Do I still need to memorise routes for the Area Knowledge test?

Not turn by turn. Since October 2025 the module asks which towns or districts you pass through between two places, and which road a place is on, rather than a full street-by-street route. Knowing the shape of the county matters more than reciting directions.

Is there a map in the Area Knowledge test?

No. Questions are text-only multiple choice on the screen. You cannot use a phone or sat-nav. That is why practising with a map beside each answer helps: you build the mental picture you will not have in the room.

Which county should I choose?

The one you will actually work in. Your driver display card shows the area where you may stand or ply for hire. To add a second county later you sit only the Area module for that county, at the standard fee.

How many Area Knowledge questions are there?

36 in 36 minutes, pass mark 75%, so 27 correct. It is marked separately from Industry Knowledge.

SPSV Area Knowledge Test: What Changed in October 2025 and How to Study

Updated 6 September 2026 · 5 min read · Sources: NTA Official Manual 8.0, nationaltransport.ie

The Area Knowledge module is the half of the SPSV test that drivers most often fail, and the half that changed most recently. From 1 October 2025 the NTA runs a rewritten module based on Edition 8.0 of the Official Manual. If you studied from an older question bank, or from a friend who passed in 2023, half of what you learned is no longer asked.

What it tests now

Section 11.5 of the Manual lists what you must know for your county:

Main street names in urban centres, including which way one-way streets run and between which streets.
Motorways and the national roads serving the county.
Districts and regions, and which ones border each other.
Routes to other towns and villages: which places you pass through, including into neighbouring counties.
Well-known hotels, bars and restaurants.
Landmarks, particularly those popular with tourists.
Hospitals, and the road their main entrance is on.
Transport hubs: train and DART stations, Luas stops, bus stations, the airport and ferry ports.
Sports venues, concert venues and theatres.
Universities, colleges and further education institutions.
Shopping centres.

The sample questions

The Manual prints five. They show the style precisely:

“Drury Street runs one-way between which of the following streets?” (Dublin)
“When travelling from Adare to Newcastle West, which of the following places does a driver pass through?” (Limerick)
“On what road in Carlow Town is the Dolmen Hotel located?” (Carlow)
“The main entrance to Cork University Hospital is accessed directly from what road in Cork City?” (Cork)
“Where in Waterford City is the Clock Tower located?” (Waterford)

Every one is a place, a road or a sequence of places. None asks for a full route with turns. That is the reform in one sentence: the NTA accepts that you will use navigation for the turns, but expects you to know where things are so you can sanity-check the sat-nav, answer a passenger, and pick the right pick-up point.

Candidates who sat the test in 2025 and 2026 report the same styles plus a few more: which street runs directly off a named road, which of four streets does not adjoin it, which two quays a bridge connects, which junction of the M50 serves an area, and the road a well-known pub, embassy or business park sits on. The wrong options are usually the streets next door, so knowing roughly where a place is does not get you the mark. Our practice topics cover each of these styles for every county.

What was dropped

The old module leaned on memorised routes between named points and on lists of streets. Older training material still has hundreds of those. They are not wasted (you learn the city), but they are not the test any more. Chapter 6 of the current Manual is about using navigation tools well, not about paper maps.

How to prepare for Dublin

Dublin is the largest bank and the hardest module because the county is big and the city centre one-way system is dense. Work in this order:

Hospitals and transport hubs first. There are only about 30 hospitals and 60 rail and Luas stops that matter. Learn road and district for each. These are the questions with the fewest plausible distractors, so they are free marks once learned.
Hotels, venues and colleges by district. Study them in clusters (Ballsbridge, Docklands, the airport corridor, Dundrum) rather than alphabetically. The test asks “in which area” as often as “on what road”.
The one-way grid. Drury Street, South William Street, Dawson Street, Kildare Street, Parnell Street, the quays. Learn direction and the two ends of each.
Neighbouring areas and routes out. Which suburbs border which, and what you pass through on the M1, M50, N11, N4, N7 and the roads into Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.

Our Dublin Area Knowledge practice is generated from live map data for the exact NTA categories above, and every answer shows the place on a map so you remember the geography, not the sentence. When you can pass three 36-question mocks in a row at 85% or better, book.

Outside Dublin

The same categories apply in every county, but the balance shifts. In Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford the city-centre one-way system still matters. In rural counties the test leans on towns: which town a hospital or hotel is in, which national road links two towns, and what you pass through on the way. Start with the place list for your county (hospitals, hotels, GAA grounds, colleges, stations), then the routes between the main towns on the N roads.

Already licensed and moving county?

You sit only the Area Knowledge module for the new county. Same booking line (0818 064 000), same fee, 36 questions, 75%. Your driver display card is then updated with the additional area.

The Area Knowledge module since October 2025