Test day checklist

Read-aloud uses AI-generated voices when recordings are available.

Tick each item when it is ready.

• Bring your current learner permit. Bring the real card, not a copy.

• The tester checks your face against your permit photo, so be ready to take off a scarf or mask. If the tester is not sure, they may ask for other photo ID, so bring your passport or ID card too.

• Bring a valid certificate of motor insurance proving cover for the test vehicle. If you are not named, also bring an email or headed letter from the insurer confirming you are insured to drive it. RSA insurance guidance accepts digital certificates, but its terms say paper only. Bring a paper backup and confirm current instructions with RSA if relying on digital only.

• Check the required EDT sessions in MyEDT: normally 12, or sessions 1, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 if reduced EDT is approved.

• RSA terms allow an interpreter for technical, secondary-control and in-car checks and hand signals. Ask RSA in advance about oral questions. Request assistance when booking. The interpreter must be at least 16 and not an approved driving instructor, and cannot accompany you on the road.

• If you are deaf or hard of hearing, have a learning difficulty or a disability, or use an adapted car, tell the RSA when you book.

• Come in a car that is roadworthy: safe and legal to drive.

• The car must be taxed, insured for you to drive, and have a valid NCT if it needs one. Show the discs on the windscreen.

• The car must be registered in Ireland. If it is a hire car, bring a stamped note from the hire company that says it is insured for a driving test.

• Put L-plates on the front and the back of the car. Each plate must show a red L at least 15 cm high on a white background, with a border of at least 2 cm. Faded or cut-out plates are not accepted.

• Check that all lights, indicators and brake lights work.

• Check the tyres: at least 1.6 mm of tread, the right air pressure, and no cuts or bulges.

• Check that the wipers and washers work and that the washer bottle is full. If the wipers do not work, the test cannot go ahead.

• Start the car before test day and look at the dashboard. A warning light that shows a fault can stop the test from going ahead. Get it fixed first.

• Check the front passenger side for the tester: the door opens from inside and outside, the window works, and the seat, seatbelt and head restraint are fitted and work.

• Clean the windscreen, the windows and the mirrors.

• Take loose things out of the car or put them away safely. Do not smoke or vape in the car before the test.

• Practise out loud: answers to Rules of the Road questions, what road signs mean, and how you would do each technical check. Practise the hand signals with your arm.

• Know how to use the secondary controls. The tester picks 3, for example: wipers, washers, lights (including dipped headlights), rear fog lights, fan, air vents, heating, air conditioning, air intake, demister and the rear window heater.

• If you need glasses or contact lenses to drive, wear them.

• Sleep well the night before, and eat something before you go.

• Wear suitable shoes. Flip-flops, sandals, shoes with no back, or bare feet are not accepted.

• Drive to and from the test centre with your accompanying driver (they must have held a full car licence for at least 2 years). This is still the rule on the way home, even if you pass.

• Arrive at the test centre at least 10 minutes early. Wait inside the centre, not in your car. If you are late, the test will not go ahead and you lose your fee.

• Switch off and put away your phone. Disable dashcams and interior recording cameras: recording the test is not allowed.

• At the desk, you will read and confirm a statement that the car is roadworthy and that your insurance covers the test. Make sure both are true before you go.

• Only you and the tester will be in the car. Passengers, children and pets cannot come. Sometimes another RSA staff member also sits in to watch the tester. If you refuse this, the test will not go ahead and you lose your fee.

• Before you drive off, set your seat, head restraint and mirrors, put on your seatbelt, and check that your door is closed.

Park Assist is not permitted. During reversing or a turnabout, cameras and audible aids supplement the required direct observation; they do not replace it. Recording the test is separate and is not allowed.

Insurance guidance · Driving test terms · Vehicle aids: RSA marking guidance