The theory exam is 30 questions on a tablet, 30 minutes, 3 mistakes allowed.
The exam itself is the easy part to explain. The hard parts are finding the right door, knowing the exam English, and finding your result afterwards. This guide covers all three.
I took mine in Barcelona, so the directions here are for the Barcelona office. The rest is the same in every province.
In short
Barcelona exams are at Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes 184, next to the Magòria-La Campana train stop. Bring your TIE or passport and your appointment email. Answer all 30 questions, a blank counts as a mistake. Your result is online from 17:00 the same day, or in the miDGT app about an hour after you finish.
The rules
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Questions | 30, each with 3 answers |
| Time | 30 minutes |
| Mistakes allowed | 3. Four wrong is a fail. |
| Blank answers | count as mistakes |
| Tries per fee | 2 |
| A pass is valid for | 2 years |
You can skip questions and come back. You can change an answer until you press finish. When you fail, you see how many you got wrong, not which ones.
Where the exam is in Barcelona
Jefatura Provincial de Tráfico de Barcelona
Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes 184, 08038 Barcelona
Map: Google Maps. The exam venue is the point marked "Seu exàmens DGT", on Carrer de la Mineria. Open in Google Maps.
How to get there:
- FGC train: Magòria-La Campana is right in front of the building. Lines L8, S3, S4, S8, S9, R5 and R6 stop there, all from Plaça Espanya.
- Metro: Mercat Nou (L1) or Ciutat de la Justícia (L10 Sud). Both are a 10 minute walk.
- Bus: any bus along Gran Via, stop Magòria.
The theory exam room has its own entrance on Carrer de la Mineria, the small street on the side of the building. The main entrance on Gran Via, through the Registro Mercantil building, is for the offices on the fourth floor. Your appointment email says which one to use. If it only gives the address, go to the Mineria side and look for the group of people waiting.
Arrive 20 minutes before your time. They check names at the door and the list closes when the exam starts.
What to bring
- Your TIE, or your passport if you have an NIE on paper. The original card, not a photo.
- The appointment email, on your phone or printed.
That is all. The DGT already has your medical report and your fee. If your card is at the police station being renewed, bring the renewal receipt and your passport.
Inside the room
- Check in. They match your name to the list and look at your ID.
- Phone off and away. Some rooms have lockers. In others, everything goes in your bag under the chair. The same for smart watches.
- The rules. No talking, no looking at other screens. Your seat has a number.
- The tablet. Your name is already on it. The exam is in the language you asked for when you sent your papers.
- 30 questions. One at a time, most with a photo. A counter shows how many you have answered and how much time is left. Arrows move you back and forward.
- Finish. Press finish and leave. Or wait, and it finishes itself at 30 minutes.
A good order: go through all 30 once and answer what you know. Then go back to the ones you skipped. If you are still not sure, pick one. A guess is right one time in three, a blank is wrong every time. Make sure all 30 have an answer before you press finish.
The English on the exam
The exam was written in Spanish and translated word for word. The English is correct but stiff, and some words mean something specific.
| On the exam | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Conventional road | A normal road outside town. Not a motorway or dual carriageway. |
| Motorway | Autopista, with or without a toll |
| Dual carriageway | Autovía. Similar to a motorway, but with a few different rules. |
| Roadway | The part of the road for vehicles, calzada |
| Hard shoulder | The strip at the edge of the road, arcén |
| Built-up area | Inside a town or city, poblado |
| Moped | Ciclomotor, up to 50 cc |
| Give way | Ceda el paso |
Two phrases decide a lot of questions.
"As a general rule" means: unless a sign says otherwise. Answer with the standard rule and ignore special cases.
"Only", "always" and "never." A question that says "only in built-up areas" is really asking whether the same thing is allowed outside them. Read the whole sentence, the last words often change the answer.
If you have been practising in Spanish, switch to English tests before the exam. The rules are the same, the words are not.
How to check your result
Computer exams are marked the same day. There are four ways to see the result.
1. Online, no account needed
Open the exam results page on sede.dgt.gob.es and click Online - Datos personales.
Screenshot: sede.dgt.gob.es. The four channels are at the top. Click the first one.
You get a short form:
Screenshot: sedeclave.dgt.gob.es. Four fields, then Buscar.
- NIF/NIE: your NIE, letter included, for example
Y1234567X. - Fecha de examen: the exam date.
- Clase de permiso: B.
- Fecha de nacimiento: your date of birth.
Press Buscar. The result is there from 17:00 on the day of the exam and stays online for 15 days. If you took the exam on paper, it appears the next day at 17:00.
2. The miDGT app
The result appears in the miDGT app about one hour after the exam, so this is the fastest way.
The catch is logging in. The app accepts three things:
- a digital certificate, the same FNMT certificate you used to send your papers
- Cl@ve, if you have it
- your personal data plus an SMS code, but only if your phone number is already registered with the DGT, which most people doing this for the first time have not done
If you got the FNMT certificate for the paperwork, install it on your phone and use it here. If not, use the website above.
3. Phone
Call 060 with your NIE and exam date. It is the general government line, so expect to wait.
4. In person
Any traffic office, with an appointment. In practice nobody does this, but it exists.
What the result says
Apto is a pass. No apto is a fail, with the number of mistakes next to it. The DGT does not tell you which questions you got wrong, in any of the four channels.
If you fail
Your fee covers two tries. Ask your traffic office for a second date the same way you asked for the first, through the electronic registry, and say it is your second call, segunda convocatoria.
Fail twice and you pay the 94.05 euro fee again. Your medical report stays valid as long as it is inside its 90 days.
Most people who fail were one or two answers short. The fix is timed practice tests in English until you pass them every time with 2 mistakes or fewer.
If you pass
The pass is valid for two years. In that time you have to pass the practical exam, and for that you need a driving school, because the practical test uses a car with two sets of pedals.
You do not need to do anything with the theory result. The DGT records it. When the driving school files your practical exam request, it is already in your file.
Questions people ask
How many mistakes are allowed on the DGT theory test? Three out of 30. Four is a fail. Blank answers count as mistakes.
Where is the DGT theory exam in Barcelona? Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes 184, at the Magòria-La Campana FGC stop. The theory room entrance is on Carrer de la Mineria.
When can I see my result? From 17:00 on the exam day on sede.dgt.gob.es, or about an hour after the exam in the miDGT app.
Do I need a Spanish phone or a Cl@ve account to check my result? No. The website form only needs your NIE, your date of birth, the exam date and the licence class. The app is the one that needs a certificate or Cl@ve.
Can I see which questions I got wrong? No. You only get the number of mistakes.
How long is the theory pass valid? Two years from the exam date.
What if I fail twice? You pay the 94.05 euro exam fee again and apply for a new date. The medical report does not need to be repeated if it is still inside its 90 days.