Ghana's driving test now comes in six local languages

Twi, Ga, Ewe, Dagbani, Nzema and Hausa are joining the DVLA's computer-based theory test. Licence applicants will also face a driving simulator, and the DVLA says it will text you before your licence expires.

By Ernest · 13 October 2026

Learner drivers in a driving lesson on the parade ground of the Ghana Police College, Accra. — Driver training on the parade ground of the Ghana Police College, Accra. Photo: Denis Vermeirre, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Kaaklo wordmark added; adapted image shared under the same licence.

What changed on 12 October

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) used the Government Accountability Series at Jubilee House to announce three changes to how Ghanaians test for and renew driving licences [1][2]:

Theory test	6 local languages added
Languages	Twi, Ga, Ewe, Dagbani, Nzema, Hausa
Licence testing	Driving simulator introduced
Licence renewal	SMS reminders 1 month and 2 weeks before expiry
Announced	12 Oct 2026, DVLA CEO Julius Neequaye Kotey

The theory test in your own language

The DVLA's computer-based theory test platform can now be taken in Twi, Ga, Ewe, Dagbani, Nzema or Hausa, alongside English [1]. The change is aimed at Ghanaians who can drive but struggle to read and write English - a group that has long had to sit the written part of the test in a language that is not their own.

Kotey said the translation software behind the platform means more Ghanaian languages can be added later [1].

A simulator before the road

Licence applicants will also go through a driving simulator that puts them in virtual scenarios and records how they react and make decisions [2]. The DVLA frames it as part of modernising driver training and improving road safety [2].

The practical effect: the road test is no longer the first time an examiner sees how you handle a situation.

SMS reminders before your licence expires

The DVLA says drivers will now get a text message one month before their licence expires, and another two weeks before [1]. The reminders only work if the phone number the DVLA holds for you is current - if you have changed numbers since you last registered or renewed, update it at a DVLA office.

Kotey also said the authority is acquiring machines that print driving licences instantly and plans 30 new offices across the country, according to a report of the same event [3].

Coming home with a foreign licence?

Anyone who has to sit the Ghanaian test - including Ghanaians returning from abroad whose foreign licence does not convert directly - will meet the new languages and the simulator when they do. Whether your licence converts without a test depends on where it was issued; check with the DVLA before you travel [4].