A good driving school (escola de condução) is, first of all, a school licensed by IMT (the national transport authority, Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes) that puts in writing, before your first lesson, what you will get and how much you will pay. After that, what sets one school apart from another is the schedules, how it prepares you for the theory test, and how clearly it handles extras.

Take this list and ask two or three schools the same questions.

Check that the school is licensed

As a rule, only a driving school can give you the training for a licence. On IMT’s website, on the page for locating driving schools, you pick the district and municipality and see the schools and their addresses.

When you visit, look for the school’s information sheet (ficha da escola de condução). IMT issues it and it has to be displayed somewhere visible. It says who the director is, who the instructors are, which cars the school uses and whether it offers distance learning or simulators.

The law also requires the school to show its timetable, its price list, the existence of a complaints book (livro de reclamações) and the categories it teaches. If none of this is on display, that is already an answer.

Knowing the legal minimum protects you from two things: the promise of a “licence in no time” and the quote that looks cheap because it leaves out what is compulsory. For a first licence for cars (category B), the ordinance on driving instruction sets:

Training Minimum Notes
Common road safety module 7 hours Always the first step
Driving theory 16 hours Can be on a distance-learning platform certified by IMT, at most 4 hours a day
Complementary modules (risk perception I and II, distraction, eco-driving) 5 hours In person, after you have done half of the practical hours
Practical driving 32 hours and 500 km Starts only after the common module; includes 2 hours at night, whenever possible

Two more rules are useful. You cannot have more than 4 hours of practice a day. And simulator hours count for 25% of the practical training at most.

Each practical lesson is recorded on IMT-certified equipment, with the day, time, duration and kilometres. These recorded hours and kilometres are what count towards the minimums.

New in 2026: practice with a tutor. Since 5 July 2026, in category B you can do your practice with a tutor instead of an instructor. You are still enrolled in a school, which tells IMT about the option. Under this regime the 32-hour minimum does not apply, but the common module has to be done before you start. The conditions are explained in driving licence at 17 and accompanied driving. If it interests you, ask the school how it handles the process and how much it charges for the assessment test (teste de aferição).

The contract: read it before you sign

The training is done under a written contract between you and the company that owns the school, signed before you start. It has to include at least:

  • the licence category and the training to be given, with the minimum number of theory classes and of practical hours and kilometres;
  • every amount to be charged, in line with the price list on display;
  • the exam centres where the school can put you forward for the exam and an express statement that the choice of centre is yours;
  • the conditions for changing school;
  • the number of the third-party liability insurance policy for driving under instruction;
  • the identity of the tutor, if you choose that regime.

The school also has to give you a copy of your enrolment form. During practical lessons, you have to carry it with you.

Price: compare packages, not individual prices

Schools set their own prices, but a school cannot charge amounts that are not advertised and itemised in the price list. Use this to your advantage: ask for the list and put these questions to every school.

  • Does the base price include enrolment, the minimum theory and practical hours and the complementary modules?
  • Are exam fees included or paid separately? And the school’s car on the day of the practical test?
  • How much does each extra practical lesson cost, and how long is a “lesson”?
  • And if you fail? The law requires another 5 hours of theory if you fail the theory test, or another 25% of the minimum practical hours and kilometres if you fail the practical test (in category B, 8 hours and 125 km). Ask how much that package costs, and how much it costs to retake the exam.
  • Can you pay in stages? If you drop out or change school, what do they refund?

A quote far below the others often leaves out one of these items. It is not necessarily a bad deal, but you need to know what you are buying.

Schedules, cars and instructors

  • Real schedules. Schools can open between 7am and midnight, but not on Sundays or public holidays. If you can only do evenings or Saturdays, ask which slots are free at those times, not in general.
  • Waiting for the exam. There is no legal deadline between finishing the training and getting an exam date. Ask how long it has taken in recent months, for the theory test and for the practical one.
  • Instructor. Will you always have the same one? Can you swap if you do not get on?
  • Cars. How many cars does the school have for your category? The information sheet on display lists them.

You have duties too. The director can cancel your enrolment if you miss five booked lessons without notice, or if you stay away for more than 30 days without notice.

Manual or automatic

You can take the practical test in an automatic car. That goes on your licence as a restriction and you cannot drive cars with a clutch pedal. The licence shows the European code 78, “Restricted to vehicles with automatic transmission”.

If you want this option, confirm that the school has an automatic car for lessons and for the exam. And think first about whether you will need to drive manual cars: the family car, a work car, a holiday rental.

How the school prepares you for the theory test

The 16 hours of theory can be in a classroom, on a distance-learning platform or both. Ask:

  • If the theory is online, is there someone you can ask questions, or is it only videos?
  • Does the school run practice tests before putting you forward for the exam? Who decides you are ready?
  • Are there revision sessions on the topics the class gets wrong most?

The school gives you the base, but what makes the material stick is practising regularly and understanding each mistake. You can do that at home, for free, with the theory tests on Via Rápida (in Portuguese). And before the exam, read the most common mistakes in the Portuguese theory test.

Pass rates: useful, but with context

The law lets IMT publish, in aggregate form, the exam results of the candidates put forward by each school. The Via Rápida directory (in Portuguese) shows pass rates by school.

Read those numbers with care. A school with few students can go up or down a lot from one year to the next. The exam centre also matters. Use the rate to ask questions (“why does the practical test go worse here?”), not as a verdict.

If it goes wrong: change school or complain

You can change school during your training. The new school tells IMT about the transfer within two days, and the old one has five days to send it your medical certificate and the training you have already had. The hours count, as long as they were given less than a year ago.

To complain, first talk to the school’s director: reviewing complaints and proposing solutions is one of the director’s duties. If that does not solve it, use the school’s complaints book or the electronic complaints book (Livro de Reclamações Eletrónico), online.

Keep the contract, the receipts and the messages: they are what proves what was agreed.