In 2026 they will change methods for examining the B driving licence, with them mandatory driving hours which will rise from 6 to 8while the pink sheet it can be used to practice with private guides only after completing all the hours with the driving school instructor. This is what is foreseen by the Decree of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport 294/2025, which came into force in December 2025. However, there is a fundamental aspect to clarify: it is not yet certain when all these new things will become fully operational.
The decree, in fact, subordinates its effectiveness to the activation of the CED digital platform of the Civil Motorisation, the system through which driving schools will have to record and certify the driving hours carried out. Until that moment, therefore, the current rules will continue to apply. Presumably, within the next few months the executive decree will be published with all the instructions for using the platform: only at that point will the new provisions come into force in all respects.
But the ones who will also change contents of the theory test, in this case at the instigation of the European Union: the directive approved by the EU Parliament in October 2025 establishes that candidates will have to answer – in addition to questions relating to intersections, priorities and signs – also questions relating to risks of blind spotsto the driver assistance systems (ADAS), atsafe opening of the doors. For these innovations, however, the times will be longer: Italy has until 2029 to transpose the directive into national law.
The mandatory guides: what changes for the practical exam
The most concrete innovation concerns the preparation for the practical test to obtain the B driving licence. As reported in Ministerial Decree no. 294 of 11/17/2025, le compulsory training hours increase from 6 to 8. The number of hours, which must be carried out at a driving school with qualified and authorized instructorwill be divided into 4 specific modules:
- The Form A (2 hours) will be used to prepare the student to the safe use of the vehicle. That’s why this module includes exercises on starting, braking, steering and gear use, but also the activation and configuration of the ADAS devices – Advanced Driver Assistance Systemsadvanced driver assistance systems – possibly present on the vehicle and the simulation of emergency situations (management of a breakdown, positioning of the triangleuse of a reflective jacket etc.). The activities of this module must be carried out on urban or extra-urban roads secondary schools within a 10 km radius of the driving school headquarters.
- The Form B (3 hours) is instead dedicated to driving in urban areas and includes, for example, positioning on the roadway, use of intersections, roundabouts and in general circulation in cities during hours of heavy traffic.
- The Form C (2 hours) concerns the driving on highways or main or secondary extra-urban roads.
- The Form D (1 hour) is finally dedicated to driving in conditions of night visionon any type of road, i.e. exercises conducted no earlier than 8pm (or half an hour after sunset) and no later than 6.45am (or half an hour before sunrise).
Regarding the sequence of modules, the decree also establishes that the Module A is preparatory to all the others. The daily limit is however set at 2 hours of lessonswith the possibility of combining multiple modules on the same day, provided that each session has a minimum duration of 30 minutes.
The lessons will still be individual, with the exception of the activities emergency simulation (Module A), which can be carried out collectively for a maximum of 5 studentswith a duration of 30 minutes.
Clearly, the increase in the mandatory hours to access the practical exam will inevitably correspond to a increase in costs for the B license: considering a cost medium of the guides between 40 and 60 euros per hourprices could rise up to 120 euros more compared to before.
The pink sheet cannot be used immediately for private guides
The second major innovation introduced by the Ministerial Decree concerns the pink sheeti.e. the authorization to practice driving which is issued after passing the theory exam. To this day, the aspiring driver can start driving with a private companion from day one of issuing the pink slip, carrying out the obligatory driving lessons at the driving school at any time.
With the new decree, however, Before to be able to start private guides will be mandatory complete the mandatory 8 hours in driving school: at that point, a will be released certification final through the CED platform of Civil Motorization. In case of violation, the sanctions they range from a minimum of 430 euros to a maximum of 1,731 euros.
In short, this is it certification final to “unlock” the possibility of practicing at the outside the driving schoolAlways accompanied by a driver who has had a B license for at least 10 years.
The delay in the entry into force of these changes derives precisely from the CED platform activation times: until the latter is fully operational, the B driving license exam will take place according to the current methods.
What’s new for the theoretical driving license exam
But the innovations will not only concern the practical exam: the EU Directive 2025/2206 has in fact established that the theoretical exam for aspiring drivers must also include questions on risks related to blind spotscome on driver assistance systems (ADAS), on thesafe opening of the doors and on risks of distraction due to cell phone use.
It is therefore a change from the point of view notional: the theoretical exam is mainly focused on signs and priorities, but the objective is to transform the test into a more user-oriented test real risks of driving.
The new EU rules, among other things, provide that the digital driving license (accessible from your mobile phone) will progressively become the most used driving license format within the Union, although citizens will still have the right to request a physical driving licence.
Even in this case, however, we do not know exactly when the changes will come into force: the new rules are in fact contained within a directive and Italy will have up to 3 years to implement it inside thenational order and another year to make the new provisions operational. This means that, indicatively, the entry into force of these rules will be close to 2029.
