Since the start of the year, headlines saying "the driving test pass mark has dropped" have been doing the rounds, and candidates who have just enrolled at a driving school are understandably confused. A pass mark has indeed dropped, but not the one for a car licence. The change concerns the exam for the SRC professional competence certificate for commercial drivers; in the electronic theory test (e-sınav) for the class B driving licence, the 70-point bar stays exactly where it was. Here I separate what has changed, what has not, and how a class B candidate should prepare for the exam.
What has changed in the SRC exam?
Under a regulation published in the Official Gazette (Resmî Gazete) at the start of 2026, the pass mark for the SRC, a professional competence certificate, was lowered from 70 to 60 out of 100. The same regulation abolished the practical part of the exam; candidates now sit only the theoretical e-sınav. Since the SRC is compulsory for those driving commercial vehicles in freight and passenger transport and for motorcycle couriers, the change affects a wide group. But that group is not the same as the people who want a car licence.
What has not changed in the class B driving licence exam?
Everything. The theory exam taken by candidates who complete a driving school course is held at the electronic exam centres of MEB, the Ministry of National Education; it consists of 50 questions and lasts 45 minutes. Passing requires 70 points, which means at least 35 correct answers. Wrong answers do not cancel out correct ones; the score is calculated directly from the number of correct answers. The breakdown of questions is also the same: Traffic and Environment 23, First Aid 12, Engine and Vehicle Technology 9, Traffic Etiquette 6. The e-sınav is held by appointment in all 81 provinces and the result appears on screen as soon as the exam ends.
A class B candidate who relaxes because "the bar has dropped to 60" pays dearly for it in the exam; stopping at 34 correct answers means leaving the exam for the next appointment. The details of how many wrong answers you can afford are in the article on how many mistakes are allowed in the driving theory test.
Is the exam system really changing?
Reports about changes being prepared to driver training and exam regulations have appeared throughout the year; various claims are circulating, from the layout of the practical driving test course to training hours. None of them is in force as of today. The only change in force concerns the SRC exam. What a candidate enrolled at a driving school should do is not wait on rumours and postpone the exam, but pass it under the current rules; if a new rule comes, it will be published in the Official Gazette and driving schools will inform their candidates.
Which subject costs the most marks?
Most candidates think they know the traffic signs and the rules; the sections that bring them down in the exam are usually first aid and engine knowledge. The 12 first aid questions are almost a quarter of the total score, and they call for practical reasoning rather than rote learning: in what order is bleeding stopped, how is an unconscious person positioned, how many compressions are given in basic life support. Most of the engine questions, meanwhile, are about warning lights and simple signs of a fault. With 21 questions between these two areas, even a candidate who gets the whole traffic section right can slip below 70 by neglecting them.
How many weeks does it take to prepare for the e-sınav?
Two to three weeks of regular question practice alongside the driving school's theory lessons is enough for most candidates. The logic is simple: instead of reading a topic and moving on, solve a 50-question mock test every day and go back to the topic behind each mistake. Because the exam itself takes this form, doing mock tests also means getting used to the screen layout and the time limit. The driving licence tests were prepared according to the subject breakdown of the real exam; the 50-question mock exams are the closest thing to a rehearsal before the real thing.
A routine that works for the final week: three days of revision subject by subject, then three days of mixed mock tests only, and on the day before the exam no questions at all, just a look through your notebook of mistakes. Solving new questions on the morning of the exam usually undermines confidence.
What should you watch for in picture questions?
The questions that cost the most marks in the e-sınav are the junction diagrams. The picture shows several vehicles and sometimes a traffic officer or a light, and the question asks for the order of passage. Here a rule of precedence helps more than memorising: first the officer, then the light, then the sign, and the general rule last. If there is no sign at the junction, the vehicle coming from the right has priority; trams and rail vehicles go first in most situations. Once these few rules are learned, the great majority of picture questions are solved with the same logic, which is why it pays to work on junction questions as a separate topic in your mock tests.
What is exam day like?
You go to the e-sınav centre with your ID before the appointment time, a short practice screen is shown at the computer, and then the 45-minute clock starts. Some of the questions have pictures; traffic sign and junction images can be enlarged on screen. The timer runs in the top right of the screen, and you can skip a question and come back to it. When the exam ends the score appears on screen, and a candidate who passes can continue with practical driving lessons the same day. A candidate who fails sits the next appointment set by the driving school; there is more than one attempt, but every failed attempt costs time and money.
The theory exam ought to be the easiest part of getting a licence, because it is an exam you can prepare for completely. In the practical driving test the weather, the traffic and nerves come into play; in the e-sınav there is only knowledge, and the knowledge can be covered in two weeks.