Denmark Driving Theory Test Study Guide 2026

How to get a car licence in Denmark

The Danish Road Traffic Authority (Færdselsstyrelsen) runs the theory test and the driving test. The citizen service office in your municipality (borgerservice) receives your application on form P23, checks your documents and approves it. Your driving instructor (kørelærer) teaches you and signs off your training.

Ages and residence

• You may start theory lessons early, but you may first drive a school car or use the manoeuvring track (manøvrebane) at 16 years and 9 months.
• You may take the theory test from 16 years and 11 months.
• The earliest you can get your licence is on your 17th birthday. Special rules apply until you turn 18 (see below).
• You need a normal residence in Denmark, which usually means living here at least 185 days a year. Students can qualify with a documented stay of at least 6 months.
• If you are under 18, the holder of parental responsibility must consent; if two people share it, both must sign.
• Your own doctor completes a digital health certificate (lægeattest). An epileptic seizure within the past year is one example that can lead to refusal.

Training, first aid and gearbox choice

Danish driver training is split into modules. Your instructor signs off each one in your module plan, so a new driving school can see how far you have come.

• Before the theory test, you must have finished all theory lessons and the driving on the manoeuvring track, where you practise starting, steering, changing gear and braking away from traffic.
• The slippery-surface track (glatbane) is compulsory. You practise braking, avoiding obstacles and skids on a slippery surface. Your instructor books it.
• If you started training after 1 July 2026, you need at least 24 driving lessons (køretimer); before that the minimum was 29. Your instructor decides when you are ready.
• You must take an 8-hour road-related first aid course (færdselsrelateret førstehjælp). You need the certificate before you can book the theory test.

The theory test (teoriprøve)

The theory test lasts 25 minutes. You may have up to five errors; with six or more you fail. A question you leave unanswered counts as an error, so always answer. The questions are chosen at random from the whole curriculum.

With a documented need, usually a statement from a doctor, Færdselsstyrelsen can give you a special test (specialprøve). It is the same test, but it lasts 60 minutes. Dyslexia alone does not give the right, but your case can be assessed.

Sprachen

• English: the digital test at all digital test centres in the country, and the paper test.
• German: the digital test only in Aabenraa; a paper test with an interpreter in Aabenraa, Haderslev, Sønderborg and Tønder.
• Faroese and Greenlandic: with an interpreter. Færdselsstyrelsen orders the interpreter; you neither book nor pay for one.

On the day and after

• Bring photo ID, your P23, your signed module plan, any licence you already hold and, for the digital test, your phone with MitID.
• A passed theory test is valid for 18 months. Pass the driving test in that time, or take the theory test again.
• If you are caught cheating, you fail and must wait six months (karensperiode) before a new theory test.
• You can complain within four weeks. If Færdselsstyrelsen keeps its decision, it sends your complaint on to Trafikstyrelsen.

The driving test, fees and your new licence

The driving test (køreprøve) lasts 30–45 minutes. The examiner (prøvesagkyndig) checks your documents, gives you three tasks from a task card about the car and asks you to check the mirrors. Then you drive. You must use a school car, not a private car. Your instructor may come along for support but takes no part in the assessment.

• After a failed driving test, at least seven days must pass before your next test.
• Færdselsstyrelsen charges 1,600 kr. for the theory and driving tests together if you pass both the first time. Each new test costs 1,600 kr.
• Cancel at least five weekdays before, by 12:00, to avoid a new fee. If you are ill, a doctor's declaration (lægeerklæring) lets you get a new driving test without paying again.
• When you pass, you get a temporary licence, valid in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland. For other countries, wait for the physical card (about 4 weeks). The licence in the app is valid only in Denmark.

Speed limits, penalty points and new drivers

Unless signs show something else, these general limits apply to cars (and vans up to 3,500 kg):

Penalty points (klip) and loss of licence

• More than 30% too fast gives a klip. Other offences that give a klip include using a handheld phone, driving through a red light, breaking the give-way rules, driving too close to the car in front and not securing children under 15.
• A klip counts for 3 years. Three klip within three years means conditional loss of your licence (betinget frakendelse).
• More than 60% too fast, or 160 km/h or more in a car, also means conditional loss of the licence.
• Over 200 km/h means unconditional loss (ubetinget frakendelse), and your car can be confiscated.

Your first three years

In the first three years with your first licence, the rules are stricter. Only two klip give a driving ban (kørselsforbud). To drive again, you must take at least 8 theory and 8 driving lessons with an instructor, pay a fine and pass a new theory and driving test. Drink-driving, drug-driving, serious speeding or reckless driving can also give a ban.

Alcohol and rules for 17-year-olds

The general blood alcohol limit is 0.5 per mille (promille). Since 1 July 2025, new drivers of any age have a limit of 0.2 per mille for their first three years with a licence, which in practice means no alcohol. You can be punished even below the limit if you cannot drive safely.

If you drive at 17

• You may drive alone between 05:00 and 20:00.
• Between 20:00 and 05:00 you must have a companion (ledsager) in the car. Your licence shows code 141 until you turn 18.
• The companion must be at least 24, have held a Danish or Faroese car licence for at least 5 years, not have lost it in the last 5 years, and sit in the front seat. Someone with a foreign licence cannot be your companion.
• Until you turn 18 you may drive only in Denmark.

Phones, seat belts, lights and priority

• Phones: you must not use a handheld phone while driving. The ban also applies when you wait at a red light or in a queue. A car driver gets a fine and one klip. If you must use the phone, pull over and stop.
• Seat belts: using a seat belt is compulsory, and there may not be more people than seat belts. The driver must make sure that children under 15 are correctly secured, or the driver gets a fine and a klip.
• Child seats: children must use a child car seat until they are at least 135 cm tall. Never put a rear-facing seat in front of an active airbag: switch the airbag off or use the back seat.
• Lights: drive with dipped headlights or daytime running lights at the front at all hours. In the dark, daytime running lights alone are not enough.

Priority and other road users

• Give way to the right (højrevigepligt) applies at smaller junctions with no traffic lights, stop line, shark teeth (hajtænder) or give-way sign. Shark teeth are a row of white triangles painted across your lane. Where any of these are present, they decide who goes first.
• When you turn, you must always hold back for cyclists going straight on, for example on a cycle path beside you when you turn right.
• Leave at least 1.5 m when you pass a cyclist. If the road is too narrow, slow down and wait.
• Keep at least two seconds to the car in front, and more on wet, slippery or foggy roads.
• Red and amber together means stop.
• A green flashing light on a car roof shows a volunteer, such as a heart runner, on the way to save a life. You do not have to give way, but show consideration.
• On the motorway, signal when you join, leave or change lanes. Do not signal in the middle lane where the motorway splits and you stay in your lane.

Pannen und Unfälle

• Place your warning triangle at least 50 m behind the car on country roads and in built-up areas, and at least 100 m behind it on a motorway.
• After a motorway breakdown, switch on the hazard lights, stop in the emergency lane, put on reflective vests and get everyone behind the crash barrier. If the car is stuck in a middle lane, it can be safer to stay in the car and call 112.
• Call 112 for urgent help, for example when someone is seriously hurt. Call 114 for the police when it is not urgent.
• After a minor collision, give the other driver your name and registration number, write down theirs and get witnesses' names if you can.
• If you hit a deer or other wild animal, contact Falck, who collects the animal.

Road signs to know

The practice tests also cover road rules and signs shared across continental Europe. The pictures below are generic European designs. Danish signs use the same shapes and colours, but details can differ, so also look at the Danish versions with your driving school.