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How to get points back on your driving license

If you still have points, you get them back by waiting 2 years or with a 10-hour course, with no exam. If you have lost them all, you need a 20-hour course and must pass an exam at a Traffic Office.

Course rules in force since November 4, 2024 (Order INT/914/2024). If you read 12 or 24 hours, or 6 points, the information is out of date.

The recovery examTests by profile
How many points do you have left?

Tap your balance. If you do not know it, check it for free with the DGT or in miDGT.

Choose your balance and we will tell you what you can do: wait, take a course or take the exam.

Partial course or license recovery course

Both are road safety awareness and re-education courses, with a common part and a part based on your profile. What changes is what they are for.

Partial course (you still have points)

When
You still have points and want to get some back
Minimum length
10 hours: 7 common and 3 for your profile
What you get
4 points, never more than you lost
Exam
No
How often
Once every 2 years (professional drivers, every year)
Online
Only the specific part, 3 hours
Mandatory
No: you also get points back by waiting 2 years

License recovery course (0 points)

When
You have lost all your points, or a sentence of more than 2 years
Minimum length
20 hours: 16 common and 4 for your profile
What you get
The right to apply for the exam; once you pass, a license with 8 points
Exam
Yes, at a Provincial Traffic Office, within the following 2 years
How often
Every time your license loses its validity
Online
Only the specific part, 4 hours
Mandatory
Yes, to drive again

Getting points back without taking any course

  • 2 years without penalties. If you receive no final penalty for an offense that costs points for 2 years, you go back to 12. It does not matter whether the offense was serious or very serious: the 3-year rule was abolished in March 2022.
  • If you started with 8. Drivers who have held their license for less than 3 years and those who get it back after losing all their points start with 8; after 2 years without penalties, they go up to 12.
  • Bonus points. With 12 points and no penalties, +2 after 3 years and +1 after the next 3: up to 15.

Safe and efficient driving course: +2

Voluntary, at least 6 hours long, with in-person practical training. It adds 2 points if your balance is positive, up to a maximum of 15, and you can take one course of each type (car, motorcycle) every 2 years. It is not the recovery course.

Partial recovery course: 4 points in 10 hours

If you still have points, you can get 4 back with a course of at least 10 hours. You never get back more than you lost, and you can only do it once every 2 years (every year if you are a professional driver).

There is no exam. You pass by attending the whole course: you sign in and out at the start and end of each session and each break.

The courses are given by centers authorized by the DGT; each center sets its own price. Look up dates and centers on the DGT website.

Common part, in person: training, group dynamics with a psychologist and a traffic accident victim
7 h
Part for your profile, which can be online
3 h
Points you get back
4
Between one course and the next (1 year if you are a professional driver)
2 years
Drivers taking part in a road-safety awareness course session with a psychologist.

If you have lost all your points

Your license loses its validity and driving is a criminal offense. To get it back, in this order:

  1. Wait out the period

    6 months from when you are notified of the loss of validity; 3 if you are a professional driver. If you lose all your points again within the following 3 years, 12 months (6 if you are a professional driver).

  2. Take the 20-hour course

    At an authorized road safety awareness and re-education center. You can take it while you wait. When you finish, the center gives you a certificate valid for 2 years.

  3. Book an appointment with the DGT

    At any Provincial or local Traffic Office, with the fee and a medical and psychological fitness report from a Driver Medical Test Center.

  4. Pass the exam

    A theory test on the course subjects. You have 3 attempts; before trying again, a 4-hour module.

  5. Drive again

    With a license of the same class and seniority and 8 points. After 2 years without penalties, you go up to 12.

The license recovery exam

A theory test at a Traffic Office on the course subjects. Its guide covers what you need to sit it, what to study and practice tests for your profile.

mistakes at most
10%
attempts
3
validity of the course certificate
2 years
What the exam is like

If a judge has taken away your license

Sentence of 2 years or less

Passing the awareness course is enough, and you can take it while serving the sentence. Once the sentence is over, you can drive again. There is no exam.

Sentence of more than 2 years

Your license loses its validity. You need the 20-hour course with the criminal profile and, once the sentence is over, you must pass the exam at a Traffic Office. You come back with 8 points and the same seniority.

The course profiles and their tests

The DGT assigns you a profile based on your offenses, and it determines the specific part of the course and what carries the most weight in the exam. These are the 6 in the current order; in the DGT simulator they are called Profile 1 to Profile 6.

Profile 1 at the DGTSpeedFor drivers who have lost points mainly for speeding.3 tests, 90 questions (coming soon)
Profile 2 at the DGTAlcohol and other drugsFor drivers who have lost points for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or for refusing to take the tests.3 tests, 90 questions (coming soon)
Profile 3 at the DGTReckless behaviorFor drivers who have lost points for not wearing a seat belt or helmet, not using a child seat, or other reckless behavior.3 tests, 90 questions (coming soon)
Profile 4 at the DGTDistractionsFor drivers who have lost points for using a mobile phone, headphones or other distractions.3 tests, 90 questions (coming soon)
Profile 5 at the DGTCriminalFor drivers getting their license back after a court sentence that deprived them of the right to drive.3 tests, 90 questions (coming soon)
Profile 6 at the DGTReckless behavior on a motorcycleFor motorcyclists with risky offenses on a motorcycle: speeding, weaving, riding on the hard shoulder, riding the wrong way…3 tests, 90 questions (coming soon)

Profiles A to H

These are the old questionnaires that the DGT simulator and many websites still offer. They are not in any regulation, but their questions are still useful for practice.

Frequently asked questions

Can I take the points recovery exam on my own?

No. The exam only exists to get your license back after losing all your points (or after a sentence of more than 2 years), and you must first pass the 20-hour course. If you still have points, there is no exam: you pass the partial course by attending it.

How many points does the partial recovery course give back?

4 points, and never more than you have lost. The Traffic Law allows up to 6, but the order that regulates the course, in force since November 4, 2024, sets 4.

How long is the course?

The partial course, at least 10 hours. The license recovery course, at least 20 hours. If you read 12 and 24 hours, that is the previous rule, repealed in November 2024.

Can I take the course online?

Only the part specific to your profile (3 hours in the partial course, 4 in the full one), with the student identified throughout the connection. The common part is in person and attendance is checked with signatures.

How do I find out how many points I have?

On the DGT online portal or in the miDGT app, with Cl@ve, a digital certificate or an electronic ID card; by phone on 060; or at a Traffic Office with an appointment. The check is free. How to check your points, step by step.

Do very serious offenses extend the period for getting points back?

Not anymore. Until March 2022, 3 years were needed; since Law 18/2021, it is 2 years without final penalties that cost points, whatever the offense.

What happens if I drive after losing all my points?

It is a criminal offense: 3 to 6 months in prison, or a fine of 12 to 24 months, or 31 to 90 days of community service (Criminal Code, article 384).

Who decides my course profile?

The DGT, based on your offenses. The center receives it when you enroll and adapts the specific part to that profile.

Official sources

Reviewed in October 2026 against the consolidated texts of the BOE (Spain’s Official State Gazette).