Exam-Ready or a Driver for Life? The Uncomfortable Truth About Getting Your Driver’s License in Maastricht | Driving School Maastricht

What is the true role of a driving school?

Is driving education about training confident, capable drivers for everyday traffic?

Or mainly about producing exam-ready candidates who perform optimally in the CBR driving test?

Two visions of driver education, two very different outcomes.

Where do you choose to stand as a driving school? Exam-Ready or a Driver for Life? The Uncomfortable Truth

I agree with the idea that learning to drive is about more than simply performing maneuvers. Driving requires insight, awareness, and the ability to recognize situations and respond appropriately. At the same time, I believe we sometimes make it bigger and more complex than necessary.

That brings us to a recurring dilemma in our industry: what is, at its core, the true task of a driving school?

Do we train drivers for life, or do we guide students as smoothly and responsibly as possible toward their driving license?

And perhaps even more importantly: how transparent are we willing to be about that?

Theory: a starting point, not a foundation

Passing the theory test quickly is a great first step — but it is not a foundation. Daily practice proves this time and again.

What I often see is that theoretically strong candidates — able to recall rules quickly and correctly — struggle with the dynamic nature of real traffic. Traffic is constantly moving. Situations change. Rules that were learned in a static way must be recognized and applied under time pressure.

That is something very different from answering a multiple-choice question at the kitchen table.

This is why I have long advocated for a different approach to theory exams:

• more moving images

• more realistic traffic situations

• decisions made under time pressure

And fewer detail-driven questions, such as those about child seats, the length of protruding loads, or the exact weight limits of trailers. Not because details are unimportant, but because they rarely determine whether someone acts safely or unsafely on the road.

Exam skills versus driving skills

Too often, I see candidates who are not insufficiently skilled drivers, but insufficiently trained in exam-focused driving. They may be excellent all-round drivers, yet lack specific knowledge and routine regarding what the CBR actually assesses during the practical exam.

That is why I am always surprised when it is claimed that the driving exam is the first moment a student is truly “on their own.” In my view, that simply is not true.

What else is the purpose of the interim test? What happens during lessons when students have been driving independently for quite some time — making decisions, correcting mistakes — with the instructor consciously taking a step back?

That is where confidence should be built. That is where the calmness needed to perform at an exam level is developed.

A well-trained student is not only a safe driver, but also someone who knows how to demonstrate that safety during an exam.

The idea that students only drive independently for the first time during the exam feels strange to me. As instructors, it is our responsibility to foster that independence long before that moment arrives.

The CBR does what the CBR does

The CBR is not a training institute. It is not a coach, nor a learning environment. The exam is, and always will be, a snapshot in time.

Roughly forty minutes in which a candidate must drive:

Smoothly, efficiently, safely, and independently.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

If we truly wanted to assess excellent drivers, exams would only take place during peak traffic hours — specifically between 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM. That is when traffic insight, stress resistance, and anticipation become visible.

But that is not how the system is designed. And we must be honest about that.

Fixing lessons and exams in advance? Preferably not.

As a driving school, you should ideally avoid fixing lessons and exams too far in advance.

Learning to drive is not a linear process. Every student develops differently. Planning should never outweigh development.

Yet it happens — often due to commercial pressure or external expectations. And that creates exactly the tension we claim we want to avoid.

When is someone a good driver?

That remains the real dilemma.

Is someone a good driver for the driving license, or only afterward?

Personally, I prefer to keep it clear and simple.

The primary responsibility of a driving school is to support candidates in obtaining their driving license.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

There is nothing philosophical about that. It does not mean careless training — quite the opposite. But it does mean being honest about our role within the system as it currently exists.

Driving skill grows through experience. And that experience truly begins after the pink license card is in your pocket.