Third-party skills testing: a certified Texas school gives the road test, and DPS's median wait is 20 days

What is third-party skills testing?

It is the DPS program that lets a driver education school give your Class C road test. The testers are driver education schools certified by DPS to administer the Class C non-commercial driving test. DPS says the program ensures applicants have the skills to drive safely, and “reduces the time you must wait to take your driving test”.

These are not informal arrangements. To be certified, a school’s instructors are tested by the Department and the drive route itself is audited and approved.

What do you need to take a third-party road test?

Everyone needs a valid restricted driver license and an ITAD certificate dated within 90 days before the drive test, and at 18 through 24 you also need proof of a completed driver education course.

Note the phrase “a valid restricted driver license” in both lists. That is DPS’s wording, and it means third-party testing is not a route for someone with no Texas credential at all — check your own status with the school before you pay.

How much does a third-party road test cost?

Each school sets its own price. Fees for a drive test administered by a driver education school are not regulated by the Department. DPS charges nothing for its own road test beyond the license fee, so a third-party test is money you spend to buy time.

Whether to pay depends on your local office’s queue. On October 13, 2026 the median DPS office was 20 days out for the road test, and 83 offices were more than a month out. Check your office first. At a two-day office a third-party test is wasted money; at a two-month office it may be the difference between having a job and not.

What does DPS say about the course at 25 and over?

DPS says it is not required for first-time applicants over 25 but is highly recommended, in these words:

“If you are older than 25 and are applying for a Texas driver license for the first time, you are not required to have completed driver education, however it is highly recommended.”

— Texas DPS, Third Party Skills Testing Program

We would not have put it that strongly ourselves, and we sell the course. It is DPS’s own view of first-time applicants over 25, offered on a page about something else entirely.

Common questions