The short answer
The training record documents four things: which theory subjects you attended, how many practice lessons were driven, which of the twelve special drives are done, and whether the theory test is passed. When you change driving school it is the basis for everything that follows — your previous school has to hand it over.
Most people know their progress as a feeling: "pretty far", "almost finished really", "something like twenty lessons". The record turns that into four numbers, and they are regularly a surprise — in both directions.
The four blocks
- Theory lessons: which of the double periods you attended, ticked off individually — the general material and the class-specific material listed separately
- Practice lessons: ordinary driving lessons, counted in teaching units of 45 minutes
- Special drives: split into cross-country, motorway and night, because the three cannot be traded off against each other
- Theory test: passed or not, and on what date — the twelve-month window hangs on that
Why the breakdown matters more than the total
"Twenty driving lessons" on its own says very little. Twenty practice lessons with not a single special drive means the twelve compulsory drives are still entirely ahead of you. Twenty lessons of which eight were special drives means something completely different. That is why the record holds a breakdown rather than a figure — and why we read it from the bottom up in a first conversation.
We put the sheet down and count the remaining compulsory drives out loud. Many are further along than they thought, and some considerably less far — usually the ones with many practice lessons and not a single special drive yet. Either way it is a better basis for a decision than the feeling they walked in with.
If you do not have it
Then it is not an obstacle. Your previous school is obliged to hand it over, and we request it — you do not have to call them or justify wanting it. How changing school works in practice is a post of its own.
The record is not an assessment
It documents what took place, not how well it went. There is nothing in it about talent, about interruptions, or about why you are leaving. If you are worried something follows you around: there is nothing there for anything to attach to.
What is recognised from your existing progress is set out separately; everything about the procedure is on the changing school page.
What to take away
Ask for your training record before you decide anything — even if you have no intention of changing school. It is the only place your progress exists as a number rather than an impression, and it belongs to you.