Driving lesson planner: a template and an app for German driving schools

Every planner handles two kinds of appointment that follow different rules. The numbers below reflect the German driving-training ordinance (FahrschAusbO) as of October 2026.

Theory lessons are taught in a group, in person. The basic material (Grundstoff) is at least 12 double lessons of 90 minutes each (six if the learner already holds a licence), plus the class-specific material (Zusatzstoff), two double lessons for class B. A learner must attend every topic at least once and may repeat topics, and no more than two double lessons a day are allowed.

Practical training is one-to-one: there is always exactly one learner in the car (§ 5 (8) FahrschAusbO). It is planned in 45-minute units. There is no legal minimum number of practice lessons, but there are the special training drives (Sonderfahrten) — for class B, five rural-road drives, four motorway drives and three night drives of 45 minutes each.

Order matters: first what is fixed for every learner, then what each learner books individually.

• Fix the theory evenings — two set evenings a week, for example Tuesday and Thursday at 18:30, 90 minutes each. For class B with 14 double lessons (12 basic, 2 class-specific), one full cycle takes seven weeks with two evenings, or 14 weeks with one. Because topics repeat, a new learner can join on any evening.
• Rotate the topics — put the topics in a fixed order and assign them evening by evening. With two evenings, start the second one halfway down the list so the same topic doesn't run twice in one week.
• Driving hours per instructor — set when each instructor drives, for example Monday to Friday 8:00 to 18:00, in 45-minute units. A double lesson is two units in a row.
• Place the special drives deliberately — night drives need darkness and move late into the evening in summer; motorway drives need the trip to the nearest motorway. Plan them as double units, not in the last gap of the day.
• Leave slack — driving tests, breaks between learners and the way to the meeting point all take time. A plan that books every minute won't survive a Tuesday.

To start with, a simple table is enough. This layout works well:

• One column per weekday, with a sub-column for each instructor, Monday to Saturday.
• Rows in 45-minute steps, roughly 7:30 to 19:30, plus a row for the theory evening.
• In each cell the learner's name and the lesson type as a short code: Üst for a practice lesson, UL for rural road, AB for motorway, NF for night.
• A second sheet with the list of theory topics and the date each topic is due.
• A third sheet per learner where you tick off theory topics and special drives.

With one instructor and a steady group of learners, a spreadsheet works for a surprisingly long time. Honestly, it breaks in four places, almost always in this order:

• Requests — learners ask for slots by WhatsApp, by phone and at the end of a lesson. You copy every request into the sheet yourself, and who asked first isn't written down anywhere.
• Cancellations — the sheet doesn't know when a lesson was cancelled. Whether the cancellation fee applies then depends on memory and on the tone of the message.
• Training progress — which theory topics and special drives a learner still needs is spread across three sheets. Before the test you piece it together.
• Month end — the invoice is made by counting each learner's lessons from the plan. By the second instructor at the latest there are several versions of the file.

An app doesn't do the planning for you, but it does the copying. The weekly plan stays yours; bookings simply stop arriving on your phone and land in the plan instead. This is how it works in Timeplanned:

• At the start you choose “driving school” and your licence classes. The theory evenings, bookable driving hours Monday to Friday in 45-minute units and a 24-hour cancellation rule are then already in place, and you adjust times and prices.
• Learners sign in to the portal on their phone. They book a seat at a theory evening themselves, it is confirmed at once, and you cap the number of seats.
• For a driving lesson, the learner sees their instructor's free 45-minute slots and sends a request. The instructor confirms it on the home screen with one tap, and the learner gets an email.
• For learners under 18, their parents book and send the requests.
• Every driving lesson carries its type, such as rural road, and every theory evening its topic from the rotation. After the appointment this becomes the training progress, and, for learners on a per-visit account, the invoice at month end.

Paper, spreadsheet or app: ask these questions before you decide. Can a learner request a slot without calling? Can you see at a glance who still needs which special drive? Is the cancellation rule known before anyone books? And how long does your month end take?

If you answer two of them with “I know it by heart”, the plan has outgrown the spreadsheet.

What this looks like for a whole driving school — from the theory evening to the training record and the monthly invoice by SEPA — is on the page Timeplanned for driving schools. Theory content and exam preparation are not part of it; your learners keep their learning app. You can try Timeplanned free for 60 days, no credit card required.