Getting your Zimbabwean licence

The process, step by step

1. 1

   Sit the provisional (learner) test

   The provisional test covers the Highway Code: road signs, road rules and driver duties. You take it at a VID depot.

   • Book at a VID depot and bring the identification VID asks for
   • Study road signs, road markings and rules of the road
   • Be ready for oral questions on signs and vehicle checks
   Practise Highway Code questions

   Source: Zimbabwe Highway Code

2. 2

   Get your provisional licence

   Passing the provisional test lets you learn to drive on the road under the conditions attached to a provisional licence.

   • Carry your provisional licence whenever you drive
   • Drive only under the supervision conditions that apply to a provisional licence
   • Renew it before it expires if you have not yet passed the practical test

   Source: Zimbabwe Highway Code

3. 3

   Learn and book the practical test

   The practical test has a yard (manoeuvres) phase and a road phase. Both are assessed by a VID examiner.

   • Practise the yard manoeuvres until they are consistent
   • Practise road driving: observation, signalling, junctions and hill starts
   • Bring a roadworthy vehicle of the class you are testing for
   Review defensive driving lessons

   Source: Zimbabwe Highway Code

4. 4

   Pass, or retake the test

   A pass leads to the issue of your driver's licence for that class. A fail can be retaken after the interval VID applies.

   • Ask the examiner which items were marked against you
   • Work those items before rebooking
   • Keep your provisional licence valid until you pass
   Work your weak areas

   Source: Zimbabwe Highway Code

5. 5

   Collect your licence

   The driver's licence is issued for the class you passed. Adding another class means testing for that class.

   • Check the class endorsed on the licence matches what you tested for
   • Keep the licence with you when driving

   Source: Zimbabwe Highway Code

Licence classes

Each class is tested separately. Passing one class does not entitle you to drive another.

• Class 1

  Heavy articulated vehicles

  • • Truck and trailer combinations
  • • Articulated heavy goods vehicles

  The broadest class; held after experience on rigid heavy vehicles.

• Class 2

  Heavy rigid vehicles

  • • Heavy goods vehicles above the light-vehicle mass limit
  • • Buses
• Class 3

  Light motor vehicles

  • • Cars
  • • Light trucks and vans within the light-vehicle mass limit

  The class most learner drivers sit for.

• Class 4

  Motorcycles

  • • Motorcycles
  • • Motor tricycles
• Class 5

  Tractors and plant

  • • Agricultural tractors
  • • Road-going plant and construction equipment

Figures we do not publish yet

Ages, fees, validity periods and test intervals change by regulation. Rather than guess, ZimRoadWise withholds them until each one is read from an official source. Confirm these with VID.

• Minimum age to hold a licence for each vehicle class.

  Pending: Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations · Read the age table from the Licensing of Drivers Regulations.

• How long a provisional licence stays valid before it must be renewed.

  Pending: Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations · No validity period has been read from the Licensing of Drivers Regulations. Trace it before stating a period.

• Pass mark for the written / oral provisional (learner) test.

  Pending: VID licensing and vehicle inspection requirements · Confirm the current pass mark with VID before publishing a figure.

• Fees payable for provisional, practical test and licence issue.

  Pending: VID licensing and vehicle inspection requirements · Fees change by statutory instrument and are not published here. Direct learners to VID for the current schedule.

• Waiting period before a failed practical test may be retaken.

  Pending: VID licensing and vehicle inspection requirements · Confirm the retest interval with VID before publishing it.