Tracking a student in the theory course means answering one question before you book the exame de código (the theory test): are they ready or not? The law asks the school to plan the theory module, record attendance and assess the training.
The rest is method: measuring topic coverage, recent accuracy and full simulations, with a tool that shows you this for each student. Here is what the law requires, what is worth measuring and the ways to do it.
What the law asks of the school
The rules on driving instruction are in Portaria 185/2015 (the ordinance on driving instruction). On training, both theory and practical, the ordinance says that:
- the instructor, with the school director, plans each module, with the objectives, the methods and the formative assessment criteria;
- in each session, the school electronically records each student’s attendance and the topics covered, and makes that record available to IMT (the national transport authority, Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes);
- the assessment of the training is done by the school director and recorded in the school’s software, to which IMT has access;
- the student only sits the exam tests after successfully completing the training (except in accompanied driving with a tutor);
- if they fail the theory test, they do five more hours of the theory module.
For a first licence, the theory module has a minimum of 16 hours for the subjects common to all categories.
The law does not say how to measure whether a student has completed it successfully: it says you must have criteria and record them. That is where method comes in.
What to measure to know a student is ready
A good mark on a single test says little. These four signals together say much more:
- Coverage. Has the student answered questions on every topic in their category? A student who only practises signs can score well and still trip up on giving way.
- Recent accuracy. What matters is what they get right this week, not the average since day one. The first tests, when they knew nothing yet, drag the average down and hide the progress.
- Full simulations passed. A whole exam, with the exam time and the category’s limit on mistakes, passed several times in a row. It is the signal closest to exam day.
- Regularity. A student who took two weeks off before the exam may have forgotten part of the material. Look at the date of the last practice, not only the mark.
Set the criterion before you look at the students. For example: all topics practised, and the latest simulations passed without going over the limit on mistakes. Written like this, the formative assessment criterion that the law asks for is the same for every instructor in the school.
Three ways to track
| In-class tests, hand-kept records | Certified e-learning platform | Practice platform with a dashboard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Counts hours of the theory module | Only in-person hours | Yes, up to 4 hours a day per student | No |
| What gets recorded | Whatever the instructor writes down | By law: student, instructor, dates, hours spent on the platform, progression and formative assessment (Proexamweb adds tests and statistics) | Each student’s tests, topic by topic, depending on the platform |
| Cost to the school | Materials only | Proexamweb: from €65/month on monthly billing (the €30/month plan has only tests and an ebook, no e-learning); Segurança Rodoviária: price not published | Via Rápida: from €29/month, with 14 days free |
| Work for the school | Marking and recording the marks | Enrolling the students and notifying IMT of the platform | Giving students access (for example, a school code) |
| Examples | IMT tests printed or projected | Proexamweb, Segurança Rodoviária’s Ensino à Distância, Testesdecodigo.com | Via Rápida, or the statistics of a certified platform |
Checked on 26 October 2026 on each service’s public pages.
In class, by hand. IMT publishes the theory exam questions on its website, and the school can run paper or projected tests and copy the marks into a spreadsheet. It costs nothing in software, but the record depends on the instructor, and topic coverage is hard to see student by student.
Certified e-learning platform. Only hours on these platforms count towards the theory module at a distance.
The law requires them to record the student’s identification, the responsible instructor, the dates, the hours spent on the platform and the progression, and the formative assessment, with a maximum of four hours a day. The school notifies IMT of the platform it uses and gives it access to the data.
IMT’s table lists three: Proexamweb (Pugnatrix), Segurança Rodoviária’s Ensino à Distância and Testesdecodigo.com (Edições Alves Costa). Proexamweb brings tests and advanced statistics together in the same system.
Practice platform with a dashboard. It does not count hours, but it shows each student’s preparation.
On Via Rápida, for example, students practise for free with the school code (the school pays from €29/month, with 14 days free) and the dashboard shows a readiness index from 0 to 100, who is ready, at risk or inactive, and each student’s exam date. It is not in IMT’s table. We compared the platforms, with prices, in platforms for driving schools in Portugal, and there is a direct comparison of Via Rápida and Proexamweb (in Portuguese).
For class, Via Rápida’s Quadro de trânsito (traffic board) can be projected full screen: you set up a junction and the class decides who goes first, with the relevant article of the law.
You can combine two approaches: the hours on a certified platform and the practice on a tracking one, or classroom lessons and a platform that tells you who is ready.
A weekly routine
- Start of the week: see who has not practised for more than a week and talk to those students first.
- In class: start with the topics where the class makes the most mistakes. A short test of 10 questions at the start of the lesson shows you straight away where to spend time.
- Midweek: ask for a full simulation from anyone with an exam in the next two weeks.
- End of the week: update each student’s status (preparing, ready, exam booked) and record the assessment.
Before booking the exam
- All the topics in the category have been practised.
- The latest full simulations were passed, within the time limit.
- The student has practised in the last few days, not only a month ago.
- The formative assessment is recorded, as the ordinance requires.
A fail costs the student a re-sit and five more hours of theory, and counts towards the school’s pass rate (IMT published the rates per school up to 2021). We explain how candidates can use them in how to choose a driving school in Portugal.