How to recover driving licence points: courses and prices

A traffic offence can be minor or serious, and either one leads to the loss of points on the driving licence. Having no points left on this licence is similar to not having one. ¡But there are several ways to recover those points!

A driver who drives when they have no points left on their licence risks being punished with imprisonment for a period of between 3 and 6 months, as such a situation constitutes an offence under Article 384 of the Penal Code.

Before running out of points, the right decision is to recover licence points through the procedures established by the Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT): the road awareness and re-education courses.

If you have only lost some points, you have the opportunity to recover your initial balance of 12 points after two years, provided that during this time you do not commit any other offence that would put your points at risk. However, the waiting period will be three years if the offence that led to the loss of points was serious.

But if it is the case that you have lost all your points, you must wait six months before you can recover them, and to do so you must complete the corresponding road awareness and re-education course.

Which courses are there to recover licence points?

For those who have lost all of their points, or only some of them, the alternative for recovering them is to complete the road awareness and re-education course. To this end, the Directorate-General for Traffic has designed three types of courses:

• For full recovery of points you must complete the licence recovery course.
• If a driver wishes to recover only some of the points in their balance, they must take the partial recovery course.
• The third course is the training cycle or additional course, which must be taken by a driver who fails the theory exam of the licence recovery course.

What do these courses involve?

These courses aim to raise drivers’ awareness of the way in which they drive, as well as to guide a change in behaviour to improve their driving and make it safe.

The courses are taught in face-to-face classes. To fully recover licence points, the course lasts 24 hours and includes a theory test. For partial recovery of points, the course lasts 12 hours and no exam is required.

If you need to apply for the additional cycle, it lasts 4 hours.

How much do these courses cost?

Information on the cost of the courses is provided on the DGT website, www.dgt.es, where it is detailed as follows:

• Licence recovery course: 329.30 euros + VAT/IGIC/IPSI
• Partial recovery course: 174.93 euros + VAT/IGIC/IPSI
• Training cycle: 102.90 euros + VAT/IGIC/IPSI

When can you take them?

The theory test of the licence recovery course can only be taken once the period during which the driving licence has lost its validity has elapsed, which is 6 months (3 months for professionals).

For partial recovery, it can be taken once every two years, although professionals are allowed to take it once a year.

The additional cycle is the option for those who have not passed the theory test, and it can only be taken twice in succession; if the third attempt is also failed, the course must be repeated.

How many points can be recovered?

If a driver commits no offences for two years, they recover the full number of points, that is, the balance returns to its original 12 points; but if there was a serious offence they must wait three years.

Through the partial points recovery course, a maximum of 6 points can be recovered, but in the case of loss of the driving licence, only 8 points can be recovered initially.

For any of the courses, you must request an appointment at the traffic offices, by phone on 060, or by accessing the official website, where you will find a list of centres and timetables where the courses are taught.