Seasonality in Pass Rates – Truck C + Trailer Practical Exam (CE)

How does the Truck CE exam perform over the year?

This chart shows weekly pass rates for the Dutch Vrachtauto C met aanhangwagen praktijk (CE) exam, with a LOWESS trend line to highlight the underlying pattern. The bars underneath show how many CE exams were taken each week.

From the descriptive statistics:

• Average pass rate: 64.57%
• Typical range (25–75%): roughly 61.9% – 67.0%
• Lowest week: about 54.2%,
• Best week: an outlier week at 81.8%

So in an average week, just under two-thirds of candidates pass the CE exam. The standard deviation of 4.46 percentage points means weeks do move around a bit more than for Truck C solo, but the overall level is still solid.

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Volumes – how many CE exams are taken?

Over the 53 weeks we see:

• Total exams: 9,481
• Average per week: ≈179 exams
• Median per week: 183 exams
• Normal spread: standard deviation 41 exams
• Quietest week: 33 exams (week 2025/01)
• Busiest week: 266 exams (week 2024/51)

Compared with the solo C exam, CE has slightly lower pass rates and slightly lower volume, which fits the idea that adding a trailer is a more specialised step.

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Seasonality – is there a best moment for CE?

The LOWESS curve in the figure tells a simple story:

• Autumn / early winter: pass rates start around 64–65%, fairly stable.
• Late winter: the curve dips a bit towards ≈62%, suggesting a slightly tougher period or more nervous candidates.
• Spring / early summer: results improve again, moving back into the 64–67% range.
• Late summer / early autumn: the smoothed line edges down again, but never collapses.

There is no extreme “bad season”, just a gentle wave. For most candidates and rijscholen, the best strategy is still to book the exam when training is complete, rather than chasing a specific month.

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What this means for internationals and trucking schools

For foreigners aiming for a Dutch truck-and-trailer license (CE):

• The exam is clearly more complex than solo C, but with an average pass rate around 65%, it’s still very achievable after proper training.
• Because the pass rate doesn’t swing wildly, you don’t need to wait for a magic season—focus on consistent practice with reversing, coupling/uncoupling, and manoeuvres in Dutch traffic.

For trucking schools and logistics companies:

• CE results are a bit more volatile than C, but the overall success rate is healthy, supporting a predictable pipeline of new CE drivers.
• The slight winter dip suggests it may be worth paying extra attention to exam preparation and confidence-building in that period (shorter days, worse weather).
• With nearly 9,500 CE exams per year, the market is sizeable and important for Dutch and international freight companies that rely on fully licensed combination-vehicle drivers.

In short: the Truck C + trailer (CE) exam is tougher than driving a solo truck, but the data shows that with structured rijopleiding and practice, most well-prepared candidates can pass within a small number of attempts, in any season of the year.