Manual or Automatic: Which Gearbox to Learn On in Uzbekistan

In short: for category B the choice is effectively made for you. In Uzbekistan the practical exam is taken in a manual car, and there is no separate automatic-only licence. So do your main course on a manual. If you will drive an automatic afterwards, add 2–3 hours on one after the exam: switching in that direction is far easier.

Many students ask on day one whether they could just learn on an automatic. It is easy to see why: Tashkent's streets are filling up with Trackers, Onixes and electric cars, and few people plan to spend their lives working a clutch pedal. But the exam works differently, and you need to plan around it from the first lesson. Information is as of October 2026.

What the rules say

The exam procedure is set by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 408, which states that practical exams are held in training vehicles with a manual transmission. The only exception is for the motorcycle categories A1 and A.

The unified exam centre says the same on its website: you cannot take the practical exam in a car with an automatic gearbox. Its exam cars are manuals fitted with sensors and an automated scoring system.

What follows from this:

• you cannot learn on an automatic only and pass the exam;
• a category B licence earned in a manual exam is valid for cars with any gearbox; Uzbekistan has no "automatic only" restriction;
• if a school offers a fully automatic course, ask where and in what car you will prepare for the exam.

Comparison for a learner

	Manual	Automatic
Category B exam	Taken in a manual	Not accepted
Difficulty of first lessons	Higher: clutch, gears, hill starts	Lower: accelerator and brake
Hours to confidence	More	Fewer
Hill-start exercise	The main challenge	Not applicable in the exam
Private instructor rate in Tashkent	about 150–170k UZS/hour	about 175–200k UZS/hour
After the licence	You can drive any car	Comfort in traffic jams

Rates are based on Tashkent private instructors' listings in October 2026.

Why a manual is not a punishment

Students who learn on a manual first move to an automatic in an hour or two. Going the other way takes 6–10 hours and usually means stress right before the exam.

A manual also teaches you to feel the car: you grasp the link between revs, speed and clutch sooner, keep better distance and use the pedals more smoothly. That carries over to an automatic.

And a practical point: at home or at work you may need to drive a manual Damas, Labo or Nexia. Your licence allows it, but without the skill it will not be pleasant.

The hardest parts of a manual

In instructors' experience, nearly all manual problems come down to three situations:

1. Moving off. The car stalls or jerks. Fixed in 20–30 minutes on a practice ground: clutch only, no throttle, until the car starts to creep.
2. Hill start. Moving off on a slope without rolling back is one of the test-ground exercises. Handbrake method or clutch control: your instructor will show both; use whichever you can do consistently.
3. Traffic jams. Constant first-neutral-first in Chilanzar or near Farhad bazaar is tiring. It is a matter of habit and fades by the end of the course.

You can drill the exercises on a ground marked like the exam one at one of the Tashkent test grounds.

Where the exam actually tests a manual

According to the exam centre's list of category B exercises, the manual gearbox comes into play in almost every element:

Exercise	What it demands on a manual
Start	Move off smoothly without stalling
Stop and hill start on the ramp	Hold the car without rolling back using clutch and handbrake
Slalom, 90° turns	Keep a steady low speed in first gear
Turn-around via a box	Switch between first and reverse without jerking
Acceleration lane	Reach 40 km/h, shifting into second or third
Emergency stop	Brake and clutch together so the engine does not stall
Reverse parallel parking	Creep slowly on the clutch

Elsewhere on the ground the limit is 20 km/h. On a manual, most points are lost on the ramp and at the start: the system records a stall instantly.

A plan if you will drive an automatic

1. Main school course on a manual. Check before paying: ask which car the practical lessons use.
2. Theory in any format. Since February 2026 you may self-study it.
3. Before the exam, 2–3 hours on the exam ground, also on a manual.
4. After the licence, 2–3 hours on an automatic. Ideally in your future car with an instructor: learn the P, R, N and D modes, the electronic parking brake and hill-hold.

Schools teaching on manuals are easy to find under category B in Tashkent, and instructors with automatics for post-licence lessons under Tashkent instructors.

If you have already started on an automatic

Do not panic; it is fixable:

• agree with the school to move your remaining lessons to a manual;
• budget 6–10 extra hours, at least 2–3 of them on test-ground exercises;
• do not book the exam until you can do the hill start and the turn-around without errors three times in a row;
• remember that a theory pass lasts two months, so do not take theory until you are confident on the manual.

Common misconceptions

• "An automatic is easier, I'll take the test in one." It will not be accepted: exam cars are manuals.
• "I'll get an automatic licence and learn manual later." There is no automatic-only licence in Uzbekistan.
• "Learning on a manual takes longer and costs more." Slightly longer, but switching from automatic to manual right before the exam costs more.

Bottom line

Learn on a manual for a category B licence: it is an exam requirement, not an instructor's whim. An automatic takes a couple of hours to pick up afterwards. If you like, we can find a school with manual cars near you and an instructor with an automatic for after the exam — leave a request. For a comparison of training formats, see driving school or private instructor.