My cousin Sudip failed his bike trial twice before he ever heard the words "70-point system." Both times, the examiner waved him off the course within the first thirty seconds, said "fail," and pointed him toward the exit gate. No explanation, no score, no idea what he'd actually done wrong. He just knew his foot had touched the ground somewhere near the figure-eight, and that was apparently enough.
The third time, he passed. Not because he suddenly became a better rider, but because someone finally explained the marking sheet to him before he walked onto the ground. He knew ahead of time that touching the boundary line once would only cost him 5 points, not the whole test. He knew the ramp station gave him a real chance to recover if the figure-eight went slightly wrong. He rode the same way he'd ridden the first two times, made almost the same small mistakes, and this time he passed with marks to spare.
That is really what this guide is about. The DOTM trial ground in Nepal is not trying to trick you, and under the current 70-point system it is not even trying to fail you for a single wobble. It is scoring you across seven stations, out of 100 points total, and you only need 70 to walk away with a pass slip. Once you know what each station is worth and exactly which mistakes cost how many points, the whole test stops feeling like a mystery and starts feeling like a checklist.
Quick answer: Nepal's driving trial uses a 100-point marking sheet split across seven stations. You pass at 70 points or above. Small mistakes lose you a few points each; a short list of serious mistakes still fails you on the spot regardless of your score. The full station-by-station breakdown for both bike/scooter and car/jeep is below.
The 70-Point Trial at a Glance
Before the station-by-station walkthrough, here's the whole marking sheet in one table, bike and car side by side, so you can see exactly where the two vehicle types match and where they don't.
| Trial Component | Max Points (Bike/Scooter) | Max Points (Car/Jeep) | Instant Fail Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Figure-Eight | 20 | 20 | Boundary touched twice (bike) or three times (car); wrong-direction entry; wheel/tyre fully off the line |
| Narrow Plank / Garage Parking | 10 (Plank) | 20 (Parking) | Foot on the ground / off the plank (bike); boundary touched or more than one forward correction (car) |
| U-Turn | 10 | 10 | Touching the boundary line |
| Traffic Lights | 15 | 15 | Disobeying the signal (full 15-point loss, not a fail) |
| Speed Breaker / Bumps | 15 | 10 | Foot down more than once (bike); engine stalling more than once |
| Ramp (Hill Start) | 20 | 15 | Slipping back more than 6 inches, or stalling more than once |
| Behavioural Aspects | 10 | 10 | No instant fail; deductions only for helmet, seatbelt, checks, rough riding |
| Total Weight | 100 Points | 100 Points | Passing Mark: 70+ |
One point either side of 70 is the entire gap between a retrial and a smart card.
- Touching the figure-eight boundary line once: -5 points
- Forgetting the indicator before a U-turn: -10 points
- Engine stalling once at the speed breaker: -5 points
- Not locking the helmet strap or skipping the seatbelt: -4 points
- One forward correction during car garage parking: -10 points
- Boundary line touched twice on a bike, or three times on a car
- Wheel or tyre going fully outside a marked boundary, anywhere on the course
- Vehicle rolling back more than 6 inches on the ramp
- Foot on the ground more than once, or engine stalling more than once
- A car reversing during the figure-eight, or crossing lines during garage parking
Why the 70-Point System Exists
Before 2023, the trial worked on a strict pass-or-fail basis. One mistake, of any size, and the examiner failed you outright. Forget to flick your indicator before a U-turn? Fail. Put a foot down once during the figure-eight because a gust of wind caught you? Fail. The result was a trial ground that felt more like a lottery than a driving test, and the numbers backed that feeling up. Before the point system, car candidates were passing at roughly 15 to 20 percent on their first attempt, and motorcycle candidates weren't doing much better at 30 to 40 percent. Most of those failures weren't about people who couldn't drive. They were about people who made one small, forgivable error on an unforgiving test.
Province 1, Gandaki, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim were the first to move to the current point-based marking sheet, and Bagmati Province, which includes Kathmandu Valley and its high-volume Ekantakuna ground, followed in February 2023. Since then, national guidelines have pushed the same 70-point standard across all seven provinces, though the pace of local rollout has varied a little from office to office. If you're not sure whether your district's transport office has switched over yet, it takes one phone call to confirm before your trial date, and it's worth making that call so you know which rules you're walking into.
How the Trial Is Actually Scored
Whether you're on a motorcycle, a scooter, or a car, the logic is the same. You start the day with a possible 100 points spread across seven stations. A traffic officer stands at the ground with a marking sheet, watching you move through each station in order, and either ticking you through clean or noting a deduction. At the end of the course, your points get added up. Seventy or more, you pass and get an admission slip signed by the examiner to take back to the counter. Below seventy, you fail, and you'll need to rebook a retrial.
The seven stations aren't identical for two-wheelers and four-wheelers, but they rhyme closely enough that once you understand one vehicle's sheet, the other makes sense in about thirty seconds. Bikes and scooters get a narrow plank test that cars skip entirely, because balancing a two-wheeler at walking speed is a skill cars simply don't need. Cars get a garage parking station that bikes skip, because reversing a four-wheeler into a tight L-shaped bay isn't something a motorcycle rider ever has to do. Everything else, the figure-eight, the traffic light, the U-turn, the speed breaker, and the ramp, appears on both sheets with only small differences in the numbers.
Pass the Likhit Mock Test Before You Focus on the Trial
The trial only matters once you've cleared the written exam. Practice the real DOTM question format free, in Nepali or English.
Motorcycle & Scooter Trial: The Full Marking Sheet
Category A covers both motorcycles and scooters, and here's something that surprises a lot of first-time candidates: there is no separate scooter test. Whatever you ride into the ground on, the course and the marking sheet underneath you are identical. Seven stations, 100 points, pass at 70.
| Station | Points | Lose Points When | Instant Fail When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Figure-Eight | 20 | -5 boundary touch once, -5 foot down once | Line touched twice, foot down twice, wheel fully outside the line, wrong-direction entry, engine stalls |
| Narrow Plank | 10 | No partial deduction | Foot on the ground, or riding off the plank |
| Traffic Light | 15 | -15 for not obeying the signal | — |
| U-Turn | 10 | -10 for skipping the indicator | Touching the boundary line |
| Speed Breaker | 15 | -5 foot down once, -5 engine stalls once | Foot down more than once, or engine stalls more than once |
| Ramp & Hill Start | 20 | No partial deduction | Rolling back over 6 inches, crossing the boundary, engine stalling more than once, moving before the signal |
| Riding Behaviour | 10 | -3 no pre-ride check, -4 helmet not locked, -3 rough riding | — |
| Total | 100 | Pass mark: 70 | |
Read that table the way Sudip should have read it the first time: nothing on it is a single point of failure except the narrow plank and, in most cases, the ramp. Everything else has room to absorb a small mistake. If your figure-eight goes slightly wrong, you have 80 points still on the table across the other six stations. That's the entire point of the system, and it's worth remembering when nerves start creeping in on trial day.
Car & Jeep Trial: The Full Marking Sheet
Category B swaps two stations compared to the bike sheet. There's no narrow plank, because balance isn't the question when you've got four wheels under you. Instead, you get garage parking, a tight reverse into an L-shaped bay that trips up more candidates than any other single station on the car course.
| Station | Points | Lose Points When | Instant Fail When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Figure-Eight | 20 | -5 per boundary touch, up to two touches | Line touched more than twice, tyre fully outside the line, wrong-direction entry, reversing at any point |
| Speed Breaker | 10 | -5 engine stalls once | Engine stalls twice |
| U-Turn | 10 | -10 for skipping the indicator | Touching the boundary line |
| Traffic Light | 15 | -15 for not obeying the signal | — |
| Ramp & Hill Start | 15 | No partial deduction | Not stopping between the lines, engine stalling more than once, rolling back over 6 inches, moving before the signal |
| Garage Parking | 20 | -10 for one forward correction | Touching the boundary or cones, needing more than one forward correction |
| Driving Behaviour | 10 | -3 no pre-ride check, -4 seatbelt not worn, -3 rough driving | — |
| Total | 100 | Pass mark: 70 | |
Notice the figure-eight is actually a little more forgiving on a car than on a bike: two boundary touches are allowed before it becomes a fail, worth 5 points each, compared to the bike's single free touch. What a car cannot forgive at all is reversing inside the figure-eight. On a bike, momentum and balance are the whole challenge. On a car, the examiner is watching for control, and a reverse there signals you've lost it completely, whether or not you eventually got the shape right.
Five Stations, Up Close
The tables above give you the numbers. What they don't give you is the feel of standing at each station, which is where most candidates actually lose their nerve. Here's what each one looks like once you're on the ground, and exactly what separates a small deduction from a fail.
Spotlight Figure-Eight
Locally this is often just called the "8," and it's the first thing every candidate faces, which is exactly why it wrecks so many people before they've even warmed up. You ride your vehicle in a figure-eight shape between two painted loops, and the examiner is watching your steering control, your balance, and whether your wheels ever leave the marked boundary.
| Vehicle | Points | Deduction | Fail Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bike / Scooter | 20 | -5 per touch (1 free touch) | 2nd touch, wrong direction, wheel fully off the line, stalling |
| Car / Jeep | 20 | -5 per touch (2 free touches) | 3rd touch, wrong direction, tyre fully off the line, any reverse |
The single best piece of advice from every driving instructor at every ground in the country is the same: go slower than feels natural. Nobody has ever failed the eight for taking too long. Plenty of people have failed it for rushing into the curve, clipping the boundary, and panicking their way into a second touch.
Spotlight Narrow Plank (Straight Board)
This one exists only on the bike and scooter sheet, and it's deceptively simple: ride in a straight line along a raised or marked narrow board without your foot touching the ground and without drifting off the edge. There's no partial credit here. You either clear all 10 points or you lose the whole station.
| Vehicle | Points | Deduction | Fail Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bike / Scooter | 10 | None (pass or fail only) | Foot on the ground, or riding off the plank |
| Car / Jeep | Not applicable, cars skip this station entirely | ||
The trick candidates who pass this station always mention is looking well ahead of the front wheel rather than down at it. Staring at the board itself is what makes riders wobble; fixing your eyes on a point past the end of the plank keeps the bike tracking straight almost on its own.
Spotlight Traffic Light
Both vehicle types treat this station the same way, and it's the one station where the rule is genuinely as simple as it sounds. Green means go, yellow means slow down because red is coming in five or six seconds, and red means a complete stop. There's no partial deduction for a half-hearted slowdown; you either read the light correctly or you lose the entire 15 points.
| Vehicle | Points | Deduction | Fail Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bike / Scooter | 15 | -15 for not obeying the signal | — |
| Car / Jeep | 15 | -15 for not obeying the signal | — |
The mistake candidates make here isn't misunderstanding the colours. It's tunnel vision. After the figure-eight and the plank, riders are often so relieved to be past the hard part that they roll straight through a yellow light without even registering it. Treat this station as its own separate test, not a victory lap after the eight.
Spotlight Speed Breaker
You roll over a small speed bump, and the examiner is watching for exactly two things: does your foot touch the ground, and does the engine stall. Either one costs 5 points on a bike; on a car, only the stall counts against you, since a driver's feet aren't part of the equation.
| Vehicle | Points | Deduction | Fail Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bike / Scooter | 15 | -5 foot down once, -5 stall once | Foot down more than once, or stall more than once |
| Car / Jeep | 10 | -5 stall once | Stall twice |
Most stalls here come from approaching too fast and braking hard right on top of the bump instead of easing off well before it. Slow down early, keep light and steady throttle over the bump itself, and this station rarely costs anyone more than a point or two.
Spotlight Ramp & Hill Start
Ask any instructor which station scares candidates the most before they've even tried it, and this is usually the answer. You ride or drive up a slope, stop with your front wheel or bumper between two painted lines, wait for the examiner's signal, then complete the same stop-and-go on the way down. It's a direct test of clutch and brake control on an incline, and unlike most stations, there's no partial deduction: you either handle the hill cleanly or you don't.
| Vehicle | Points | Deduction | Fail Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bike / Scooter | 20 | None (pass or fail only) | Rolling back over 6 inches, crossing the boundary, stalling more than once, moving before the signal |
| Car / Jeep | 15 | None (pass or fail only) | Not stopping between the lines, stalling more than once, rolling back over 6 inches, moving before the signal |
The single habit that saves candidates here is patience at the top. Don't move a single inch until the examiner actually signals you forward, even if the wait feels awkward. Plenty of point-losses at this station come from candidates who assumed the pause was over and rolled slightly before the go-ahead.
Garage Parking: The Car-Only Station
If the ramp scares car candidates before the trial, garage parking is what actually breaks them during it. You have to reverse the car into an L-shaped bay in one continuous, controlled motion, threading the vehicle between boundary lines or cones without clipping either one.
| Station | Points | Deduction | Fail Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garage Parking (Car / Jeep only) | 20 | -10 for one forward correction to fix your angle | Touching or crossing the boundary/cones, more than one forward correction |
Here's the part most candidates don't realise until they're told: you're allowed exactly one forward nudge to correct your angle mid-reverse, and it only costs you 10 of the station's 20 points, not the whole thing. That single allowance has saved a lot of otherwise-clean trials. What it won't forgive is a second correction, or a car that clips a cone while trying to fix its line.
The Behaviour Points People Forget About
Both vehicle sheets end with a 10-point behaviour station, and it's the one part of the trial that has nothing to do with steering skill at all. The examiner is simply watching how you treat the vehicle and yourself before and during the ride.
- Not checking your brakes, tyres, and mirrors before you start moving costs 3 points, on both bike and car sheets.
- A bike rider who doesn't lock or fasten their helmet strap loses 4 points, even if the rest of the ride is flawless.
- A car driver who doesn't wear their seatbelt loses 4 points, the same weight as a bike rider's unfastened helmet.
- Rough or reckless riding or driving, anywhere on the course, costs 3 points, separate from any station-specific deduction.
Ten points doesn't sound like much until you realise it's exactly the margin between a 68 and a clean pass. Candidates spend weeks worrying about the figure-eight and then lose their trial over a helmet strap they simply forgot to click.
The Mistakes That Fail You No Matter What
Points get you a long way, but a short list of mistakes sits outside the point system entirely. These aren't deductions. They end the trial the moment they happen, regardless of how well the rest of your ride is going.
Bike & Scooter Instant Fails
- Boundary line touched twice or more on the figure-eight
- Foot on the ground more than once, on the figure-eight or speed breaker
- Wheel going fully outside a marked boundary anywhere on the course
- Entering any obstacle from the wrong direction
- Engine stalling more than once at the speed breaker or ramp
- Rolling back more than 6 inches on the ramp
Car & Jeep Instant Fails
- Boundary line touched three times or more on the figure-eight
- Reversing at any point during the figure-eight
- Tyre going fully outside a marked boundary anywhere on the course
- Engine stalling twice at the speed breaker or ramp
- More than one forward correction during garage parking
- Touching the boundary line during the U-turn
What Happens After You Pass, and What Happens If You Don't
Pass, and the examiner signs an admission slip on the spot. You take that to the DOTM counter, pay the remaining revenue fee, and your license moves into printing. DOTM sends an SMS when the smart card is ready, or you can check the status yourself online rather than waiting on a text that sometimes takes its time arriving.
Fail, and the good news is you're not starting from zero. You don't redo your online application, and you don't sit the Likhit exam again. DOTM gives you three attempts within 90 days of your first trial date, at Rs. 500 per attempt, so a single bad morning doesn't send you back to square one. Most candidates who came up just short the first time pass comfortably on the second attempt, mainly because they now know exactly which station cost them the points and can practice that one specifically instead of the whole course blind.
It also helps to understand how the marking actually happens on the ground, since it's less mysterious than it looks from the queue. The traffic officer isn't judging from memory or from a general impression of how you rode. They're walking or standing beside the course with a physical marking sheet, the same seven stations you've just read about, ticking each one as you pass it and noting a deduction the moment it happens. Nothing gets added up in their head at the end from vague recollection. If you want to know exactly why you failed, you can usually ask to see where the points were deducted, and most examiners will tell you plainly rather than leave you guessing the way Sudip was left guessing after his first two attempts.
Before you assume you're ready: the trial only happens after you've already passed the written Likhit exam. If that part is still ahead of you, it's worth spending an evening on it before you spend a morning at the trial ground.
Preparing for Trial Day Without Overthinking It
- Practice on a similar course first. Most driving schools run a figure-eight and ramp layout close to what DOTM actually uses. A few sessions there teach your hands and feet more than reading any marking sheet will.
- Learn your local ground's exact order of stations. Some offices run the plank before the eight, others after. Knowing the order in advance means one less surprise on the day itself.
- Do the pre-ride check out loud in your head. Brakes, tyres, mirror, helmet strap or seatbelt. It takes ten seconds and it's worth 3 to 7 guaranteed points before you've even moved.
- Go deliberately slower than feels natural. Every instructor says it because every trial ground proves it true. Speed causes far more boundary touches and stalls than caution ever does.
- Don't move until the signal. Whether it's the traffic light or the top of the ramp, waiting for an explicit go-ahead avoids more failed attempts than any riding skill fixes.
- Ask about station order before you're called. Grounds don't all run the seven stations in the same sequence, and candidates who watch two or three people go ahead of them usually spot the pattern fast. Use that time in the queue; it's free information nobody else is bothering to collect.
Handle the Written Exam First
The trial marking sheet only matters once Likhit is behind you. Practice the real DOTM question format free, then come back for the trial when you're ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sudip still keeps his admission slip from that third trial folded in his wallet, mostly as a joke about how close the first two attempts came to being avoidable. The riding never changed much between attempt one and attempt three. What changed was knowing that a wobble on the figure-eight wasn't the end of the test, just one line on a much longer sheet. That's really the whole shift the 70-point system made: it turned a single mistake back into just a mistake, not a verdict.