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Verified as of 2026-10-23 against DMV

Vermont · Behind-the-Wheel Training and Supervised Driving

Vermont Driving Practice and Behind-the-Wheel Hours

This page is for the Vermont parent who will be logging hours, and for the teen doing the driving. Inside the approved course your teen gets 6 hours driving with an instructor and 6 hours observing. After that come 40 practice hours with you or another qualified adult, at least 10 of them at night. Those 40 are separate from the course hours, and you certify them on the junior license application. Adults have no hour minimum, though they can buy the 6+6 course.

Instructor driving hours
6
Observation hours
6
Extra supervised practice
40 hours, at least 10 at night
What counts as night
30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise
Ways to log
Form VN-219 or the RoadReady app
Adult 6+6 course
6 classroom hours and 6 in the car

Step by step

  1. Choose an approved course

    Your choices are the school-based class (run under the Agency of Education) or a private school holding a DMV license. Whichever you pick has to build in the twelve in-car hours: six driving, six watching.

  2. Open a log on permit day

    Use the Driving Practice Log Sheet (VN-219) or the RoadReady app. Record the date, how long you drove and whether it was dark.

  3. Drive the 40 extra hours with a qualified adult

    Every session needs a licensed, unimpaired parent, guardian, instructor or person 25 or older beside the driver. Lessons in the course do not count toward the 40.

  4. Get 10 of them at night

    Only the window from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise counts.

  5. Check that the course is recorded

    The instructor has to enter completion in DMV's Driver Education Certification Service before a road test can happen.

  6. Take the road test

    Test with DMV or a certified examiner at the school. You certify the 40 hours when your teen applies for the junior license.

In the course: what happens in the car

A standard Vermont teen course is at least 30 classroom hours, 6 behind the wheel and 6 observing. Observing means sitting in the training car while a classmate drives, hearing every correction the instructor makes.

Private driving schools are businesses licensed by DMV and held to state standards; high school programs answer to the Agency of Education. DMV's school directory sorts licensed schools by county and shows which teach teens and which teach adults.

After the course: why the 40 hours stand alone

In some states the course's driving counts toward the family log. Not here. DMV says plainly that the 40 hours come in addition to the 6 instructor hours, so your teen drives at least 46 hours before the junior license.

A one year permit makes this manageable. Forty hours across 52 weeks is under an hour a week. Spreading them out means your teen sees every season: mud season on back roads, the first snow and the early darkness of December.

Choosing who sits in the passenger seat

The supervisor has to be licensed and unimpaired, and must be a parent or guardian, a licensed or certified driver education instructor, or someone at least 25. That person, or another qualifying adult, signs off on the hours.

So a grandparent, an aunt or an older family friend can help as long as each is licensed and 25 or more. A 22 year old cousin cannot, however many years they have been driving.

Planning sessions that prepare for the road test

For anyone heading to a road test, the manual's rule of thumb is no fewer than 40 hours alongside a seasoned driver, five or more of them in real traffic. It adds two reassurances worth passing on: the examiner will never tell you to break the law, and the right speed is whatever the conditions call for.

Use your time on what a short course cannot fit in. Think two-lane country roads without shoulders, gravel, rotaries, merging onto the interstate, parking on a hill, and snowy evenings at dusk.

For adults: no hours, but supervision still applies

Turn 18 and the hour count disappears, but the supervision rule does not. DMV-licensed schools teach a state-approved 6+6 Adult Driver Education Course, at least 6 classroom and 6 in-car hours, and also offer refresher training for people already licensed.

If you are an adult with nobody 25 or older to ride with, the 6+6 course is often the quickest legal way to get supervised driving and coaching for the road test.

On test day: school or DMV

Ask your teen's school whether its instructor is a certified examiner; at some schools, high schools included, students test with the person who taught them. Pass at school and you receive a Driver Education Examination Certificate. Take that to DMV with the permit, the application you signed as parent, payment and residency proof, and the junior license is issued there.

Testing at DMV means bringing a clean car that is registered, inspected and insured, with a parking brake that works. Fail, and the next try is at least seven days away; after three failures the wait stretches to a month or more.

Vermont teen drivers ed: common questions

How many driving hours does a Vermont teen need in total?

Six with the instructor during the course, then 40 more supervised hours with 10 at night. The 40 do not include the course hours.

When does night driving start and end?

It runs from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise.

Is there an official log sheet?

Yes, the Driving Practice Log Sheet, form VN-219. DMV also accepts tracking in the RoadReady app.

Do adult learners have an hour requirement?

No minimum applies at 18 and older, but adults may drive only with a qualified supervisor until they pass the road test.

Can the driving school give the road test?

If it participates in DMV's testing program, its certified instructors can test students who finished its approved course.

How long after a failed road test can my teen retest?

At least seven days. After a third failure, at least a month.

Can a 22 year old relative supervise?

No. A supervisor who is not a parent, guardian or instructor has to be at least 25.

Behind-the-Wheel Training and Supervised Driving in another state

Related for Vermont drivers

Adult drivers ed

Vermont Drivers Ed for Adults: Your First License at 18 and Up

 Defensive driving

Defensive Driving and Traffic Tickets in Vermont

 VT

Vermont drivers ed overview

Sources

Rules change. If a source above says something different from this page, the source is right. Last checked 2026-10-23.