How to change driving schools during your course: PKK, hours and payments

Yes. The rules expressly allow a learner to stop training with one provider and continue with another. Changing driving schools (ośrodki szkolenia kierowców, OSK) does not automatically mean restarting the entire licensing process.

Reasons may include moving home, long gaps between lessons, organisational problems, difficulties working with the school, or simply choosing to continue elsewhere.

If the problem is one instructor, first check whether you can continue with another instructor at the same school.

You do not need a new Driver Candidate Profile merely because you change schools. Your PKK is a profile created for you by the competent authority.

The training provider downloads the profile during the course. If you stop training there, the old school must make it possible for another provider to download the profile.

See our separate guide on getting a PKK and how the Driver Candidate Profile works.

Not simply because you change schools. Training is recorded on the lesson record card. When you stop a course, the card is closed and you keep it to pass to the provider where you will continue.

The new school takes properly documented previous training into account. However, this does not always mean that you can simply subtract completed hours from the legal minimum and finish after the remainder.

Category B practical training requires at least 30 hours, but the rules allow the number of hours to be set individually, subject to the minimum.

For example, 20 properly documented driving hours do not automatically mean starting another 30 hours from scratch, but further training may exceed the 10 hours left to reach the minimum.

After a long break, an instructor may consider extra lessons necessary for safe preparation. If years have passed, see resuming an interrupted driving course.

Our guide to how long a category B course takes explains the minimum hours and what affects duration.

Yes. Changing schools does not automatically cancel properly documented training already completed. If you have finished the theory section and it is properly recorded, the new provider continues training taking that history into account. The same applies to completed practical lessons.

Changing schools does not cancel a passed state theory test. A person who has passed it is exempt from the theory section of training and the theory part of the internal test to the extent provided by law.

A successful state theory test result has no expiry date. Changing schools after passing theory therefore does not mean taking the state theory test again.

Not necessarily. If the problem concerns one instructor, first ask the school manager about continuing with another. The rules permit training by more than one instructor and define the role of the lead instructor.

This does not give learners an unconditional statutory right to choose any instructor. Agree the availability and arrangements with the school.

If the school cannot offer a solution, or the issue concerns how the entire course is organised, you can decide to change schools.

The key document is the lesson record card (karta przeprowadzonych zajęć), which records your training history.

When training is interrupted, the old provider closes the card after the last entry. You keep it and give it to the provider where you will continue.

For electronic records, the current regulation sets requirements for their format and transfer.

Transferring schools and records is one issue; settling payments with the old school is another.

A training contract is a contract for services. Where no separate rules apply, the Civil Code provisions on mandate contracts apply accordingly. Under Article 746, the client may terminate at any time.

For a paid service, however, the work already performed and justified expenses incurred by the business must be settled. Termination without a valid reason may also create liability for damages in certain circumstances.

This does not allow the school to automatically keep the entire fee regardless of how much training it delivered. UOKiK has challenged driving-school terms providing for automatic forfeiture of payments or payment of the full price despite cancellation of the remaining course.

Do not calculate the settlement simply as:

course price / 30 hours × unused hours

The price may also cover theory, first aid, materials, organisational classes or other services already provided. Ask the old school for an explanation of how it settles the delivered and undelivered parts.

If the contract was concluded remotely, for example entirely online, a consumer generally has 14 days to withdraw.

If you expressly requested the service to start before that period ended and then withdraw, the business may be entitled to a proportionate payment for the service delivered up to withdrawal.

If the service was fully delivered before the withdrawal deadline, the right may expire once the statutory conditions are met, including the required consent and information about losing that right.

This 14-day right is not the same as every later cancellation. Leaving a course after weeks or months is settled under different rules.

First ask the school to complete the required steps in a way that leaves evidence, such as a letter or email. The rules require the school to take the steps that let the next provider download the profile for continued training.

If the school still fails to act after training has stopped, or there are problems with records, contact the authority supervising driving schools.

The district head (starosta) supervises schools and handles complaints. In a city with district status, the competent city authority performs that role.

If the dispute is mainly about money or contract terms, you can also ask the municipal or district consumer ombudsman for help.

If the profile stays locked, you can file a reasoned request with the authority that issues driving licences — the starosta or the city president in a city with county rights — to release it.

The authority releases the profile and informs you and the driving school (§ 8 of the regulation on issuing documents confirming driving entitlements). A template for that request is among the letter templates.

The right to continue at another school does not mean every school you choose must enter into a contract with you. Before leaving, find a new school and establish:

• whether it accepts learners transferring from another provider,
• what training remains based on your records,
• when further lessons can start,
• the cost of further training,
• whether it anticipates extra lessons above the legal minimum.

What else to look at when picking your next school is covered in how to choose a driving school.

Changing schools may make sense when:

• there are very long gaps between driving lessons,
• the school has organisational problems,
• booking lessons is difficult,
• working with the school is not going well,
• you move home,
• changing only the instructor cannot resolve the issue.

Stopping at one school does not automatically erase all completed training. The rules provide for closing training with one provider, releasing the PKK and continuing elsewhere.

See the full process, from the medical examination to collecting your licence, in our step-by-step category B guide, and more answers in the course and test FAQ.