The Student Room Group

Some noob questions about preparing for the theory test

So am I right to understand that the test will be based on the three books from the government site (The Official Highway Code, Know Your Traffic Signs, The Official DVSA Guide)?
It seems like a ton of information. Do you really need to know every single line from every one of the books?
I also don't understand what the hazard perception test consists of. Can someone explain? Is it worth getting the DVD ROM guide for preparation?
Thanks guys
Just buy yourself a book or dvd if you prefer of driving theory practice. When i did it (it was 4 years ago now so might be slightly different) the book had about 1000 possible questions that you could be asked, so just memorise that and its all good. FYI a lot of the questions are common sense, and a lot overlap each other so there isnt as much to learn as you might fear. The test is 50 multiple choice questions (with 1, 2 or 3 possible answers to be selected), and you have to get something like 47 right to pass.

I believe you can do hazard perception example tests online, else a DVD might be a good purchase. The hazard perception itself consists of a few short video clips and you click the mouse every time you see a hazard (eg someone trying to cross the road). The key is to click when you first see the hazard, and then when someone changes (eg. that someone now steps out into the road). However if you click too many times on one particular clip, you will get zero points.. so theres a balance to be found - basically they are looking for people who are confident with spotting hazards rather than fearing everything/nothing.
Original post by monk1324
So am I right to understand that the test will be based on the three books from the government site (The Official Highway Code, Know Your Traffic Signs, The Official DVSA Guide)?
It seems like a ton of information. Do you really need to know every single line from every one of the books?
I also don't understand what the hazard perception test consists of. Can someone explain? Is it worth getting the DVD ROM guide for preparation?
Thanks guys


I personally didn't use any of those books when revising for my theory test, I used the Official DVSA Theory Test for Car Drivers book (this one), and I passed first time. I also used a website called Theory Test Pro, which I'd highly recommend! It has practice questions and answers for the theory test, and hazard perception clips which also include the answers in case you weren't sure of when you needed to click.

In the hazard perception part, you get shown 14 short computer-generated videos of different driving scenarios from the driver's point of view. Whenever you see a hazard developing, you need to click the mouse (anywhere will do, you don't need to click on the actual hazard). The sooner you notice the hazard, the more points you score (you can get a maximum of 5 points per clip, however one of the clips will have 2 hazards in, and you can get a maximum of 10 points for that one). The clips on the actual test are much clearer than online practice clips, which are of actual driving footage. If you can master those, then you should have no problem on the real thing! You need 44/75 to pass the hazard perception, and 43/50 to pass the questions.

I hope that helps :smile:
Reply 3
Thanks for the great replies.
Original post by Leviathan1741
I personally didn't use any of those books when revising for my theory test, I used the Official DVSA Theory Test for Car Drivers book (this one), and I passed first time. I also used a website called Theory Test Pro, which I'd highly recommend! It has practice questions and answers for the theory test, and hazard perception clips which also include the answers in case you weren't sure of when you needed to click.

In the hazard perception part, you get shown 14 short computer-generated videos of different driving scenarios from the driver's point of view. Whenever you see a hazard developing, you need to click the mouse (anywhere will do, you don't need to click on the actual hazard). The sooner you notice the hazard, the more points you score (you can get a maximum of 5 points per clip, however one of the clips will have 2 hazards in, and you can get a maximum of 10 points for that one). The clips on the actual test are much clearer than online practice clips, which are of actual driving footage. If you can master those, then you should have no problem on the real thing! You need 44/75 to pass the hazard perception, and 43/50 to pass the questions.

I hope that helps :smile:


So can I just confirm that the book you linked contains the highway code and signs as well? It does look like it's all that's required from the reviews, but I want to be sure not to miss anything...
Cheers
Original post by monk1324
Thanks for the great replies.


So can I just confirm that the book you linked contains the highway code and signs as well? It does look like it's all that's required from the reviews, but I want to be sure not to miss anything...
Cheers


It doesn't have the highway code, but it does have the signs and hand signals as well. I didn't look at the highway code when I revised for it, I don't think it's really necessary honestly. If you want one with the highway code in it though, this one has it at the back (it's got all the same questions as the other book I linked) :smile:
Reply 5
I read the Highway Code twice and did mock tests over and over on the All Tests DVD which also has some of the old style hazard perception vids on it (which I found much harder than the actual hazard perception test).
trust me, this site is all you need http://toptests.co.uk/

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