SINGAPORE: From Monday (Sep 15), Singaporeans, permanent residents (PR) and work pass holders employed as full-time drivers will be given priority for Class 4 driving lessons to manage high demand.
This is part of new measures introduced by the traffic police (TP) to reduce waiting periods for these lessons, with wait times expected to “gradually drop”, police said on Sunday.
Class 4 refers to the driving licence for motor vehicles defined by an unladen weight exceeding 2,500kg.
According to the police, the average waiting time for such lessons has “grown significantly”, reaching about 13 months. Nearly 3,900 people were on the waitlist as of end-July 2025, they added.
Police noted that before May 2023, only Singaporeans, PRs and work pass holders employed to drive heavy vehicles could enrol for these lessons, with new enrolments then averaging under 200 learners per month.
The occupational requirement was removed in May 2023 “in response to industry requests to give employers more flexibility in the deployment of their workers”, they said.
Its removal meant that all drivers with a valid Class 3 or Class 3C driving licence could sign up for Class 4 driving lessons.
“Since then, enrolment figures for Class 4 driving lessons have risen sharply, reaching a peak of more than 1,000 new learners in the month of September 2024 alone, and averaging about 650 new learners per month in the first half of 2025,” said police.
They also noted that the passing rate for the Class 4 driving test has dropped to about 30 per cent, down from over 40 per cent in 2022 and 2023.
“A good number of the failures are Work Permit and S Pass holders. They had converted their foreign driving licence to a Singapore Class 3C licence, but seemed to lack the proficiency to drive even Class 3 vehicles competently,” said police, adding that this has led to higher demand for Class 4 driving retests and related lessons.
They also said that some of the demand is driven by workers who want to apply for a Class 4 driving licence even though their company may not require them to drive related heavy vehicles.
The issue of long waiting times for Class 4 driving lessons has prompted the authorities to implement various measures, including allowing driving schools to hire foreign instructors to address the shortage of slots.
Private bus operators that CNA spoke to in October last year also said the shortage of slots had resulted in problems including lost revenue.
