You may find that you need to wait weeks, or even months before, you can take your practical test in English as test centres only have a minimal pool of examiners qualified to give the exam in English. In this case, you can also opt to take the practical test in Dutch or pay for a translator-- costs are around EUR 96 per hour.

“Major test centres such as Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Rijswiek have more examiners which increases your chances of getting an examiner certified to test in the English language at short notice,” says Michael Davidson, founder and director of The International School of Driving.

Changes to driving theory exam

Other recent changes this year include changes to the car driving theory exam. As of 1 March the theory test (which you can take in Dutch, English or Turkish) has changed to include 25 questions on traffic awareness (you need to get 12 questions correct), 30 questions on traffic regulations, 10 questions on traffic insight (you need to get 35 out of the 40 questions correct). To take the exam (in English and Turkish as well in as in Dutch), you can reserve online on the CBR website at www.cbr.nl/reservering.pp.

Expatica/ NG