DVSA and DVLA · Great Britain
Get licensed to drive for a living
Qualified drivers earn up to £55,000 a year.
Answer three questions and we will tell you whether you can start, what it costs and what to do first. Every fee comes from DVSA and DVLA, not from us.
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Your route
Driver CPC periodic training, in full
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Driver CPC periodic training £445 to qualify · 3 steps
The 35 hours every qualified lorry, bus and coach driver must complete every five years to stay legal.
- 1
Choose National or International Driver CPC
Since December 2024 there are two tracks. Picking the wrong one can lock you out of European work.
- International Driver CPC is the original scheme, renamed. It covers driving professionally in the UK and the EU. It requires 35 hours every five years in courses of at least 7 hours, or 2 × 3.5 hours on consecutive days.
- National Driver CPC is the newer, more flexible UK-only track. Courses can be as short as 3.5 hours.
- The two do not mix. If you include any National course hours in your 35, you get a National Driver CPC and you cannot drive professionally in the EU.
- A National Driver CPC card is printed with "DOMESTIC UK USE ONLY" on the front.
- Up to 12 of the 35 hours can be e-learning on either track.
- When you first pass the qualifying tests you automatically hold International Driver CPC for the first five years.
Where people get stuck
- Drivers taking whatever course is cheapest and locally available, then discovering they have lost EU entitlement.
- 2
Complete 35 hours of periodic training
Spread across the five-year cycle, or blocked into a single week.
- Courses are booked through JAUPT-approved training centres. The hours are recorded against your driving licence number automatically.
- Do not leave it to the final months. Course availability tightens sharply near common expiry dates.
- Driving professionally without a valid Driver CPC carries a fine of up to £1,000, and the operator can be penalised too.
Fees at this step Item Standard Premium slot Paid to 35 hours periodic training estimate £250–£450 £350 — provider - 3
If your CPC has already expired — return to driving
Since February 2025 there is a fast route back if you lapsed less than two years ago.
- If your Driver CPC expired more than 60 days ago but less than two years ago, you can take a single 7-hour "Return to Driving" course and start driving professionally in the UK as soon as your provider records it.
- You then have 12 months to complete a further 28 hours to stay qualified.
- To regain EU entitlement, those 28 hours must all be International Driver CPC courses.
- If your CPC expired more than two years ago, there is no shortcut — you need the full 35 hours before you can drive professionally again.
Fees at this step Item Standard Premium slot Paid to Return to Driving module (7 hours) estimate £70–£130 £95 — provider
What it qualifies you for
- Driver CPC periodic training driver
What is coming
In build: talk to an instructor now, ask us to ring you, practise before you pay, watch a live lesson. Ask on the form and we will tell you when yours is ready.
Work out your own total Retakes, evening and weekend test slots
Totals come from the same figures as the routes. Change anything and the number changes with it.
About these figures
Fees checked against DVSA and DVLA on July 2026. They change without much notice — confirm before you book.
Northern Ireland is run by the DVA, not DVSA/DVLA. Fees, forms and rules differ, and new NI drivers must display R plates and stay under 45 mph for a year after passing. Check nidirect.gov.uk before booking anything.
Questions people actually ask
Do I need to pass Category C before C+E?
No. SI 2021/1251 removed staged testing, so a full car licence is enough to go straight to C+E.
Who sets these fees?
DVSA and DVLA set the statutory ones under the Road Traffic Act 1988. Training prices are set by providers and vary.
Does any of this apply in Northern Ireland?
Northern Ireland is run by the DVA, not DVSA/DVLA. Fees, forms and rules differ, and new NI drivers must display R plates and stay under 45 mph for a year after passing. Check nidirect.gov.uk before booking anything.
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