Permis Probatoire in France: Points, Speed Limits, and Rules for New Drivers

Information last verified on 20 July 2026. This article presents general legal information, not legal advice.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers the probationary driving license (permis probatoire) under French national law. It does not address licensing rules outside France.

What Is the Permis Probatoire

Every driver who passes the French driving test for the first time is issued a permis probatoire rather than an ordinary license. It is a fully valid license for driving purposes, and it appears no different to a checkpoint or an insurer than a standard license, but it carries a reduced points balance and a distinct set of obligations that do not apply once the probationary period ends.

The probationary period lasts 3 years for most new drivers, counted from the date the license is issued. It is shortened to 2 years for drivers who learned to drive through conduite accompagnée, also called apprentissage anticipé de la conduite (AAC), the supervised early driving scheme completed with an accompanying adult before the practical test, and which is available from a younger minimum age than the standard driving school route. Both routes lead to the same probationary license once the practical test is passed; the difference is in how quickly the points balance builds and how long the reduced obligations remain in force.

For a broader overview of driving rules and penalties in France, including how these fit together, see the main France driving laws hub.

Why a Probationary Period Exists

Newly licensed drivers, regardless of age, are statistically more likely to be involved in a collision during their first years behind the wheel than experienced drivers. The probationary framework responds to that pattern with a smaller points buffer, a visible marker on the vehicle, and lower speed limits, rather than by restricting who is eligible to hold a license.

The system is designed to phase out gradually as a driver accumulates a clean driving history. A driver who completes the probationary period without a point-losing infraction reaching zero moves onto the ordinary 12 point balance and loses the specific probationary obligations described in this article.

A Typical Probationary Timeline

The two tracks build toward the same 12 point balance at different speeds. Under the standard 3 year track, a new driver holds 6 points at the moment the license is issued, 8 points at the end of a clean first year, 10 points at the end of a clean second year, and the full 12 points at the end of a clean third year.

Under the 2 year AAC track, the same starting balance of 6 points rises faster: 9 points at the end of a clean first year, and the full 12 points at the end of a clean second year. In both cases, a point-losing infraction during any given year interrupts that year's step, without shortening or lengthening the underlying 3 year or 2 year length of the probationary period itself, which continues to run on its original schedule regardless of any interruption to the annual increase.

Building Up to 12 Points: 3 Years or 2 Years With AAC

A permis probatoire is allocated an initial balance of 6 points, half of the 12 points an ordinary license carries. That balance increases automatically at set intervals, provided the driver does not commit an infraction that costs points during the relevant year.

Under the standard 3 year track, taken by drivers who learned through a conventional driving school without AAC, the balance rises by 2 points at the end of each probationary year: from 6 to 8 after the first year, 8 to 10 after the second, and 10 to 12 after the third. Under the 2 year AAC track, the balance instead rises by 3 points at the end of each year, moving from 6 to 9 after the first year and from 9 to the full 12 after the second.

The increase is not automatic in every sense. Any infraction that results in a loss of points during a given probationary year interrupts that year's scheduled increase. The points a driver already holds are not necessarily wiped out by the interruption on its own, separate from whatever points the specific infraction itself costs, but the annual step up simply does not occur for that year.

The Disque A and Reduced Speed Limits

A probationary driver must display a distinctive sign on the vehicle, commonly called the disque A, for the entire length of the probationary period. The disc must be visible from outside the vehicle and correctly placed under the applicable regulations, and this obligation applies regardless of whether the driver is using their own vehicle, a family vehicle, or a rental.

Probationary drivers also face lower speed limits than fully licensed drivers on the same roads. These reduced limits apply on every road in the relevant category, not only where the ordinary posted limit happens to be at its highest:

• Motorways: 110 km/h, compared with the general 130 km/h limit.
• Dual carriageways separated by a central reservation: 100 km/h, compared with the general 110 km/h limit.
• Other roads outside built up areas: 80 km/h for the probationary driver, whether the posted limit for other drivers on that particular road is 80 or 90 km/h.

Both the disque A requirement and the reduced limits apply for the full probationary period, whether that period is 3 years under the standard track or 2 years under AAC. A probationary driver who exceeds even the reduced limit is subject to the same points and fine framework that applies to any speeding infraction, described in detail in our guide to speeding penalties in France.

What Happens After an Infraction During the Probationary Period

A single point, lost through a minor infraction, recovers automatically after 6 months, provided the driver commits no new infraction during that window. This mirrors the recovery rule that applies to an ordinary license once the probationary period ends.

A more serious consequence applies where a single infraction costs 3 or more points at once. In that situation the driver must complete a mandatory stage de sensibilisation, a 2 day awareness course delivered by a préfecture approved centre. This is the same format of course a fully licensed driver may take voluntarily, and it carries the same benefit. Under Article R223-8 of the Code de la route, the certificate issued at the end of the mandatory stage entitles the driver to recover 4 points, capped at the ceiling their probationary licence has reached at that point, which may be 6, 8 or 10 rather than the full 12. Article L223-6 adds a second consequence that is easy to miss: completing the mandatory stage substitutes for the fine attached to the infraction that triggered it.

The driver has 4 months from receiving notification of the requirement to complete the course. This is a fixed-deadline training obligation, not a brief information session, and should not be confused with any shorter voluntary program a fully licensed driver might choose to attend. A driver who believes the underlying infraction that triggered the requirement was wrongly issued can pursue the separate contestation process described in our guide to contesting a traffic fine in France, which is a distinct procedure from the awareness course obligation itself.

Reaching Zero Points During the Probationary Period

If the points balance is reduced to zero at any point during the probationary period, the license is invalidated. Invalidation withdraws all remaining points and ends the right to drive on that license; it is a distinct process from a court ordered suspension, which withholds driving rights for a fixed term without erasing the license itself, and distinct from the annual-increase interruption described above, which merely pauses the scheduled point growth rather than ending the license.

Following invalidation, the driver cannot drive and must surrender the license. Before a new license can be issued, the former holder must reapply and retake the required examinations, which include the theory test and, depending on the circumstances, the practical test as well. The waiting period is set by law rather than by the individual notice. Article L223-5 of the Code de la route requires a minimum of 6 months from the surrender of the licence before a new one can be applied for, extended to 1 year where a second invalidation for a zero balance occurs within 5 years of the previous one. A medical examination and a psychotechnical assessment are also required, at the applicant's own expense. The theory and, where required, practical examinations may be retaken before the waiting period has finished.

Invalidation is a distinct outcome from the stage de sensibilisation described above. The mandatory awareness course applies to a single infraction that costs 3 or more points and does not, by itself, mean the balance has reached zero; invalidation only follows once the cumulative balance, after all applicable infractions during the probationary period, is exhausted entirely. A driver can therefore be required to attend a mandatory stage without ever reaching the point of invalidation, provided the remaining balance stays above zero afterward.

Point Recovery Timelines During Probation

Points lost through an infraction during the probationary period generally follow the same general recovery timeline that applies to any French license, alongside the separate annual step-up mechanism described earlier in this article. A single point lost through a minor infraction recovers automatically after 6 months without a new infraction, as already noted above.

For more serious infractions, the general recovery rule runs longer: points lost to a 2nd or 3rd class infraction recover after 2 years without a new infraction, while points lost to a 4th or 5th class infraction, or to a délit, recover after 3 years. This general recovery timeline and the probationary annual increase are two separate mechanisms that both apply during the probationary period: the annual increase adds to the overall balance at each anniversary if the year was clean, while the recovery timeline restores specifically the points lost to a given past infraction once enough time has passed without a further one.

Probationary Points vs. the Ordinary 12 Point License

Once the probationary period ends without the balance ever reaching zero, and provided the full step-up schedule has run its course, the driver holds an ordinary license with the standard 12 point balance and is no longer subject to the probationary rules described above. The reduced speed limits and the disque A requirement fall away at that point, and the general point recovery rules that apply to any licensed driver take over in full.

One probationary rule does not disappear the moment the points balance itself reaches 12: the reduced 0.2 g/L blood alcohol threshold applies specifically for the duration of the probationary period, not merely until the point count is complete, and reverts to the general 0.5 g/L threshold only once the probationary period itself has formally ended. For a full explanation of the alcohol thresholds and penalties that apply to drivers in France, including this reduced probationary threshold and how it compares with the threshold for public transport drivers, see our companion article on drink driving law in France.

Disclaimer

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. French traffic and criminal law changed significantly during 2025, and figures published before those reforms may no longer be accurate. Readers facing a specific infraction, prosecution, or licensing decision should consult the official sources cited above or a qualified French avocat.