We'll help you figure out if you can transfer to Aceable for just the driving portion for parent taught.
Here is a list of the steps involved. Click on each step to read more about it.
- Check if you are eligible to transfer to parent taught drivers ed.
- Check if you have an eligible parent instructor.
- Order the Parent Taught Drivers Ed Program Guide Packet from TDLR.
- Sign up with Aceable for the Behind-the-Wheel Only section for $30.
- Complete your 14 in-car observation driving hours with your parent instructor.
- Practice 30 more driving hours with a licensed driver over the age of 21.
- Hold your permit for 6 months.
- Complete the Impact Texas Teen Drivers Program.
- Schedule your driving test and get your license!
Step 1. Check if you are eligible to transfer to parent taught drivers ed.
First, let's see if you are eligible to do just your parent taught driving hours with Aceable. There are a couple requirements you need to meet in order to be able to transfer - these are state rules. Ask yourself these questions:
- Have you finished all 32 classroom hours at the school or company you were with?
- Are you able to get a transfer certificate from that school or company transferring you to your parent instructor?
If you have not finished all 32 hours at another school or company, you have to redo your classroom hours if you decide to sign up with Aceable. However, you do not have to get a new permit or start over on your 6-month waiting period for your permit. If you have finished all 32 hours but your school won't give you a transfer certificate, unfortunately, there are no rules or regulations that can force that school to issue you a certificate. Without the certificate, you can't prove to DPS that you've finished all 32 hours. They would either expect you to finish those hours with that school OR complete all 32 hours at a different company like Aceable, for example. On the bright side, you do not have to get a new permit or start over on your 6-month waiting period for your permit.
Step 2. Check if you have an eligible parent instructor.
There is absolutely no way to do the parent taught program if you don't have an eligible instructor. That's why it's important to make sure you have one before paying any sort of fees! Here are the state's eligibility requirements to be a parent instructor:
- You are the student’s parent, step-parent, grandparent, step-grandparent, foster parent, legal guardian, or an individual designated by your parent/legal guardian/judge.
- If you use a designated individual as your instructor, there are a few extra requirements for them. They also need to be at least 25 years old; they cannot charge a fee for being your instructor; they need at least 7 years of driving experience, and they must meet the rest of the requirements below.
- You will also need to print out the Parent Taught Driver Education Instructor Designation Form, complete it, and bring with you to the DPS when getting your license.
- You must have a valid Texas driver license for the preceding three years.*
- You don't have a conviction or probated sentence of driving while intoxicated in the past 7 years.
- You don’t have a conviction or probated sentence of criminally negligent homicide.
- You haven’t had your driving privileges suspended, revoked, or forfeited for traffic-related violations in the past three years.
- You don’t have six or more points assigned to your driver license.
*If the parent instructor has had a Texas license for less than the preceding three years, they are responsible for ordering a certified driver record from the state or country where they last had a license. The driver record should go back at least three years and the DPS will need to see the record when the student gets their permit. We recommend doing a quick Google search to find out from which government entity you order your driver record. Example: “Name of previous state or country where you last had a license + driver record.”
The parent instructor is responsible for checking their criminal and/or driver records. You can check your driving eligibility status and pay fees charged to you for your driver license suspension offenses here. You can request your driver record from the state of Texas here. The DPS will verify the parent instructor’s record when the student and parent go to the DPS to apply for the permit and license. If the DPS determines at that time that the parent instructor doesn’t meet the state requirements, the DPS will deny the permit or license application.
*If you don’t have an eligible parent instructor, your only options are to do your driving lessons at a driving school or wait until you are 18 to take the Adult Drivers Ed course.
Step 3. Order the Parent Taught Drivers Ed Program Guide Packet from TDLR.
The first step of the process is ordering the Parent Taught Drivers Ed (PTDE) Program Guide Packet from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). You can order the program guide packet from the TDLR and submit the mandatory $20 state fee online here.
Why is it required? It contains forms that you'll fill out and submit to your local DPS office when you go to get your license. Without it, you'll be turned away. It is also a state requirement that you order this before starting your parent taught driving hours with Aceable. What if I already bought one before I got my permit? You can still use the same one. If you've never bought the packet at all, then the program you were with was not a parent taught program, so it wasn't a requirement at that time. If you want to do your driving hours under the parent taught, you are required to order the packet.
Step 4. Sign up with Aceable for the Behind-the-Wheel Only section for $30.
Purchase Aceable’s Behind-the-Wheel Only course here. Contact your previous drivers ed program that you received a DE-964 Certificate (Certificate of Completion) from and tell them that you would like to transfer to a different program. They will designate your parent as the new instructor and issue you an updated certificate.
Step 5. Complete your 14 in-car observation driving hours with your parent instructor.
Complete the 14 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction with your parent instructor using Aceable’s Driving Manager. List these hours in the Behind-the-Wheel Instruction Log.
These hours cannot be back-dated to before you signed up with Aceable. Contact the Aceable team after you’ve completed the 14 hours with your parent instructor and we’ll email you a Certificate of Completion.
WAIT...but what if I've already done all 44 of my driving hours before signing up with Aceable? Well, TDLR's rules are that the 14 hours of in-car observation must be completed while enrolled in a program whether it's at a driving school or in a parent-taught program. If you transfer to parent taught, you have to redo these 14 hours of in-car observation. The remaining 30 hours of behind-the-wheel practice aren't limited to that requirement, so you don't have to redo those.
Step 6. Practice 30 more driving hours with a licensed driver over the age of 21.
You’ll also need to complete 30 hours of behind-the-wheel practice with any adult who is at least 21 years old or older and has had a valid Texas license for the previous three years. List these hours in the Behind-the-Wheel Practice Log. You can use the 30 Hour Behind-the-Wheel Guide from the state to help you complete these 30 hours of behind-the-wheel practice.
When you’re done with the 30 hours of behind-the-wheel practice in Step #6, mark the Completion Date on the Certificate of Completion that we emailed to you in Step #5. If you have done these hours already, you can use the actual dates that you worked on it. These hours can be backdated from before you signed up with Aceable.
Step 7. Hold your permit for 6 months.
You are required to hold your permit for at least 6 months and be at least 16 before you can get your license. If you've already held your permit for 6 months before starting with Aceable, you do not have to restart the waiting period.
Step 8. Complete the Impact Texas Teen Drivers Program.
The Impact Texas Teen Drivers program (ITTD) is a free, two-hour video course provided online by the Texas DPS. Any student who has taken Texas Parent Taught Drivers Ed or Instructor Taught Drivers Ed and has received a Certificate of Completion from Aceable is required to complete ITTD no more than 90 days before their driving exam. ITTD is not optional. ITTD is made up of eight 15-minute videos, totaling two hours. You can choose to watch all eight modules at one time or watch the modules separately at different times.
When you complete ITTD, the DPS will email you a certificate. You must print out this certificate and present it at the DPS when you take your driving exam. If you are unable to receive your ITTD certificate through email, you can log into your ITTD account and access it there.
While there is no expiration date listed on the ITTD certificate, you must take ITTD no more than 90 days before your driving exam. Therefore, if you don’t pass your driving exam within 90 days of the date on your ITTD certificate, you must take ITTD again and get a new ITTD certificate. To learn more about ITTD and take the course, click here.
Step 9. Schedule your driving test and get your license!
You can get your Texas license if you meet all of the following requirements:
- You have held your permit for at least six months.
- You are at least 16 years old.
- You have completed all 32 classroom hours of drivers ed.
- You have completed 44 hours of behind-the wheel instruction and practice.
- You have the transfer certificate from your other drivers ed company.
- You got the Certificate of Completion from Aceable for your driving hours.
If you meet all of these requirements, you can schedule a driving exam at your local DPS. Please note that the DPS can book up very quickly, especially during high-volume seasons like the summer and during spring break. You should schedule your driving exam as far in advance as possible. Click here for tips on preparing for your driving exam.
In some areas of Texas, you can take the DPS driving test at a local driving school authorized to do so. You do not have to be enrolled as a student with that school to take the test. If there is a driving school in your area that offers it, we recommend taking the test with them since their schedules are not as booked as the DPS offices are. Read more about it here. When you go to the DPS, don’t forget to bring all your paperwork and documents with you. Click here to see what you need to bring with you on that day.
