Can I Change Driving Schools After the Subject One Exam?
2 Answers
According to Article 5 of the Implementation Regulations of the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, changing driving schools is permitted, which is the most basic right of students. In addition, the following conditions must be met to transfer to another driving school: the original driving school agrees to the transfer, and the receiving driving school agrees to accept. The following conditions are required to obtain a driver's license: Age Requirements: Applicants for small cars, small automatic transmission cars, and light motorcycles must be at least 18 years old; Applicants for low-speed trucks, three-wheeled cars, ordinary three-wheeled motorcycles, ordinary two-wheeled motorcycles, or wheeled self-propelled machinery must be between 18 and 60 years old; Applicants for city buses, medium-sized buses, large trucks, trolleybuses, or trams must be between 21 and 50 years old; Applicants for tractor-trailers must be between 24 and 50 years old; Applicants for large buses must be between 26 and 50 years old. Physical Conditions: Height: Applicants for small trucks and small passenger vehicles must be at least 150 cm tall. Vision: Applicants for all license types except large buses and large trucks must have uncorrected or corrected visual acuity of at least 4.9 on the logarithmic visual acuity chart. Color Vision: No red-green color blindness. Hearing: Able to distinguish the direction of sound sources with each ear at a distance of 50 cm from a tuning fork. Upper and Lower Limbs: Normal motor function. For manual transmission car applicants, the length difference between the lower limbs must not exceed 5 cm. For automatic transmission car applicants, the right lower limb must be sound. Trunk and Neck: No motor dysfunction. If limb defects cannot be confirmed, a certificate from a public security hospital stating no diseases affecting safe driving is required. Applicants aged 60 to 70 must undergo a medical examination at a health bureau-designated medical institution. Prohibited Conditions: Organic heart disease, epilepsy, Meniere's disease, vertigo, hysteria, Parkinson's disease, mental illness, dementia, or neurological diseases affecting limb movement that hinder safe driving. Addiction to narcotics, injection drugs, or long-term use of dependent psychotropic drugs that has not been overcome. Driver's license revoked within the past 2 years. Driver's license revoked due to fleeing the scene after causing a traffic accident. Driver's license obtained through fraud, bribery, or other improper means and confiscated within the past 3 years.
After passing Subject 1, I found my original driving school instructor had a poor attitude, so I decided to switch to one with a better reputation, which is theoretically feasible. Students can transfer schools midway by applying for a transfer certificate from the original driving school, usually requiring a small handling fee (e.g., 100-200 yuan). After the records are transferred to the new school, the learning progress won’t restart—you can continue with Subject 2 training. However, the process is quite tedious—I had to visit twice to complete the formalities, and the new school required readjustment to their training grounds. It’s advisable to research the new school’s reviews and training methods beforehand to avoid blind switches that may affect efficiency. Some driving school contracts are vaguely worded, making refunds difficult—a friend of mine suffered losses because of this, so keeping evidence is always wise. In short, switching is possible, but consider the time and costs involved.
