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How Our Ranking Works

Transparency at drive bee

drive bee is an independent driving school comparison portal. We want to be transparent about how search results on our platform are sorted and displayed.

Sort Criteria

Users can sort search results by the following criteria:

Recommendation

The default sort on the results page is based on a recommendation score that evaluates the completeness and quality of information available for each driving school. The more data available, the higher a school is ranked.

What factors influence the recommendation?

  • Pricing data: Driving schools with detailed pricing (base fees, lesson prices, package prices) are ranked higher. The actual price level has no influence on the score.
  • Google reviews: The number and average of Google reviews are factored in, with the count capped at 100.
  • Profile completeness: Description text, contact details (email, phone), and range of offerings (license classes, packages).
  • Additional information: Vehicles, offered languages, opening hours, and other services.
  • This score contains no paid placements — the calculation is based solely on available data.

Distance

Driving schools are sorted by their distance from the entered search location. The distance calculation is based on the coordinates of the driving school locations.

Rating

Sorting by rating is based on the Google Maps ratings of driving schools. drive bee does not currently collect its own ratings.

Price

Search results can be sorted by the calculated minimum price for the selected license class — both ascending (lowest price first) and descending (highest price first).

How is the minimum price calculated?

The minimum price represents the theoretically lowest total cost for obtaining a license class. It is composed of the following:

  1. Base fee (registration fee of the driving school)
  2. Legally mandated special driving lessons (as per FahrschAusbO): country road driving, highway driving, and night driving — e.g. 5 + 4 + 3 = 12 mandatory lessons for class B
  3. Driving school exam fees (theory and practical exam)
  4. Official exam authority fees (TÜV / DEKRA)

The minimum price does not include regular practice lessons, as their number varies per student. A standard driving lesson is 45 minutes. If prices are listed for longer sessions (e.g. 90 min), drive bee converts the price to 45-minute units. If no specific price is available for a special lesson, the regular lesson price is used as an estimate.

Data Sources

The information displayed on drive bee comes from various publicly available sources:

  • Google Maps: Location data, ratings, opening hours
  • Driving School Websites: Prices, offers, license classes
  • Driving School Listings: Information maintained by driving schools themselves via our Instructor Portal

No Paid Placements

drive bee currently does not offer any paid or sponsored placements. All driving schools are treated equally. The sort order is determined solely by the criteria chosen by the user.

Completeness and Accuracy

We strive to provide information that is as complete and up-to-date as possible. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the displayed data. Driving schools can update their data themselves via our Instructor Portal.

Contact

If you have questions about our ranking or our data, please contact us at [email protected]