How many times can the practical test be retaken?

How many attempts does the foglio rosa give?

Three. Article 121, paragraph 11, of the Codice della Strada allows the practical test to be repeated no more than twice within the validity of the authorisation, so the first test plus two retakes. The number belongs to the foglio rosa, not to the individual exam, and covers the whole twelve month validity set by article 122, paragraph 6.

How long passes between attempts?

At least one month. Article 121, paragraph 10, says at least one month must pass between a failed exam and the next attempt. The rule applies to the practical as well as the theory: some pages claim otherwise, but the text of the Codice makes no distinction. Actual dates then depend on the calendar of the Motorizzazione office and on driving school availability.

A simple calculation follows. With the foglio rosa issued at the start of a month, the three tests cannot fall before the second, third and fourth month. In practice the calendar almost always spaces them further apart.

Is there a payment each time?

Yes, for the stamp duty on the test. The page of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport on obtaining the category B licence lists, at the booking of the practical test, the PagoPA receipt for the N019 tariff, 16.00 euro in stamp duty. Every new booking therefore needs a new payment. On top of that come any driving school charges for accompanying the candidate and using the vehicle, which are set freely and differ from school to school.

What happens after a third fail?

The foglio rosa gives no further attempts. In 2016 the Ministry reintroduced the riporto, carrying an already passed theory result onto a new foglio rosa: a new application is filed and only the practical test is sat. The riporto can be requested only once. As a rule the request is made after the foglio rosa expires and within two months, but someone who has used all attempts can file before expiry. If the second foglio rosa also ends without a licence, the theory has to be sat again.

What happens if the attempts are not enough?

It depends on when the attempts run out and on what has already been used. Two concrete cases.

If a candidate in Brescia receives his foglio rosa in February and fails the test in April, June and September, he has no right to a fourth test even though the document would only expire the following February, because the practical can be repeated no more than twice (article 121, paragraph 11, of the Codice della Strada). He need not wait for expiry: he can request the riporto straight away, file the new application and obtain a new foglio rosa with three more practical attempts.

A candidate in Salerno already holds a foglio rosa obtained through the riporto. She fails her second test in November and the document expires in mid December: the compulsory month pushes a third test past expiry. The riporto cannot be requested a second time, so she has to start again with a new application and sit the theory test again.

How many practical tests pass in Italy?

In 2025, 83.82 per cent of the 734,553 category B practical tests ended in a pass, according to the "Esiti Esami" data of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. The figure counts tests sat, not people. The practical goes far better than the theory, which stopped at 60.27 per cent in the same year. Between offices the range runs from 60.94 per cent in Sassari to 99.43 per cent in Enna: the detail is on the statistics page.

How to avoid reaching the third attempt?

With a well prepared first test booked early. The mistakes that end the exam are described on the page about practical test mistakes, and a first test placed in the early months of the foglio rosa leaves room for the other two without chasing the deadline.

Legal source: Articoli 121 e 122 del Codice della Strada. The consolidated text of the Codice della Strada is on Normattiva.