Hong Kong sees 167 applicants for each new private driving instructor licence
Hong Kong's Transport Department received 55,440 applications for 332 new private driving instructor licences issued in June 2026, a ratio of 167 applicants per licence. The government maintains a dual-track policy of restricted and private instructor licences, reviewing quotas every two years.
Hong Kong's Transport Department received 55,440 applications for 332 new private driving instructor licences issued in June 2026, meaning an average of 167 applicants competed for each licence, the government said on 11 November 2026.
Replying to a legislative question, the government outlined the city's dual-track policy for driving instructor licences, which includes restricted licences for designated driving schools and private licences for instructors operating on public roads. The policy aims to encourage training off public roads while maintaining sufficient private instructors without worsening congestion or safety risks.
Between 2021 and 2025, the number of valid private instructor licences and "active" private instructors — defined as those who accompanied a candidate to a driving test within a year — varied across three vehicle groups: Group 1 (private cars and light goods vehicles), Group 2 (public and private minibuses, public and private buses) and Group 3 (medium and heavy goods vehicles, articulated vehicles). The Transport Department considers restricted licence holders generally active as they are employed by designated driving schools or franchised bus operators.
During the same period, between 1,359 and 1,837 private instructor licences lapsed permanently after not being renewed within three years of expiry, while 0 to 125 were cancelled due to reasons such as losing the relevant driving licence or being convicted of dangerous or drink driving. No restricted licences were cancelled under those circumstances.
As of October 2026, the Transport Department was processing the 55,440 applications for the 332 new licences in order of a lottery draw, as all groups and quotas had more applicants than available licences. The department completed a regular review last year and began accepting applications in May 2026.
The government said a comprehensive 2020 policy review confirmed the dual-track system and raised the Group 1 private licence benchmark from 1,050 to 1,170, while Group 2 and 3 benchmarks remained unchanged. New licences are only issued when valid licences fall below 90 per cent of the benchmark. The drop below this threshold is mainly due to instructors not renewing for personal reasons, though no statistics are kept on why.
Under the current mechanism, 75 per cent of new private licences are allocated to the public and 25 per cent to existing private instructors or current and former restricted instructors at designated schools and franchised bus operators. The government said pass rates for students trained under both quotas were similar in 2025 and that it would continue reviewing the mechanism.