Learners budgeting time and money for lessons need a realistic date to plan around, and the published targets diverge sharply from lived experience depending on the month and the test centre chosen. Booking season turns out to matter roughly as much as anything the learner does.
Right now you're looking at roughly seven weeks for a first practical exam and five for a re-exam if you catch a quiet location — those are CBR's own targets, agreed with the driving-school sector. Reality skews longer: April through August, when everyone wants their licence before summer, some city locations run 10 to 20 weeks out, while November through January is consistently the calmest stretch, often two to three weeks shorter. Waits improved somewhat since 2024, when CBR made a valid theory certificate mandatory before you can even book a practical slot, which thinned out no-shows. Practical advice: check rijexamenwachttijden.nl before picking a location, since a town 20 minutes outside a major city can save you a month, and ask your instructor about last-minute cancellation slots — plenty of learners cancel or reschedule, and those gaps open up on short notice if you're watching.