving licenses which are only issued in Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. If you have a paper license, you will likely need an International Driving Permit to drive in some EU countries and Norway. To check whether this is needed, the UK government recommends that drivers should check with that country’s embassy before travelling to that country.

Brexit has changed some things for UK driving license holders who move to the EU. If you plan on moving from the UK to an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, you will need to exchange your UK driving license for a license issued locally. The deadlines for when you need to do this differ by country so make sure you check your local country’s guidelines.