BOP Driving School owner Jeroen van der Beek said learners were now much better prepared for the test than they were in the past.
"Historically, mum and dad have taught their children to drive, then they would go sit and test and pass because it was pretty easy," he said.
"Now it has gotten harder and it needed to. I put the higher pass rate down to people starting to realise there is a higher expectation now and they need to get better prepared."
Mr van der Beek said the new test had had its intended effect.
"The standard of new drivers on the road is improving and an extra spin-off is that the parents who haven't done the test for many years are learning a few things along the way as well.
"The rules have changed since they did it and they are starting to realise 'oh, what is the law around indicating at roundabouts' and they are getting a brush-up too," he said.
Learner drivers across the country who sat their restricted test, passed at a rate of 58 per cent in March this year. This was a big increase from the pass rate of 38 per cent in March 2012.
AA Driving School general manager Nigel Clark said changes to the restricted licence test had had a positive outcome.
"Firstly the age was changed, so it was 15 and now it is 16. This is good because young people definitely develop better skills as they get older.
"And the test being harder means more people are taking professional instruction because they won't pass unless they do. That means you have people being taught in a better way. We are teaching three times more people per week than we were doing in 2012," he said.
"More people are being exposed to professional tuition which over time should improve the pass rate and help people be safer drivers."
Mr Clark said the figures were unfair to younger people because the pass rates for people from 16 to 20 were substantially higher than their older counterparts.
The pass rate for 55-59 year olds was 32 per cent, 57 per cent for 18 year-olds and 60 per cent for 19 year-olds.