What is Pass Plus, and is it worth it? Costs, modules and insurance discounts
What is Pass Plus? It is a DVSA course for drivers who have already passed their test: at least 6 hours with a Pass Plus registered instructor, covering town driving, all weathers, rural roads, night driving, dual carriageways and motorways. There is no test at the end. Expect to pay around £160 to £200 unless your council helps.
Is it worth it? For the driving, often yes, if you passed without ever touching a motorway or driving in the dark. For cheaper insurance, only if the insurer you would buy from anyway gives a discount, and fewer of them do than the course's reputation suggests. Get two quotes, one with Pass Plus and one without, before you book.
What is Pass Plus? The 6 modules
GOV.UK describes Pass Plus as practical training that takes at least 6 hours, aimed at helping drivers improve their skills and drive more safely. You can take it at any time, but it should be most useful in the year after your test.
The course has 6 modules, covering driving:
- in town
- in all weathers
- on rural roads
- at night
- on dual carriageways
- on motorways
All modules should be practical sessions, although local conditions can mean some are taught as theory. You will normally spend at least 5.5 hours driving.
There is no test. Your instructor assesses you throughout, and you pass when you reach the required standard in all 6 modules.
Getting your certificate
You need the certificate if you want an insurance discount, and you have to apply for it yourself. Your instructor gives you a training report form once you have reached the standard in every module. You both sign it, then you post it to DVSA (Pass Plus, DVSA, 1 Unity Square, Nottingham, NG2 1AY). The certificate should arrive within 2 weeks. If it doesn't, email the DVSA Pass Plus team at passplus@dvsa.gov.uk with your instructor's name.
What Pass Plus costs in 2026
There is no set price. GOV.UK says fees depend on where you live, the instructor or school, and how long your training takes. The best guides we found are from the councils that subsidise it:
- Wiltshire Council says prices generally range from £160 to £200.
- The Cumbria Road Safety Partnership says Pass Plus in Cumberland currently averages around £160.
For comparison with what you paid while learning, our guide to how many driving lessons you need sets out what a full course of lessons typically costs.
Pass Plus insurance discounts: who still offers them
Hampshire County Council notes that Pass Plus was designed with the help of insurers. That doesn't mean insurers discount it today.
GOV.UK's own page is careful: you may be able to get a discount, the amount depends on the insurer, and not all insurers offer one. It also says to check with the insurer if you passed your test more than a year ago, and that some insurers may let you put the discount on hold for up to 2 years if you don't have a car yet.
We checked what insurers and brokers say on their own websites on 11 October 2026:
| Company | What its own site says (as of October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Adrian Flux (broker) | Offers up to 25% off premiums if you are eligible for its Pass Plus discount, with your certificate as proof |
| LV= | Does not currently give a discount for Pass Plus |
| ingenie | Does not offer a Pass Plus discount, and says "not very many" insurers do |
| Churchill | Says insurance "should be cheaper" with Pass Plus, but names no discount |
| 1st Central | Says Pass Plus can "potentially" lower your insurance costs, no figure |
| Hastings Direct | Says some insurers may not take courses like Pass Plus into account |
| Swinton (broker) | Says advanced courses are less effective at cutting premiums than they used to be, with no guarantee of a cheaper quote |
| AA Driving School | Says Pass Plus is recognised by some insurers, but completing it doesn't guarantee a discount |
So one firm in that list puts a number on it, two say no outright, and the rest hedge. A discount from one company is only useful if that company would have been your cheapest quote anyway.
The practical test before you spend £160 or more:
- Run a comparison quote for the car you'll drive, as you are now.
- Phone or re-quote with the insurers that came out cheapest and ask whether a Pass Plus certificate changes the price, and by how much.
- Compare the saving with the course fee, less any council subsidy.
If the saving doesn't cover the cost, decide on the training alone. A telematics (black box) policy is another route to a lower premium for new drivers, because it prices on how you drive rather than on a certificate.
Council-funded Pass Plus schemes
Some councils pay part of the fee to cut crashes among young drivers. You have to live in the council's area, and most schemes want you to apply within a year of passing. GOV.UK keeps a list of councils offering discounts, but it doesn't include every scheme (Westmorland and Furness is missing), so we checked each council's own page on 11 October 2026:
| Area | What the council offers | Who qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| Wales (Pass Plus Cymru) | Whole course for £20 | Aged 17 to 25, full licence, passed in the last 12 months, live in Wales |
| Westmorland and Furness | £150 voucher; limited funding, first come first served | Aged 17 to 24, resident, applying within 12 months of passing |
| Cumberland | £100 voucher, valid 6 months | Aged 17 to 24, resident, registering within 12 months of passing |
| Hampshire | £75 paid to your instructor when you finish | Aged 17 to 24, passed in the last 12 months, using an instructor on the council's list. Excludes Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight |
| Wiltshire | £70 off | Aged 17 to 25 and live, work or study in Wiltshire |
The Welsh price is £20 because the Welsh Government funds the rest, according to Neath Port Talbot Council. Bookings go through the Pass Plus Cymru site, Dragon Driver.
GOV.UK also lists Fife, Argyll and Bute, Inverclyde and South Lanarkshire councils. Fife's road safety page (last updated June 2026) doesn't mention Pass Plus. If you live in any of the four, email the road safety contact on the GOV.UK list to check a scheme is still running before you count on a discount.
Outside these areas, search your council's website for "Pass Plus" and "young drivers".
Alternatives: motorway and refresher lessons
Pass Plus is a fixed syllabus. If what you want is one thing, such as motorway confidence, a shorter course aimed at that one thing can be better value.
Motorway lessons before you pass. Learners in England, Scotland and Wales can have motorway lessons as long as they are with an approved driving instructor in a car with dual controls. This has been allowed since 4 June 2018. Trainee instructors can't take learners on the motorway, and motorway driving isn't part of the test. If your instructor thinks you're ready, an hour or two on the motorway before your test gets you that practice while you still have dual controls. It won't count towards Pass Plus, which you take after passing.
Motorway lessons after you pass. You can book a couple of hours on the motorway with an instructor without the rest of the Pass Plus syllabus. You won't get a certificate, so this makes most sense once you've found that Pass Plus doesn't change your insurance quote. Our guide to motorway driving lessons covers the rules and what a lesson includes.
Refresher lessons. If you passed a while ago, or have only driven around town since your test, a few refresher driving lessons can target night driving, rural roads or whatever you avoid. If you passed in an automatic, our guide to manual vs automatic lessons explains what that licence lets you drive and how to upgrade it later.
A rough rule: take full Pass Plus if your council subsidises it, or if your insurer gives a discount that covers most of the cost. Otherwise, book the lessons that fix the gaps you know you have.
Not passed yet? Pass Plus comes after the test. Before it, work on the test itself: the show me tell me questions, a mock driving test and the pass rates at your centre in our driving test centre guides.
How to find a Pass Plus instructor
You have to do Pass Plus with an ADI who is registered for the scheme. Not every instructor is. You can check by emailing the DVSA Pass Plus team (passplus@dvsa.gov.uk) with the instructor's name and ADI number.
The simplest route is to ask the instructor who taught you, since they know what you've covered. If they don't offer it, you can search for driving instructors near you by postcode on Orbit and compare hourly rates and next available slots. Orbit's listings don't show whether an instructor is Pass Plus registered, so ask before you book and check their registration with the DVSA Pass Plus team. Our step-by-step guide to how driving lessons work explains what the green and pink windscreen badges mean.
For instructors: registering for Pass Plus
Registration runs through DVSA's Pass Plus online service, which you also use to order training refill packs and check whether a pupil's certificate has been posted. As of October 2026 it costs:
- £37 to register
- £29 for a refill pack
You need your DVSA online user ID and password (the user ID is on letters DVSA sends you and is not your ADI personal reference number) and a debit or credit card. The service runs from 6am to 11:30pm.
Whether it's worth offering depends on your area. Where the council pays part of the fee, as in Cumberland, or in Hampshire for instructors on the council's list, the course is an easier sell to pupils who have recently passed. Elsewhere, motorway and refresher hours sell on their own and need no registration. Our guide to setting your driving lesson prices works a price up from your costs, and the same maths applies to a 6-hour Pass Plus package.
If you use Orbit, you can add Pass Plus as its own lesson type with its own length and price, and it shows on your booking page next to your standard lessons. Orbit is free for instructors.
If you've recently passed and want Pass Plus or a couple of motorway hours, find an instructor near you and ask what they offer.