Classes D1, D1E, D & DE

Bus licence in Essen

From the minibus to the articulated bus: here you can see at a glance what each class is allowed to drive, which checks the bus classes add and who can pay for the training.

AZAV-certified training provider

The bus classes compared

The bus classes D1, D1E, D and DE compared: minimum age, licences required beforehand, passenger seats and trailers.
Class	Minimum age	Prior licence	Passenger seats	Trailer
D1	21 years	Class B	up to 16	up to 750 kg
D1E	21 years	Class D1	–	over 750 kg
D	24 years	Class B	over 8	up to 750 kg
DE	24 years	Class D	over 8	over 750 kg

Which class do you need?

Class D1 – Minibus

Up to 16 passenger seats and 8 m long

With D1 you drive vehicles built for no more than 16 passengers besides yourself and no longer than 8 m – a club, hotel or shuttle bus, for example. A trailer up to 750 kg is included.

Minimum age: 21 years
Prior licence: Class B
Trailer: up to 750 kg
Passenger seats: up to 16
Vehicle length: up to 8 m
Validity: 5 years, renewed with a medical examination

The right fit when you carry small groups and a vehicle below full bus size is enough – for a club, a shuttle or a transport service.

For example

Club minibus
Hotel shuttle
Community bus
Minibus on transport services

Commercial driving needs code 95

Class D1E – Minibus with a heavy trailer

D1 plus a trailer over 750 kg

D1E puts a trailer with a permissible total mass of more than 750 kg behind your D1 vehicle. Class BE is included.

Minimum age: 21 years
Prior licence: Class D1
Trailer: over 750 kg
Validity: 5 years, renewed with a medical examination
Includes: BE

The right fit when luggage, equipment or sports kit regularly travels behind the minibus.

For example

Luggage trailer
Equipment trailer
Sports equipment trailer

Commercial driving needs code 95

Class D – Every bus

More than 8 passengers, with no upper limit

With D you drive vehicles built for more than eight passengers besides yourself – so every bus: city bus, articulated bus, coach. A trailer up to 750 kg is included, and so is D1.

Minimum age: 24 yearsfrom 21 with the professional driver qualification (under certain conditions)
Prior licence: Class B
Trailer: up to 750 kg
Passenger seats: over 8
Validity: 5 years, renewed with a medical examination
Includes: D1

The right fit when you want to start as a bus driver – on scheduled services, on coach tours or on school and works transport.

For example

City bus
Articulated bus
Coach
School bus

Commercial driving needs code 95

Class DE – Bus with a heavy trailer

The largest bus class

DE is the largest bus class: a class D towing vehicle plus a trailer with a permissible total mass of more than 750 kg. BE and D1E are included.

Minimum age: 24 yearsfrom 21 with the professional driver qualification (under certain conditions)
Prior licence: Class D
Trailer: over 750 kg
Passenger seats: over 8
Validity: 5 years, renewed with a medical examination
Includes: BE, D1E

The right fit when your company runs trailers – for luggage on tours, say, or for bicycles on excursions.

For example

Coach with a luggage trailer
Bus with a bicycle trailer
Bus with an equipment trailer

Commercial driving needs code 95

Licence facts

Every class, officially explained.

What you may drive, the minimum age, the paperwork the authority asks for and how much theory and practice the law prescribes at minimum — for every class, exactly as the official licence information sheets state it.

Bus

D1 – Minibus

Up to 16 passengers and 8 m long

Minimum age: 21years
Theory: 16double lessons; Extension from class B
Special drives: 8drives; Class C held for more than 2 years
Validity: 5years

You may drive

Vehicles for carrying at most 16 persons besides the driver, no longer than 8 m — with a trailer up to 750 kg

Valid for 5 years. In addition to the examinations the authority requires a certificate of conduct.
When acquired together with B, theory follows the scope of class B plus the D1 class-specific material.

Bus

D1E – Minibus with trailer

D1 plus trailer over 750 kg

Minimum age: 21years
Theory: none
Special drives: 5drives; Extension from class D1
Validity: 5years

You may drive

Class D1 towing vehicle with a trailer over 750 kg permissible total mass

Includes BE. No theory of its own — when acquired together with D1 or with B, D1 and D1E their scope applies.

Bus

D – Bus

More than 8 passengers

Minimum age: 24years
Theory: 24double lessons; Extension from class B
Special drives: 15drives; Class C held for more than 2 years
Validity: 5years

You may drive

Vehicles for carrying more than eight persons besides the driver — with a trailer up to 750 kg

Includes D1. Valid for 5 years; a certificate of conduct is part of the documents.

Bus

DE – Bus with trailer

D plus trailer over 750 kg

Minimum age: 24years
Theory: none
Special drives: 5drives; Extension from class D
Validity: 5years

You may drive

Class D towing vehicle with a trailer over 750 kg permissible total mass

Includes D1E and BE. No theory of its own — when acquired together with D or with B, D and DE their scope applies.

Source: the official licence information sheets used by the school, as of October 2026. Minimums under the German driver training regulation — how many practice lessons you need beyond them is something you decide together with your instructor.

An extra fitness assessment

The bus classes ask more of you than the truck classes. On top of the medical examination and the certificate of eyesight (Bescheinigung über das Sehvermögen) comes an assessment of your mental performance: when D, D1, DE or D1E is first issued it applies to every applicant regardless of age – on a later renewal from the age of 50. You prove it with an occupational health report or with a report from an officially recognised driver-fitness assessment centre (Begutachtungsstelle für Fahreignung). Five abilities are assessed:

Resilience under strain (Belastbarkeit)
Orientation (Orientierungsleistung)
Concentration (Konzentrationsleistung)
Attention (Aufmerksamkeitsleistung)
Reaction speed (Reaktionsfähigkeit)

Who is looking for bus drivers?

Scheduled services (ÖPNV)

Transport operators and private contractors run city and regional routes to a timetable. That usually takes class D – and, for commercial driving, code 95.

Coaches and long-distance buses

Coach companies run excursions, school trips, club tours and long-distance routes. Class D again; add a luggage or bicycle trailer and you need DE.

School and works transport

School runs, works buses and transport services often use smaller vehicles. D1 covers a minibus for up to 16 passengers; for a full-size bus you need D.

Private or commercial?

As long as you carry passengers non-commercially, the licence alone is enough. As soon as you drive passengers commercially – on scheduled services, coach tours or works transport – the professional driver qualification comes on top: code 95. Initial qualification and periodic training both come from us, from a single source.

Everything about the driver qualification

Requirements & paperwork

A class B licence – no bus class works without it. How long you have held it makes no difference: the regulation prescribes no minimum period.
The minimum age of your class: 21 for D1 and D1E, 24 for D and DE – or already 21 for D and DE with the professional driver initial qualification. You may apply up to six months beforehand.
A certificate or report on your physical and mental fitness: the medical examination for signs of conditions that can rule out fitness to drive. No more than one year old when you apply.
A certificate of eyesight issued by a doctor or an optician – or an ophthalmologist’s report. No more than two years old when you apply.
The report on your mental performance – the record only the bus classes call for. Likewise no more than one year old when you apply.
A certificate of good conduct (Führungszeugnis) for submission to an authority: it is sent to the authority directly. This too is required only for D, D1, DE and D1E.
Proof that you attended a first-aid course. If you already did one for your class B licence, you do not need it a second time.
A biometric photo that meets the German Passport Regulation (Passverordnung).
An official record of your place and date of birth, plus your identity document.
The application itself, which you file with the driving licence authority (Führerscheinstelle). We tell you what comes in which order.

AZAV-certified training provider

Up to 100 % fundable

As an AZAV-certified training provider we bill your training directly to the funding body – for example against an education voucher (Bildungsgutschein).

Federal Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit)
Jobcenter
German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung)
Statutory Accident Insurance (Berufsgenossenschaft)
Armed Forces Career Service (Berufsförderungsdienst)
Your employer (training for employees)

How the funding works

Frequently asked questions about the bus licence

D1 or D – which one do I need?

D1 is the minibus: no more than 16 passengers besides yourself and a vehicle length of no more than 8 m. Anything above that is class D – more than eight passengers besides yourself, with no upper limit, so city buses, articulated buses and coaches. D includes D1, so you do not take the two one after the other. A trailer up to 750 kg belongs to both classes; for a heavier one you need D1E or DE.

From what age can I start?

D1 and D1E from 21. D and DE from 24 as a rule – or already from 21 with an initial qualification under the German Professional Drivers Qualification Act (Berufskraftfahrerqualifikationsgesetz). The regulation also knows further steps that come with conditions attached, for instance an accelerated initial qualification or an apprenticeship in progress. For D1 and D1E there is no reduction via a stand-alone initial qualification. We work out what applies in your case during the consultation; you can file the application at the earliest six months before the birthday in question.

Which check does the bus licence add?

The report on your mental performance. The medical examination and the certificate of eyesight apply to the truck and bus classes alike; for D, D1, DE and D1E you must additionally meet particular requirements for resilience under strain, orientation, concentration, attention and reaction speed. When the licence is first issued this applies to every applicant regardless of age, on a later renewal from the age of 50. You prove it with an occupational health report or with a report from an officially recognised driver-fitness assessment centre. On top of that, the bus classes call for a certificate of good conduct for submission to an authority.

Do I need experience with class B?

You have to hold the class B licence – or have met the requirements for it being issued, in which case the bus class is issued no earlier than class B itself. The regulation prescribes no minimum period for how long you must have held your car licence. We still plan around how much practice you bring: anyone who has not driven for a long time gets more time behind the wheel with us.

Is the bus licence funded?

Up to 100 % is possible – for example with an education voucher (Bildungsgutschein) from the Federal Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit) – since 2025 also if a Jobcenter looks after you – through German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung), the Statutory Accident Insurance (Berufsgenossenschaft) or your employer. We are AZAV-certified and bill the funding body directly. As a rule there is no legal entitlement to funding: whether and to what extent it is granted is decided by the funding body after a consultation. The law does know exceptions – catching up on a vocational qualification, for one. The funding page has the detail.

What are the prospects as a bus driver?

People have to be moved every day – to school, to work, on holiday. Transport operators, coach companies and transport services are looking for drivers with class D and a valid code 95, in the Ruhr region as much as anywhere else. We promise you no figures here; what is being sought in and around Essen right now is something we go through in the consultation.

Free consultation

Message us on WhatsApp or give us a call – we answer your questions and prepare the quote your funding body needs.

Ask via WhatsApp

“Hello, I am interested in the bus licence (D/DE) and in possible funding.”

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Call us

0201 74757464

Talk to us on site

Isinger Tor 14, 45276 Essen

Contact

As a rule there is no legal entitlement to funding – whether and to what extent it is granted is decided by the funding body after a consultation.

Bus licence in Essen

The bus classes compared

Which class do you need?

Class D1 – Minibus

Class D1E – Minibus with a heavy trailer

Class D – Every bus

Class DE – Bus with a heavy trailer

Every class, officially explained.

You may drive

Requirements

Documents

Theory

Practice

You may drive

Requirements

Documents

Theory

Practice

You may drive

Requirements

Documents

Theory

Practice

You may drive

Requirements

Documents

Theory

Practice

An extra fitness assessment

Who is looking for bus drivers?

Scheduled services (ÖPNV)

Coaches and long-distance buses

School and works transport

Private or commercial?

Requirements & paperwork

Up to 100 % fundable

Frequently asked questions about the bus licence

Free consultation