Some tips for those looking to get a driver’s licence in France quickly and cheaply, from my experience. For those who know how to drive and to a certain extent understand French, getting a French driver’s license is very easy and you seldom have to pass through an auto-ecole. Can save at least 800 euros and 3 months of your time
To summarize, there are 3 major steps in the process.
Step 1: Obtaining your NEPH number.
Go to https://ants.gouv.fr/monespace/s-inscrire and complete your registration. Before you start, go to any of the photo booths that say “Agréé ANTS” to get an E-Photo taken. Make sure you have a scan of your address proof, and your visa/residence card. It takes 10-15 minutes and is free of cost. Going through an auto-Ecole will not only cost you 100-150 euros for this step but also a lot of time. If you do it yourself, you will get your NEPH number in 2 to 4 weeks.
Step 2: Code de la route (Theory Exam)
Just buy this book “Code de la route Rousseau” and prepare. Largely sufficient and very informative on how to be civilized on the roads. Do not take this exam lightly but at the same time, it is not a good idea to waste money on training for this as well. You can take this exam for 30 euros at La Poste https://www.lecode.laposte.fr/passermonexamenducodeaveclap…/
Going through auto-Ecoles, you will have to shell out anywhere between 200 to 500 euros just for this
Step 3: Practical exam
For this, you can go through an auto-Ecole and take cours de conduit “à la carte”. If you have experience, 3 to 4 hours is largely sufficient and you can ask for an exam date. Some might ask you to pay for a minimum number of hours but still better than paying 1000+ euros. You can have dates available quickly only in Paris and you can go to a Parisian auto-Ecole regardless of where you live. I strongly recommend Paris because in case of failure, getting a second date might be extremely long in other cities. Once you pass your practical exam, you should once again go to the ANTS website to request a new driver’s license. You will get it in 2 weeks following your request.
In the entire process, you just pay for the number of hours you take. Everything else can be done free of cost if you don’t pass through an auto-Ecole. You end up certainly saving at least 700-800 euros.
Many auto-Ecoles might ask you for ASR or ASSR2 even for registration. It is not required for anyone who did not do their schooling in France
The entire process lasted less than 2 months for me and I had to spend only the 30 euros for the code and 240 for driving and the practical exam
Top 10 sites to pass your highway code
https://eleve.codesrousseau.fr/
Code de la route Free Practice :
https://codedelaroute.io/gratuit/tests-du-code.html
https://www.codeclic.com/gratuit.php
https://www.lepermislibre.fr/code-route/conseils/code-gratuit
https://www.codeenpoche.fr/
https://www.passetoncode.fr/
A Success Story :
Hi guys, I just wanted to share my experience in getting a driving license (Permis B). There may be a few takeaways for the people who are trying to get one.
Thoughts I had before starting the process:
I have a French knowledge of about A2 level, so I had heavy doubts that whether I will be able to clear the Code de la Route theory test. So, I decided not to signup for a Driving school, because they only suggest packages for both theory and practical exams (which comes to about 1200 Euros). So, my thought was if I could not pass the theory exam due to my weak French proficiency, it would be a waste of money to pay for the classes even if I had paid only a partial amount. So, I needed a less expensive way to appear for the theory exam.
Theory Test:
So, I decided to take the theory test as Candidat Libre (independent candidate). The online process was very simple, basic french is enough.
1. Applied for NEPH number on ANTS website. Took 3 weeks to get the number.
2. Preparation – To study for the exam, there are many free and less expensive websites which give us mock exams. I would suggest going for a paid website because they update the latest rules. I paid 18 Euros to one website, but anything will work.
3. Exam – Practiced for about 3-4 weeks until I regularly got 38/40 marks in the mock exams. The actual pass mark is 35/40. Booked an exam slot at La Poste (costs 30 Euros per exam). We get the result within a few hours. Even if we fail, we can revise again and reappear any number of times ( but it costs 30 Euros).
Apart from the little freedom, we also save about 200 Euros compared to a Driving School if we appear as Candidat Libre for the Theory Test.
Practical Test:
Once I passed the theory exam, I gained some confidence.
There are 2 routes now – to continue as a candidate libre or signup at a driving school. I chose the latter because I heard that it will take many months to get an exam slot as a candidate libre.
They now give us two options.
1. If we already know driving, and have our Indian license, we need not take the 20 Hours of mandatory training for driving. We can pay (about 45 Euros) for “Evaluation de Depart” (initial/starting evaluation). If they are satisfied that we know driving, they will suggest taking just 2 or 3 hours for us to apply what we learned in the theory exam to get comfortable on French roads and arrange for the exam.
2. If we do not know about driving, we can take the 20-hour training, but this time we can pay only for our 20H practice (about 850 Euros). Most schools don’t even ask for an administration fee since we already have our NEPH number.
Either way, the point I want to insist on is that minimal French is enough to get Driving License. Cheers