GTA San Andreas schools guide

San Andreas has four vehicle schools. Each one is a set of short tests that raise CJ’s skill with that kind of vehicle, and your overall score decides which reward vehicles appear outside. All four count toward 100% completion, but only at bronze level. This guide follows IGN’s school pages.

How medals and rewards work

Each test gives a score and a medal. IGN explains that you need at least one medal in every test of a school to earn its rewards, and your overall result decides which vehicle you get:

Reward vehicles keep appearing at the school, so you can come back for them any time.

The schools at a glance

Driving School

CJ first goes to Driving School in San Fierro, close to his garage in Doherty, during the mission Back to School, where every test has to be passed. IGN lists 12 tests: the 360, the 180, Whip and Terminate, Pop and Control, Burn and Lap, Cone Coil, the ‘90’, Wheelie Weave, Spin and Go, the P.I.T. Maneuver, Alley Oop and City Slicking.

• Rewards: Super GT (bronze), Bullet (silver) and Hotknife with a custom plate (gold), parked to the right of the entrance.
• Tip: IGN points out that the bronze Super GT is the only one of the three you can use for the exports and imports lists, and recommends doing those right after the school.
• Also: IGN suggests finishing Driving School before the race tournaments.

Pilot School

Pilot School is at Verdant Meadows, the airstrip Mike Toreno has CJ buy for $80,000 in the mission Verdant Meadows. IGN’s Pilot School page says the school opens straight after that mission, while its schools overview ties it to the airstrip mission Learning to Fly. The ten tests cover plane takeoffs and landings, circling the airstrip, helicopter takeoff and landing, destroying targets, a loop, a barrel roll and a parachute landing.

• Pilot’s license: IGN says a bronze or better in the first three tests earns the license, which opens every airport in the game.
• Rewards: Rustler (bronze), Stuntplane (silver) and Hunter (gold), found in and around the hangar.
• Later: after the mission Green Goo, IGN says the airstrip becomes an asset that pays up to $10,000.

Boat School

Boat School is in Bayside, in the far northwest corner of the map. IGN’s two pages disagree on when it opens: the Boat School page says after the story mission Deconstruction, the schools overview says after Pier 69. Unlike the other schools, medals here depend on time. The five tests are Basic Seamanship, Plot a Course, Fresh Slalom, Flying Fish and Land, Sea and Air.

• Rewards: Marquis (bronze), Squalo (silver) and Jetmax (gold), docked by the pier next to the school.
• Tip: IGN calls Fresh Slalom the hardest test because of its tight turns and time limit.

Bike School

Bike School is in Las Venturas, next to the stadium. It opens after the story mission Yay Ka-Boom-Boom, which lets CJ into the city. The six tests are the 360, the 180, the Wheelie, Jump and Stop, the Stoppie, and Jump and Stoppie.

• Rewards: Freeway (bronze), FCR-900 (silver) and NRG-500 (gold), parked just outside.

Tips

1. Bronze is enough for 100%, so do not let one hard test hold up your progress. You can return for gold later.
2. Gold at Bike School is worth chasing, since the reward is the NRG-500.
3. Finish the first three Pilot School tests early. The license lets CJ into every airport.
4. In the Definitive Edition, School’s Out asks you to fully complete one vehicle school.

Updated October 27, 2026