Your CBT: The Rules, The Kit, and What Gets People Turned Away

Published 9 August 2026 · Updated 10 August 2026

Almost everything written about CBT kit blurs two very different things: what the law requires, and what your riding school requires. The law is short and easy to satisfy. Your school's list is longer, it is theirs to set, and it is the one that decides whether you ride that day or go home.

So this is both lists, kept separate and checked against DVSA's own guidance rather than what the forums say. What a CBT is, what happens on the day, exactly what you must wear versus what you will be sent home for, and the changes the government has been consulting on that could rewrite some of it.

CBT clothing requirements: the short answer

The law makes you wear one thing: an approved helmet. Your riding school will make you wear a lot more than that, and its list is the one that actually decides whether you ride today.

Legally required to ride: an approved safety helmet. That is the whole legal list.
Almost always required by your school: boots that cover the ankle, gloves with real protection, thick trousers or heavy denim, and a jacket with some abrasion resistance.
Always worn on the day, but not your problem: hi-vis. Your school has to provide it and put you in it.
Before you travel: ring your school and ask exactly what they require and what they lend. Policies differ, and theirs is the one that counts on the day.

A CBT is a course, not a test

This trips people up before they even book. Compulsory Basic Training is not something you pass or fail. It is a day of training in five elements, and you move on when your instructor is satisfied you are safe at each one. There is no examiner and no result to wait for.

That does not make it a formality. If you are not safe on the road by the end of the day you do not get the certificate, and plenty of people need a second day. That is a normal outcome rather than a disaster, and a school that never sends anyone back is not doing its job.

Get through it and your certificate is valid for two years. Inside that window you must pass your full test, or take the CBT again, or stop riding. Ride without a valid one and you face a fine of up to £1,000 and up to six penalty points.

Whether you can book one, and what to take

You need a UK provisional licence and you need to meet the age for the machine: sixteen for a moped, seventeen for a motorcycle up to 125cc and 11kW. Before the course starts the school has to check your identity and that your licence carries the right provisional entitlement, so take the photocard and do not assume they will wave it through.

There is an eyesight check at the start. You need to read a number plate at twenty metres in good daylight, or 20.5 metres for an older-style plate. Glasses or contact lenses are fine, and if you need them to pass then you need to wear them to ride.

Your provisional or full UK driving licence photocard. No licence, no course.
Glasses or contacts if you need them for the eyesight check.
Your own helmet, gloves, boots and jacket if you have them. If not, ring ahead and ask what they lend.
Lunch and a drink. It is a long day and plenty of schools sit on industrial estates with nothing nearby.

What actually happens across the day

The five elements run in order and they are the same wherever you go, because DVSA sets the syllabus. Element A is the introduction: the aims of the course, your eyesight check and the kit you have turned up in. Element B moves onto the machine, its controls and basic maintenance checks. Element C is riding on the school's own site, learning to move off, stop, change gear and manoeuvre away from traffic.

Element D is the briefing before you go out: the law, road positioning, speed, separation distance and reading hazards. Element E is the part everyone remembers, riding real roads with an instructor in radio contact, and it has to last at least two hours. You will be asked to demonstrate a U-turn and an emergency stop, and to deal with roundabouts, junctions and crossings.

What the law actually makes you wear

Short version: a helmet. That is the only piece of kit UK law requires on the road, and it must be an approved one. Everything else is guidance, however strongly worded.

DVSA's syllabus does not leave it there. It describes eye protection as vital against wind, rain, insects and road dirt, calls gloves vital, and says protective and supportive boots or shoes are vital. That is the regulator's own language, but it is advice to instructors rather than a standard you can be prosecuted against. The school also has to put you in fluorescent or reflective clothing showing who they are, so the hi-vis is their problem, not yours.

This gap is what catches people out. Nothing in law says your jeans cannot have rips in them. Your school's insurance and its instructors say so, and on the day theirs is the only opinion that counts.

Item	UK law on the road	DVSA CBT syllabus	Your riding school
Helmet	Required, must be approved	Required	Required, usually lent
Eye protection	Not required	Called vital	Expected
Gloves	Not required	Called vital	Required, often lent
Boots	Not required	Called vital	Required, rarely lent
Jacket	Not required	Advised	Required, usually lent
Trousers	Not required	Not specified	Heavy jeans accepted, no rips
Hi-vis	Not required	Required on course	Supplied by the school

What schools require, which is a different list

Every school sets its own kit policy, so treat what follows as the common denominator rather than gospel. This is what schools across the UK typically insist on, and what they send people home for.

Ring your school before you travel and ask what their policy actually is. What follows is the common ground, not theirs specifically.

Item	Turned away for	Accepted
Footwear	Trainers, or anything that leaves the ankle exposed	Boots that cover the ankle
Trousers	Shorts, joggers, leggings, ripped jeans	Heavy denim, or motorcycle trousers
Gloves	Woolly gloves, fingerless gloves, bare hands	Gloves with real protection
Jacket	A hoodie or plain t-shirt	Something tough and padded, ideally a motorcycle jacket
Own helmet	Damaged, or does not fit properly	Fits well and undamaged

Borrow first, buy properly afterwards

Most schools lend a helmet, gloves, a jacket and the hi-vis, and some have waterproofs. Use that for a first CBT rather than panic-buying a full set the week before, because a day in borrowed kit teaches you more about what you actually want than any amount of reading.

Boots are the exception. Schools rarely lend footwear in your size and it is the item most likely to end your day at the gate, so if you buy one thing beforehand, buy boots that cover the ankle. After that, gloves and then your own helmet are the pieces worth owning, because a borrowed helmet fits whoever wore it last, and a helmet that does not fit you properly is not doing its job.

Buy first: boots over the ankle, the usual reason people are refused and the thing least likely to be lent.
Buy next: gloves, then your own helmet once you know you are carrying on.
Borrow if you can: jacket and hi-vis, at least until you know what sort of riding you are doing.

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What the cheap end actually costs

Here are real numbers rather than a vague reassurance that it need not cost much. These are ranges rather than single prices on purpose: the very cheapest listing in any category is usually one pair, in one size, at one shop, and it moves the week they sell out. The range covers the bottom few, so it stays true for longer and is closer to what you will actually pay.

They also deliberately skip the cheapest thing in each category, because that is a trap. The lowest listings under gloves, jackets and trousers are liners, over-jackets and waterproof over-trousers, which go underneath or on top of the real thing and will not satisfy an instructor. Everything below is kit you could genuinely turn up in, at a regular price rather than a sale.

Minimum to buy for a CBT, assuming the school lends the rest: boots and gloves, so £55 to £110.
A complete set bought outright: roughly £150 at the very bottom, nearer £245 once you are a rung up. That is the floor rather than a recommendation.
Heavy jeans are fine for the day, so riding trousers are the one item you can genuinely postpone.
Women's kit is not the more expensive option at this end. The cheapest jacket and the cheapest gloves we track are both women's, though women's ranges are shallower at the top rather than discounted at the bottom, so the saving is a budget-end effect and not a rule.
Helmets are sized by head circumference, not by gender, so the same range fits everyone. Lids badged as ladies do exist and start nearer £120, but that is a colourway rather than a different shell, so do not read the badge as a requirement.

Item	The cheap end	Do you have to buy it?
Boots over the ankle	£40 to £80	Yes, schools rarely lend footwear
Gloves	£15 to £30	Usually lent, but cheap to own
Helmet	£30 to £35	Usually lent
Jacket	£30 to £40	Usually lent
Trousers	£35 to £60	No, heavy jeans are accepted

Build a full outfit to your budget in the Outfitter →

Before you leave home: the checklist

Everything above in one list, in the order it matters. Miss the first item and nothing else counts.

Your provisional or full UK driving licence photocard, with the right entitlement for the machine. No licence, no course.
Glasses or contacts, if you need them for the eyesight check.
Boots that cover the ankle. Buy these first if you do not own a pair, since schools rarely lend footwear in your size.
Thick trousers or heavy denim, with no rips.
Gloves with real protection, if you own a pair.
Your own helmet, only if it fits properly and is undamaged. Otherwise ask what the school lends.
Lunch and a drink. It is a long day, often on an industrial estate with nothing nearby.
A phone call to the school beforehand, to check their exact clothing policy against this list.

What could change, and what has not changed yet

CBT has run in broadly its current shape for over thirty years, and DVSA consulted on seven changes to it between 7 January and 11 May 2026: a theory test before or as part of CBT, restricting automatic-trained riders to automatic machines, a syllabus update, and changes to certificate validity among them. That consultation closed in May and DVSA is analysing responses. No outcome has been published, so none of it is law yet.

The Motorcycle Industry Association has pushed for similar changes since July 2023, co-signed by road safety charities and rider organisations and citing 1,623 rider deaths and nearly 30,000 serious injuries over the preceding five years. Their list also includes a power to revoke a CBT certificate from a learner who collects six penalty points, and condensing the five elements into four. MCIA, the National Motorcyclists Council and the National Motorcycle Dealers Association filed a joint proposal on 11 May 2026, the day the consultation closed.

One MCIA ask matters for the kit list above: writing a requirement for instructors to ensure appropriate trainee attire into the syllabus itself. If that lands, this article's gear rules stop being your school's policy and become the rule. For now they are not, which is why they vary from school to school.

Next: direct access, and the fast route to a full licence →

Frequently asked questions

Can you fail a CBT?

Not in the sense of failing a test, because it is not one. There is no examiner and no pass mark. What can happen is that your instructor decides you are not safe to ride unsupervised by the end of the day, in which case you do not get the certificate and you come back for more training. That is common enough to be unremarkable, and a school that passes everyone regardless is one to be wary of.

What happens if you don't have the right clothing for your CBT?

Your school can stop the course and charge you to take it again, and footwear is the usual reason. Trainers or anything that does not cover the ankle will often end the day before it starts, and schools rarely have spare boots in your size. After that it is ripped jeans, joggers or shorts, gloves that are not motorcycle gloves, and a hoodie instead of a proper jacket. None of that is written in law, it is the school's own policy, so ring and ask before you turn up.

Is a helmet the only thing the law makes me wear?

On the road, yes. An approved helmet is the only legally required item. DVSA's own CBT syllabus goes further and describes eye protection, gloves and protective supportive boots as vital, but that is guidance to instructors rather than a standard you can be prosecuted against. Your training school is free to set a stricter list, and virtually all of them do.

How long does a CBT certificate last?

Two years. You need to pass your full moped or motorcycle test inside that window, otherwise you take the CBT again or stop riding. Riding without a valid certificate carries a fine of up to £1,000 and up to six penalty points. Certificate validity is one of the things DVSA consulted on changing in 2026, though nothing has been decided.

Do I need motorcycle gear for CBT?

Legally, no more than a helmet, but your school will require more, and I would not buy all of it upfront regardless. Most schools lend a helmet, gloves, a jacket and the hi-vis, so a first CBT in borrowed kit is a cheap way to work out what you actually want. Boots are the exception, because schools seldom lend footwear in your size and it is the item most likely to get you refused, so buy a pair that covers the ankle first.

What is the least I can spend and still be let on the bike?

Less than you might think. If your school lends the helmet and jacket, which most do, you are buying boots and gloves, which is roughly £55 to £110. A full set bought outright runs from about £150 at the very bottom to nearer £245 a rung up. Those were the ranges when this was written, so check the current price before you budget, and be wary of anything cheaper: the very cheapest listings in a category are often glove liners, over-jackets or waterproof over-trousers, none of which are the thing they sound like and none of which will satisfy an instructor.

Is the CBT changing?

Possibly, but not yet. DVSA ran a consultation from 7 January to 11 May 2026 covering a theory test before CBT, restricting automatic-trained riders to automatic machines, a syllabus update and changes to certificate validity. It closed and DVSA is analysing the responses, with no outcome published as of August 2026. Anything describing these as current rules is wrong.

When you know what you want, MotoMiser compares live prices on the same gear across UK retailers, so you can see who has the best deal before you spend.