Since 4 September 2023, nobody in Bulgaria knows the practical exam route in advance. An electronic system picks the route for each exam, and a device in the car gives you the directions by voice and on screen. Until then, the chairs of the exam boards chose the routes, which led to suspicions that some candidates were being given easier ones. For learners the change means one thing: learning a few streets by heart no longer works. You need to be comfortable anywhere in the town where you take your exam.
Your driving lessons are where you build that. In Bulgaria you train only with a registered training centre, in its own marked dual-control training car, with its instructor, so there is no practising with a parent or a friend.
How the practical exam works
Exams are run by the Executive Agency Automobile Administration, which has 27 regional offices. The category B exam takes place on the roads of the regional (oblast) centre, and some larger towns further away can also host exams. Your training centre presents you for the exam, and you drive its training car, fitted with the agency's camera, GPS and route-guidance unit.
The exam is recorded on video and tracked by GPS, and every change to the route is logged. A route can be changed only for objective reasons, such as roadworks, a new traffic layout or an accident, and the chair of the exam board can give directions when needed.
Attempts and training hours
In 2024 the transport ministry announced a limit of four attempts at an exam within six months before more training is needed, and an electronic log of practical hours, routes and distances in place of paper training cards. Candidates who have not completed the required hours cannot sit the exam. Ask your training centre how these rules apply to you.
What the numbers say
The agency's 2025 annual report counts 121,089 practical exam appearances across all categories, with 87,146 passes, a pass rate of 71.97%. In the same year, 61,246 candidates qualified for a category for the first time.
Practising for a route you cannot predict
- Cover the whole town. Ask your instructor to spread your later lessons across the regional centre: main boulevards, quiet residential streets, roundabouts, tram lines where your town has them, and the roads in and out of town.
- Get used to directions from a device. In the exam the directions come from the route-guidance unit. The agency's own app, Navigator, lets you practise working with it, and turn-by-turn navigation in your lessons builds the same habit of listening, checking and acting in good time.
- Drive streets you do not know. Unfamiliar roads are where hesitation shows, so make sure some lessons take you somewhere new.
- Preview before you drive. Look at the route at home before the lesson, so lesson time goes on driving rather than on finding your way.
- Finish with mock exams. In the last lessons, ask your instructor to give directions only and stay quiet otherwise, then talk the drive through afterwards.
Common mistakes on the exam drive
- Late lane changes. When a direction comes, check your mirrors and signal before you move, rather than cutting across at the last moment.
- Roundabouts. Choose your lane early and signal clearly before your exit.
- Speed changes. Watch for the signs at the start and end of built-up areas and be at the new speed as you pass them.
- Observation at junctions. Look properly both ways, then look again for cyclists and pedestrians.
SteerClear practice routes in Bulgaria
SteerClear has more than 150 practice routes around 26 exam centres in Bulgaria's regional cities, including Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas and Ruse. A typical route is about 16 km and takes just over half an hour. Because an electronic system picks the exam route, these are practice routes on the same local road network, not a copy of any exam route: their value is in the variety of roads, junctions and speed limits they take you through.
Bring SteerClear to your lessons
Pick your exam centre in the SteerClear app and preview its routes at home, so you know where the tricky junctions and speed changes are before you get in the car. At the start of a lesson, show your instructor the route you would like to drive and drive it together, with turn-by-turn navigation and live scoring. The score after each drive shows you both what improved and what to work on in the next lesson, and Mac, your AI driving coach, helps you decide what to practise next.
Find your centre among the 26 on the Bulgaria exam centres page, read the Bulgarian practical driving test guide, and download SteerClear to plan your next lesson.