You can get a Swiss driving licence without speaking German. 76 of the 163 driving schools listed on todrive.ch teach in English — most of them in Zürich, Berne and Zug. The list above names every one of them, with its lesson price and every language it offers. Below: how the licence works, step by step, and what it costs.
01
The licence in 13 steps
In this order, in five phases. Fees are cantonal fees and typical course prices from our cost overview; your canton sets the exact amount. The German term is the one you will see on the form and at the counter. Already hold a licence from another country? Then you do not start here: how a foreign licence is converted in Switzerland (in German) says what happens instead. To tick the steps off as you go, use the licence checklist.
Phase 1 · steps 01–03
Before you may drive
First aid and the eyesight test come first — without both, the office will not take your application.
6 yearsthe first-aid certificate stays valid
MandatoryCost CHF 100–200Duration min. 10 hoursCertificate valid 6 years
At least ten hours of first aid, spread over at least two days (ASTRA directive). You need the certificate before the office will take your application, and it counts for six years (VZV Art. 10). Ask the provider for a course in English; the certificate (Nothelferausweis) is the same in any language. Doctors, dentists, vets and qualified nursing staff are exempt.
MandatoryCost CHF 20–80Duration Varies
The form is in the official language of your canton, and a first application has to be handed in in person, with a valid photo ID — passport, identity card or residence permit — at the road traffic office (Strassenverkehrsamt) or the office your canton names, together with the first-aid certificate and a passport photo (VZV Art. 11). The admission to the theory test then comes from your canton.
MandatoryCost CHF 10–15Valid 24 months when you apply
The eye test for the licence checks sharpness, field of vision and eye movement, and a doctor or a qualified optician (diplomierter Augenoptiker) working in Switzerland does it. It must not be older than 24 months when you hand in the application (VZV Art. 9). Bring the printed application form: the optician fills in the eyesight section.
Phase 2 · steps 04–06
The theory
Pass the theory test and the learner's permit follows — and from that day a clock runs that cannot be paused.
24 monthsto pass the practical test
The cantons set the questions together with the federal roads office and may delegate the job (VZV Art. 13) — in practice to the asa, the association of the cantonal road traffic offices, whose catalogue of competences every app and book follows. Choose one that runs in English; our theory page compares them. The signs themselves are collected on one page: every Swiss road sign with its meaning.
Cost CHF 30–40
50 multiple-choice questions in 45 minutes; you may lose at most 15 of the 150 points (Canton of Zürich). Whether you may sit it in English depends on your canton of residence — the theory-test section below lists every canton with its source. Fail it and you may take it again; in Zürich after at least one day, without an appointment. From 1 January 2027 you have to prove you attended the VKU course before you can register for the test (VZV Art. 13, amended as of 1 January 2027). If the test itself is what worries you, what helps against theory-test nerves (in German) is a page of its own.
Valid 24 months, not extendable
Issued once you pass the theory test (VZV Art. 15). For category B it is valid 24 months and is not extended (VZV Art. 16), so the clock cannot be paused. If you got it before turning 20, you have to hold it for at least a year before you may sit the practical test (VZV Art. 22); that year is what starting at 17 means in practice. A blue plate with a white L goes on the car, clearly visible from behind (VRV Art. 27). The permit names the category you are learning for; what each licence category allows is listed separately.
Phase 3 · steps 07–09
Learning to drive
No minimum number of driving lessons is prescribed. The eight-hour VKU course is, and it has to be done before the test.
8 hoursthe VKU course, with a driving instructor
The law prescribes no minimum number of driving lessons for category B — only the eight-hour VKU course (VZV Art. 18), and no official body collects how many lessons people actually take. Pick a school from the list above — each names English as a teaching language — and compare its 50-minute price with the cantonal range in the cost section. What happens in a first driving lesson is described step by step.
Between lessons you may practise with a supervisor who is at least 23 and has held the matching licence for at least three years, and is no longer on probation (SVG Art. 15). The supervisor sits beside you and must be able to reach the handbrake easily, and the blue L stays on the car (VRV Art. 27).
Cost CHF 200–280Duration 8 hoursConfirmation valid indefinitely
Eight hours in total, taken with a driving instructor, who confirms your attendance; there is no test (VZV Art. 18). The confirmation does not expire: the VZV sets no time limit on it, and from 1 January 2027 the VKUV says so in as many words (VKUV Art. 9). Until the end of 2026 the course has to be done before the practical test; from 1 January 2027 before the theory test, in four blocks of two hours on four separate days (VKUV, in force 1 January 2027). Ask your school whether it runs the VKU in English.
Phase 4 · steps 10
The test
The examiner of your cantonal office gives directions, and gives them in German. Two of every three tests taken are passed.
3 failuresthen a fourth test only after an aptitude test
Cost CHF 120–140After 3 failures: aptitude test
An examiner of the cantonal office takes the test, and the test language is German (Canton of Zürich) — so your instructor drills the handful of commands you need, from rechts abbiegen to hier parkieren. It may in no case last less than 60 minutes, greeting and goodbye counted in, and at least 45 of those minutes are driven in public traffic (VZV, Annex 12). In 2025, 67 % of the tests taken were passed (asa statistics). After a second failure a driving instructor has to certify that your training is finished; after a third, a fourth test needs an aptitude test that confirms your fitness to drive (VZV Art. 23). Hier parkieren is one of those commands, and the rules behind it have pages of their own: the blue zone and its parking disc, and a parking ban against a stopping ban.
Phase 5 · steps 11–13
Three years on probation
Zero alcohol, one WAB day within the first twelve months, and the unrestricted licence arrives by post.
3 yearson probation
3 years
Three years on probation (SVG Art. 15a): no alcohol at the wheel — the limit is 0.10 per mille of blood or 0.05 mg/l of breath (VRV Art. 2a). A licence withdrawal for a medium or serious offence extends the probation by a year; a second such offence annuls the licence, and a new learner's permit then needs a year's wait and a traffic-psychology report.
Cost CHF 340–510Duration 7 hoursWithin 12 months of the licence
One day of further training (Weiterausbildung), seven hours (VZV Art. 27a), and you book it yourself within twelve months of the probationary licence being issued (VZV Art. 27c) — nobody reminds you. Miss it and you may not drive once the probation ends; you can catch the course up, and the office then gives you a permit for the course day (Canton of Zürich).
The unrestricted licence follows once the probation has expired and the further training is done (SVG Art. 15b). Zürich, for one, sends it at the end of the probation and says there is nothing for you to do (Canton of Zürich). Lose the card afterwards and the replacement is a cantonal matter again: what a replacement licence costs in your canton.
02
What it costs — the ToDrive lesson-price index
A driving lesson in Switzerland costs between CHF 55 and CHF 111.50 for 50 minutes — worked out from the prices that 140 driving schools maintain themselves on todrive.ch, category B, every price converted to 50 minutes. No estimate, no survey.
- Cheapest 50-minute lessonCHF 55
- MedianCHF 94
- AverageCHF 93
- Dearest 50-minute lessonCHF 111.50
- Schools with a published price140 of 163
- Measured, recalculated every hourSeptember 2026
The lesson-length trap
"One lesson" is not one length. Of the price lines the schools publish, this is how the lengths split — CHF 90 for 45 minutes and CHF 90 for 60 minutes differ by a third, which is why every price on this page is normalised to 50 minutes before you compare.
Lesson packages
113 schools sell packages of lessons. Compared with the single-lesson price of the same school — never with the national average — a lesson inside a package is, on median:
- Packs of 5 lessons · 47 compared4.2 % cheaper
- Packs of 10 lessons · 100 compared5.2 % cheaper
- Packs of 15 lessons · 17 compared6.5 % cheaper
- Packs of 20 lessons · 20 compared8.9 % cheaper
- All packages · 196 compared5.2 % cheaper
Lesson price by canton
| Canton | Schools | From – to | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aargau | 10 | 80 – 111.50 | 99 |
| Basel-Landschaft | 6 | 66.50 – 100 | 87 |
| Basel-Stadt | 3 | 83 – 91 | 87 |
| Bern | 23 | 66.50 – 106.50 | 92 |
| Luzern | 11 | 83.50 – 100 | 92 |
| Solothurn | 9 | 71 – 106 | 94 |
| St. Gallen | 11 | 82 – 99 | 90 |
| Thurgau | 3 | 75 – 100 | 90 |
| Zug | 8 | 88 – 102 | 96 |
| Zürich | 54 | 55 – 111 | 93 |
What is fixed before the first lesson
Cantonal fees and typical course prices, the same for everyone whichever school you choose:
- First-aid course (Nothelferkurs)CHF 100–200
- Permit applicationCHF 20–80
- Eyesight testCHF 10–15
- Theory testCHF 30–40
- Road-awareness course (VKU)CHF 200–280
- Practical testCHF 120–140
- WAB courseCHF 340–510
03
Theory test and practical test in English
The theory test is the same everywhere in Switzerland — 50 questions from the catalogue of the asa, the association of the cantonal road traffic offices, on a tablet, in 45 minutes. The language you may choose is a cantonal decision, and it is made by the canton you live in, not by the one where your driving school is. We checked the official pages of the eleven cantons in which the English-speaking schools on todrive.ch are based, on 17 September 2026:
| Canton | Basic theory test in English |
|---|---|
| Aargau | Not statedThe office’s theory-test page does not name a test language — ask before you register (Strassenverkehrsamt Aargau). |
| Basel-Landschaft | NoThe joint test centre of both Basel cantons tests in German, Italian and French; for English you apply to sit the test in Solothurn or Zürich (Motorfahrzeugkontrolle Basel-Stadt, FAQ). |
| Basel-Stadt | NoSame test centre, same rule: apply to take the test in Solothurn or Zürich (Motorfahrzeugkontrolle Basel-Stadt, FAQ). |
| Bern | Not statedThe office’s theory-test page does not name a test language — ask before you register (Strassenverkehrs- und Schifffahrtsamt Bern). |
| Lucerne | No“Die Theorieprüfungen können in den drei Landessprachen (d/f/i) absolviert werden” (Strassenverkehrsamt Luzern). |
| St. Gallen | Yes“Die Basistheorie (Auto/Motorrad) … bieten wir auch in englischer Sprache an” (Strassenverkehrsamt St. Gallen). |
| Schwyz | Yes“Die Basistheorie für Motorräder und Autos zusätzlich in Englisch” (Verkehrsamt Schwyz). |
| Solothurn | Yes“Deutsch, Français, Italiano, English — gilt nur für die Basis-Theorieprüfung (Kategorie B)” (Motorfahrzeugkontrolle Solothurn). |
| Thurgau | Yes“Die Basistheorieprüfung der Kategorien B, A, A1 kann … sowie in englisch abgelegt werden” (Strassenverkehrsamt Thurgau). |
| Zug | Yes“Deutsch, Französisch, Italienisch und Englisch” for the basic test; the practical test “wird in deutscher Sprache durchgeführt” (Strassenverkehrsamt Zug). |
| Zürich | Yes“Englisch (nur Basis-Theorieprüfung)”; for the practical test: “Die Prüfungssprache ist Deutsch” (Kanton Zürich). |
Live in another canton? Its road traffic office decides, and a written request to sit the test in a neighbouring canton is a normal procedure — Basel’s office describes it in its FAQ. From 1 January 2027 the order changes nationwide: the VKU course must be completed before the basic theory test, and the test uses a fully revised set of questions (Canton of Bern, theory-test page, checked 17 September 2026).
The practical test is conducted in German. Zürich and Zug write it on their pages, and we found no German-speaking canton that says otherwise. It matters less than it sounds: the examiner does not chat but gives directions — rechts abbiegen, Spur wechseln, hier parkieren, wenden — and a school that teaches in English spends part of every lesson on exactly those words, so that on the day they trigger an action, not a translation. The test may in no case last less than 60 minutes, greeting and goodbye counted in, and at least 45 of those minutes are driven in public traffic (VZV, Annex 12); the pass rate is in step 10 above, and the whole day is on our page on the practical driving test.
04
The first-aid course — and where to take it in English
Before you can apply for anything you need the Nothelferausweis, the certificate of a first-aid course of at least ten hours, spread over at least two days (ASTRA directive on first-aid courses). Its content is laid down by federal law and identical everywhere — alarm, securing the scene, recovery position, resuscitation with a defibrillator, stopping bleeding — so the language is the only real choice. There is no test; you receive the certificate for attending, and it stays valid for six years.
Courses in English are run by Samaritan associations (Samariter) in the larger towns and by driving schools that teach in English; ask the school you pick from the list above whether it offers a package with the course included, which is common. Doctors and qualified nursing staff are exempt. Cost, duration and exemptions are on our page on the Nothelferkurs.
05
Coming with a foreign licence
If you already hold a licence from another country — a driver’s license, in American spelling — you may drive on it for twelve months after taking up residence. Within those twelve months you exchange it at the road traffic office of your canton; after them, driving on it is no longer allowed.
Whether the exchange involves a test depends only on the country that issued your licence. The Federal Roads Office keeps two lists. The 31 EU and EFTA states are exchanged without a control drive and without an additional theory test. Fourteen further countries — Andorra, Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, Korea, Monaco, Morocco, New Zealand, San Marino, Singapore, Taiwan, Tunisia and the United States — are exchanged without a control drive. Every other licence requires a control drive (Kontrollfahrt) with an expert of the cantonal office, and this is the detail most people learn too late: it may be attempted once. Fail it and the foreign licence is annulled; you start again with the learner’s permit and both tests. That is why people in this situation take a few lessons first. Both lists and the practice figures are on our page on exchanging a foreign licence (in German).
The other way round — hiring a car or being checked outside Europe with your Swiss licence — may need the International Driving Permit (the international driving licence), an official translation issued by the same office: see our page on the International Driving Permit.
06
Car plates, fines, insurance — three things nobody tells you
Swiss car plates (Kontrollschilder) are issued by your canton to you as the holder, which is why the two letters tell everyone where you live. Buy a different car and you can carry the plates over; move to another canton and you hand them back and register the car again there, with new plates, a new vehicle tax and a recalculated premium. The vehicle registration document (Fahrzeugausweis) belongs to the car and goes with it; what each canton charges for it is on our page on the Fahrzeugausweis.
Traffic fines in Switzerland come from a fixed federal tariff for minor offences — paid on the spot or by slip, no argument, no points system. Above the tariff a case goes to the prosecutor and can cost you the licence, and during the three probation years a withdrawal has a second price: it extends the probation by a year, and a second one ends it. The details are on our page on the probationary licence.
Insurance: no car gets plates without third-party liability cover (Haftpflichtversicherung); the insurer sends the proof to the cantonal office electronically before the plates are issued. Insurers price by age and years of licence, so a new driver’s premium starts high and falls with each claim-free year — compare offers before buying the car, not after.
07
Learning the road signs
Swiss road signs (Signale) follow the Vienna Convention, so most look familiar if you have driven in Europe; the ones that catch newcomers out are the priority signs, the blue “Autostrasse” and “Autobahn” signs with their own speed limits, and the tram and bus lanes in the cities. The theory test draws heavily on them. Our theory page compares the learning apps, several of which carry the full sign catalogue in English, and the theory-test page explains how the questions are scored.
08
Next step
Pick a canton in the list at the top of this page and open a school’s profile: it shows the reviews, the cars, the meeting points and an enquiry form in English. Or compare every driving school in your area, in any language: