How Long Is Your Driver's Ed Certificate Good For In California?
The entire driver's licensing process can be daunting in California. Your first step is to complete a Driver's Education course if you are under 17 and 1/2 years old, which Coastline Academy offers online. Once you've done that, you will receive a pink certificate of completion for your Driver's Ed course, but how long is that certificate good for?
Driver's Ed Certificate
With your certificate in hand, you are probably wondering how long you have before you need to head to your local California DMV office to take the written test and get your permit. You may be worried that the certificate will expire and you may have to retake your Driver's Ed course.
There's good news! Your California Driver's Ed certificate is valid until you turn 17 and 1/2 years old. In California, if you are at least 17 and 1/2 years old, you do not have to complete a classroom driver's education or driver training lessons if you intend on waiting to take your Road Test until AFTER your 18th birthday. If you think you will take your test earlier, you will need your Driver's Ed Certificate. (Don't worry, it won't expire!)
If you want to apply to get your provisional driver's license before you turn 18, then you will need to show proof that you have passed Drivers Ed and completed 6 hours of driving lessons.
To sum it up, your Driver's Ed certificate will never expire, so there's no need to worry!
If you ever have any questions while you maneuver through this process, always feel free to reach out to our friendly support staff to help you out!
About the Author
Nigel Tunnacliffe is the co-Founder and CEO of Coastline Academy, the largest driving school in the country, on a mission to eradicate car crashes. An experienced founder and technology executive, Nigel and his team are shaking up the automotive industry by taking a technology-centric approach to learning and driver safety. Having served over 100,000 driving students across 500+ cities, Coastline was recently named the 6th fastest-growing education company in America by Inc. Magazine. Nigel is a frequent podcast guest and quoted driving education expert for major publications such as Yahoo!, GOBankingRates, and MSN.