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1.4 MVA Testing and Required Instructor Courses

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Maryland Driving Instructor Study Guide Exam

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1 Chapter 1: Maryland Driving Instructor Credentials

1.1 Two Credentials: Instructor License vs. Instructor Certification 1.2 Qualifications, Background Checks, and Application 1.3 The Apprentice Instructor Permit and Supervised Training 1.4 MVA Testing and Required Instructor Courses 1.5 Badges, Renewal, Professional Development, and Discipline

2 Chapter 2: Driving Schools, Certified Schools, and Facilities

2.1 Drivers' School Licensing and Operational Requirements 2.2 Driver Education School Certification and Operating Rules 2.3 Business Office and Classroom Facility Requirements 2.4 Training Vehicle and Dual-Control Equipment Requirements

3 Chapter 3: Program Administration, Records, and Enforcement

3.1 Student Enrollment, Rights and Responsibilities, and Refunds 3.2 Records, Reports, and Completion Certification 3.3 Quality Control, Violations, and Progressive Discipline

4 Chapter 4: Delivering the Maryland Driver Education Program

4.1 The 30/6 Program Structure and Classroom Operation Rules 4.2 The 10-Unit MVA Classroom Curriculum 4.3 Behind-the-Wheel Instruction Requirements 4.4 Student Performance Criteria, Testing, and Remediation

5 Chapter 5: Instructional Methodology and In-Car Technique

5.1 Classroom Teaching Methods and Adolescent Driver Psychology 5.2 Dual-Control Mechanics, Instructor Interventions, and In-Car Safety 5.3 Progressive In-Car Instructional Sequence and Skill Milestones 5.4 In-Car Coaching, Commentary Driving, and Emergency Management

6 Chapter 6: Maryland Vehicle Law and the Rookie Driver System

6.1 The Learner's Instructional Permit 6.2 The Provisional License and the Full Driver's License 6.3 The Maryland Point System, Sanctions, and Hearings 6.4 Impaired Driving, Implied Consent, and Noah’s Law

7 Chapter 7: Traffic Control Devices and Maryland Rules of the Road

7.1 Maryland Road Signs, Signals, and Pavement Markings 7.2 Right-of-Way Rules and Intersection Management 7.3 Speed Regulations, Passing Rules, and Special Roadway Scenarios

8 Chapter 8: Defensive Driving Systems, Adverse Conditions, and Hazard Management

8.1 Space Management Systems (SIPDE and SEE) and Visual Search 8.2 Adverse Environmental Conditions and Emergency Maneuvers 8.3 Sharing the Road with Vulnerable Users and Commercial Vehicles 8.4 Post-Licensing Risk Factors and Lifelong Safe Driving Habits

1.4 MVA Testing and Required Instructor Courses

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

COMAR 11.23.02.27B(1) requires an applicant to pass the knowledge test before attempting the basic skills evaluation .

After any failure of the knowledge test or a skills evaluation, the applicant must wait at least 7 days before another attempt (COMAR 11.23.02.27B(3) and D(2)).

After failing the fifth attempt , the applicant must wait at least 1 year before reapplying (COMAR 11.23.02.27B(4) and D(3)).

Three MVA-approved courses conducted by the employing certified school qualify a candidate for the apprentice permit: an introductory course, a primary classroom course, and a primary behind-the-wheel course.

Certification requires an advanced classroom course and an advanced behind-the-wheel course, each conducted by an Administration-approved instructor trainer (COMAR 11.23.02.28C).

Last updated: September 2026

The Two Testing Gates

Maryland gates instructor credentialing twice, and COMAR 11.23.02.27 separates them cleanly.

  • Gate 1 — qualifying for the apprentice instructor permit (§A and §B)
  • An individual "shall successfully pass the knowledge test and the basic skills evaluation in
  • both classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction conducted by the Administration to qualify for an
  • apprentice instructor permit."

The applicant shall:

Pass the knowledge test before attempting the basic skills evaluation (§B(1)). The order is

mandatory — you cannot demonstrate teaching skill first and sit the written test later.

Pass both the knowledge test and the basic skills evaluation for both the classroom and

the behind-the-wheel instruction (§B(2)).

Wait at least 7 days , in the event of failure, prior to any additional attempts (§B(3)).

Wait at least 1 year after failing the fifth attempt to pass the test or evaluation, before

reapplying for an apprentice instructor permit (§B(4)).

  • Gate 2 — qualifying for instructor certification (§C and §D)
  • An individual "shall successfully pass the final skills evaluation to demonstrate competency and
  • proficiency in teaching both classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction conducted by the
  • Administration to qualify for an instructor certification."
  • The applicant shall pass the final skills evaluation in both the behind-the-wheel and the
  • classroom instruction (§D(1)), wait at least 7 days after a failure before another attempt
  • (§D(2)), and wait at least 1 year after failing the fifth attempt before reapplying for

instructor certification (§D(3)).

  • The symmetry is the memory hook
  • Both gates use the same two numbers: 7 days between attempts and 1 year after the fifth
  • failure . What differs is the instrument — a knowledge test plus basic skills evaluations for

the permit, and final skills evaluations for certification.

  • The MVA does not publish an item count, a time limit, or a passing score for the instructor
  • knowledge test. Driving schools that train Maryland instructor candidates commonly describe it as a
  • roughly 50-question test on teaching and curriculum knowledge, but that figure is not an official
  • MVA publication and should not be treated as one. What COMAR does establish — the sequence, the

7-day wait, and the five-attempt ceiling — is what an exam can fairly test.

  • The Course Ladder (COMAR 11.23.02.28)
  • §A : an individual shall successfully complete the following Administration-approved courses to

qualify for an apprentice instructor permit and instructor certification.

Courses for the apprentice instructor permit (§B)

These are conducted by the employing certified school :

An introductory course providing a detailed review of:

  • (a) Maryland's Graduated Licensing System; and
  • (b) the driver education program;
  • A primary level classroom instruction course providing basic knowledge of how to teach and
  • facilitate student learning activities in the classroom instruction of the program curriculum;
  • and
  • A primary level behind-the-wheel instruction course providing basic knowledge of how to teach
  • and facilitate student learning activities in behind-the-wheel instruction of the program

curriculum.

  • Courses for instructor certification (§C)
  • These are conducted by an Administration-approved instructor trainer , not by the employing

school:

  • An advanced level classroom instruction course providing comprehensive knowledge of how to
  • teach and facilitate student learning activities in the classroom instruction; and
  • An advanced level behind-the-wheel instruction course providing comprehensive knowledge of

how to teach and facilitate learning in behind-the-wheel instruction.

  • Stage Courses Who conducts them
  • Apprentice permit Introductory + primary classroom + primary behind-the-wheel The employing certified school
  • Certification Advanced classroom + advanced behind-the-wheel An Administration-approved instructor trainer
  • COMAR 11.23.02.29 governs those trainers: an instructor trainer is an individual approved by the
  • Administration to conduct the approved instructor certification courses; approval must precede
  • teaching the advanced courses; the Administration sets the approval criteria "including, but not
  • limited to, the requirement that all courses shall be open to the public"; and an approved trainer
  • must let the MVA review course and participant records during normal operating hours and monitor the

instruction given in all instructor certification courses.

  • Two Waiver Routes (COMAR 11.23.02.28D and E)
  • The teaching-certificate waiver (§D)
  • The Administration may waive the instructor certification course requirements in classroom
  • instruction for individuals who possess a valid teaching certificate from a state department of
  • education, if the individual meets all other requirements for instructor certification. Note the
  • limit: this waiver reaches the classroom courses only. Behind-the-wheel course requirements

survive it.

  • The out-of-state experience waiver (§E)
  • The Administration may waive the instructor certification course requirements for classroom and
  • behind-the-wheel training for individuals who provide documented and verifiable training and

experience as a driver education instructor from another state, if the individual:

  • Provides proof acceptable to the Administration that the training and experience is equivalent to
  • the training requirements set forth in the regulation;
  • Successfully completes the introductory course outlined in §B(1);
  • Successfully passes the knowledge test outlined in Regulation .27; and
  • Successfully passes the final skills evaluations demonstrating competency and proficiency in

teaching both classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction under Regulation .27.

  • The broader waiver still forces the candidate through the Maryland-specific gate. The introductory
  • course is the one that covers Maryland's Graduated Licensing System and the Maryland driver
  • education program, and both the knowledge test and the final skills evaluations remain mandatory. An
  • experienced out-of-state instructor can skip the primary and advanced course sequence — never the

Maryland orientation or the MVA testing.

  • Worked scenario
  • Case. A candidate fails the classroom basic skills evaluation on Tuesday. The school schedules

a retest for Friday of the same week — three days later. Is that permissible?

Analysis. No. COMAR 11.23.02.27B(3) requires the applicant to "wait at least 7 days, in the

event of failure, prior to any additional attempts." The earliest lawful retest is the eighth day.

The same 7-day floor applies to the final skills evaluation under §D(2).