Driver’s ed is required in Virginia for anyone under 18 who wants a driver’s license. If you are 18 or older, it is optional: you can either complete a state-approved driver education program or skip it and go straight through the DMV’s testing process. There is no way for a minor to bypass the requirement short of waiting until they turn 18.
If You Are Under 18
Virginia law makes completion of a state-approved driver education program a condition of licensure for minors.1Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver Education You also have to hold a Virginia learner’s permit for at least nine months and reach the age of 16 years and 3 months before the DMV will issue your provisional license.2Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver License Eligibility Requirements
On top of the coursework, a parent or guardian has to certify that you logged at least 45 hours of supervised driving practice, with at least 15 of those hours after sunset.3Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Teen Driving Restrictions Those 45 hours are separate from the in-car sessions inside driver education. Driver education is the structured instruction; the 45 hours is the practice you accumulate on your own time with a parent in the passenger seat. Families routinely underestimate how long that takes, so it helps to start logging hours early in the permit period.
If You Are 18 or Older
Adults 18 and up who have never held a license anywhere have two paths to a Virginia license.4Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Apply for a Driver’s License
The first is to complete a state-approved driver education program. Doing so waives the 60-day learner’s permit holding period and waives the DMV road skills test, because the road test is built into the behind-the-wheel portion of the course.
The second is to skip driver education. You then hold your learner’s permit for at least 60 days, pass the two-part knowledge exam, and pass the road skills test at the DMV. Nothing in the law forces an adult into a classroom. For adults who want their license as quickly as possible, though, driver education is often the faster route because it collapses the waiting period and removes the DMV road test from the schedule.
What Virginia’s Driver Education Program Covers
The program has two parts, and both are required. Both must be completed through a DMV-approved driver training school or through a public or private school that offers the program.1Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver Education
Classroom Instruction
The classroom portion is 36 sessions of 50 minutes each, covering traffic laws, risk reduction, and impaired and distracted driving. Students under 18 also complete an additional 90-minute parent/teen session.1Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver Education
You can complete the classroom portion online through a DMV-approved online driver training school. The online course runs 30 hours of instruction, and you still have to pass an in-person final exam at a scheduled test site before you can start behind-the-wheel training. You get one attempt at that exam per business day.5Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Online Driver Training Schools There is no fully online path to a Virginia license. In-car sessions are always required.
Behind-the-Wheel Training
The in-car portion is 14 sessions of 50 minutes each. Seven are driving sessions where you operate the vehicle, and seven are observation sessions where you ride along while another student drives. The final road skills examination is included in these sessions.6Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver Training Schools If you complete the full program, that road test counts as your driving test and you do not go back to the DMV to take another one.
Homeschooled Students
Homeschooled students can meet the requirement through a modified path. The classroom portion can be completed through an approved online course. For the in-car portion, a parent or guardian can apply to the DMV for authorization to teach behind-the-wheel training at home. The parent submits a Home-Schooled In-Car Driver Education Parental Authorization Application (form HS-1) along with proof that the student is being homeschooled and documentation that the classroom portion is already complete.7Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver Education Information for Home Schoolers
The parent-taught option is only available to families already educating under Virginia’s home instruction statute. The DMV reviews each application individually, and a separate form has to be submitted for each child.
Driver Education Completed in Another State
If you moved to Virginia after completing driver education elsewhere while holding an out-of-state learner’s permit, Virginia will accept that program as long as it included at least 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours of in-car instruction. Your out-of-state program has to provide documentation confirming those minimums.6Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver Training Schools If your program fell short of either threshold, you will need to make up the difference through a Virginia-approved provider before the state credits your training.