Driving school rules and requirements

Driving schools are the authorized institutions that provide road education, driver instruction, and driver training. In Italy they cannot operate freely without control, because the law places them under administrative and technical supervision by the provinces. This means that driving schools must comply with precise rules regarding their organization, staff, premises, vehicles, and the quality of teaching. The provinces supervise the proper functioning of driving schools and also apply the penalties provided in cases of irregularities.

Opening a driving school is not the same as simply starting an ordinary business. A formal declaration or certified notice of commencement of activity must be submitted according to legal procedures. The start of the activity takes place through an electronic filing to the competent one-stop office for the territory where the school is located. In practice, the activity may begin only if all legal requirements are declared and demonstrated.

The owner of the driving school must have direct, personal, exclusive, and permanent management of the business and of the school’s assets, and is responsible for its regular functioning. If additional branches are opened, almost all legal requirements must be shown for each of them. For each branch there must also be an educational manager, meaning a person directly responsible for the training activity and possessing the required technical qualifications.

To submit the declaration of commencement of activity, a person must be at least twenty-one years old, be of good conduct, have adequate financial capacity, hold a secondary school diploma, and be qualified both as a theory teacher and as a driving instructor. In addition, they must have at least two years of experience gained in the previous five years. If the applicant is a company or another legal entity, these personal requirements must be held by the legal representative, while the financial capacity must belong to the legal entity itself.

The law excludes certain persons from the possibility of opening a driving school because they are considered unsuitable from a moral or legal point of view. Therefore, the declaration cannot be submitted by habitual, professional, or habitual-by-tendency offenders, or by persons subject to personal administrative security measures or preventive measures provided by law.

A driving school must be properly structured in order to train drivers for the driving licence. It must have adequate technical and teaching equipment, employ teachers and instructors recognized as suitable by the Ministry, and use staff holding a specific professional qualification. This means that it is not enough to have a classroom and some vehicles. Real teaching tools, organization, suitable vehicles, and properly qualified personnel are required.

Several authorized driving schools may join together and create an automotive instruction centre. In this case, some training activities may be carried out jointly by the centre according to rules established by the Ministry. This system allows associated driving schools to organize courses more efficiently and to share resources, especially for licence categories other than the most common ones or for professional qualifications. In some cases, attending a specific course at a driving school allows progression from licence A1 to A2 or from A2 to A without taking a new practical test, when the conditions laid down by European rules are met.

The activity of a driving school may be suspended for a period from one to three months when it is not carried out regularly, when the owner does not replace teachers or instructors who are no longer considered suitable, or when the owner does not comply with instructions issued by the competent office to ensure the proper functioning of the school. This is therefore a temporary measure intended to correct irregularities and prevent a non-compliant activity from continuing.

The authorization or operation of the driving school may instead be revoked in more serious cases. This happens when the owner no longer has the required financial capacity or moral requirements, when the school no longer has the necessary technical and teaching equipment, or when more than two suspension measures have already been imposed within a five-year period. If the revocation is due to loss of the owner’s moral requirements, their technical suitability is also revoked. In that case, the person may not obtain it again before five years have passed, unless rehabilitation occurs.

The Ministry of Transport establishes by decree many essential aspects of how driving schools operate. These include minimum financial capacity requirements, the qualification requirements of teachers and instructors, initial and periodic training courses, programs, verification methods, characteristics of premises and teaching furniture, course duration, and examination programs. This shows that the driving school system is regulated in great detail in order to ensure a uniform standard throughout the country.

The training of teachers and instructors is also strictly regulated. Courses may be organized by driving schools authorized to train drivers for any licence category or by automotive instruction centres recognized for full training. They may also be organized by bodies accredited by the regions or autonomous provinces according to criteria established by law and ministerial decrees.

Anyone who manages a driving school without having submitted the declaration of commencement of activity or without possessing the required qualifications commits a very serious violation. In that case, an administrative fine from 11,108 to 16,661 euros is imposed, together with the immediate closure of the driving school and the termination of the activity. The law treats equally seriously the abusive exercise of driving school activity, meaning when driver instruction or training is provided professionally or for profit outside the legal framework. In that case, the same very high sanction applies.

If irregularities arise in training courses for teachers and instructors, the competent region or autonomous province may suspend the activity of the body organizing them. The suspension varies according to the seriousness of the violation and may become longer in case of repetition. If, after a serious suspension, further irregularities occur within the following two years, continuation of the activity may be prohibited.

Finally, anyone who teaches theory or gives driving instruction in a driving school without being qualified and authorized is also subject to a penalty. In this case, the fine ranges from 173 to 694 euros. The law therefore ensures that all teaching activity is carried out only by competent and officially recognized persons.

In essence, a driving school is not a simple commercial activity, but a training structure subject to strict rules, public supervision, and precise responsibilities. The purpose of the law is to ensure that people learning to drive receive serious, uniform, and safe instruction from qualified persons and in suitable environments.

❓ Frequently asked questions

What is driving school rules and requirements?

Driving school rules and requirements is regulated by Art. 123 of the Italian Road Code, within the chapter "IV. Driving Vehicles and Handling Animals". You'll find the complete explanation above with all the essential details to pass the Italian driving theory exam.

In which chapter of the Italian Road Code is Art. 123?

Art. 123 of the Italian Road Code is in the chapter IV. Driving Vehicles and Handling Animals. You can read the original article on the official ACI portal at this link.

Is this topic important for the Italian driving licence exam?

Yes, all articles of the Italian Road Code may be subject to questions in the theory exam. To practice with real quiz questions on this topic, access our platform with 7,000+ official questions.