Choosing a driving school: how to find a good one

Driving lessons are by far the biggest cost of a Dutch licence. A good school gets you through faster than a cheap one — and the CBR publishes exactly the numbers that let you tell them apart.

There are thousands of driving schools in the Netherlands and the quality gap between them is wide. The good news: the CBR publishes how many of each school's candidates actually pass. That is not marketing. It is the real exam data.

What to budget for

Rough total budget €2,700 to €3,600
Price per 60-minute lesson €60 to €80
Average hours of instruction needed around 41
Average theory exam attempts 2.5
Average practical exam attempts 2

Market figures from July 2026. They vary a lot by city and by person, but they show why a few euros per hour matters less than how many hours you end up needing.

Look up the real pass rate

Compare driving schools using CBR results →

The CBR runs a tool called the Rijschoolzoeker. You pick a place and a vehicle category, and for each school you see how many exams they administered, the pass rate for first attempts, and the pass rate across all attempts.

The figures cover a full year, currently 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. The data is refreshed every quarter. Schools that took no exams in the past year do not appear at all.

You can search within a radius (10 kilometres by default) and filter on a minimum number of exams. Do use that filter: a school with five exams and a 100% pass rate tells you nothing, one with two hundred exams does.

The Rijschoolzoeker is in Dutch only. Use your browser's translate function. The table itself is readable without any Dutch.

Open the CBR Rijschoolzoeker

What else to look for

Read the first-attempt rate

The all-exams percentage counts retakes and therefore looks rosier. The first-attempt percentage says far more about the quality of the teaching.
Check prices on their own website

Compare the hourly rate and what a package actually includes: exam fees, the interim test, the car on exam day. Ask what happens if you need more lessons than the package covers.
Ask who books your practical exam

In the Netherlands your driving school books the practical exam with the CBR, not you. Ask how quickly they do that once you are ready — a school that drags its feet before booking a date just costs you extra waiting time.
Read the reviews

Ignore the average score and read what people write: how often lessons were cancelled, whether they kept the same instructor, how communication went.
Ask for an English-speaking instructor

Plenty of schools teach in English, but far from all. Ask explicitly, and ask whether it applies to the instructor you will actually get — not just to the owner.
Take a trial lesson

Most schools offer one. Within an hour you know whether their way of explaining works for you. That matters more than the hourly rate.

The cheapest is rarely the cheapest A school that undercuts the market by €10 an hour but leaves you needing ten extra lessons and a retake costs you more than a good one — and it is a lot more frustrating. Look at the total price to a licence in your hand, not at the hourly rate.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find a good driving school in the Netherlands?

Look up the schools near you in the CBR Rijschoolzoeker. For each one it shows the pass rate for first attempts and across all attempts, based on real exams over the past year. Filter on a minimum number of exams, then compare prices on the schools' own websites, read the reviews and take a trial lesson.

What does getting a driving licence cost in the Netherlands?

Budget roughly €2,700 to €3,600 in total. A 60-minute lesson realistically costs €60 to €80 and most candidates need around 41 hours. On top of that come the CBR fees: €50.50 for the theory exam, €46.90 for the Health Declaration and €143.50 for the practical exam.

Can I take driving lessons in English?

Yes, many driving schools teach in English, though not all of them. Ask explicitly, and ask whether the instructor you are actually assigned speaks English — not just the owner or whoever answers the phone.