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Learning to Drive: What happens on test day/My experience

This week (commencing the 24th of June) the Learning to Drive section is the forum of the week.

Today we talk discuss what happens on the day of your category B driving test.

You will be nervous, have a swig of gin to calm your nerves*. No, but in all seriousness this is inevatible, find some calming techniques that are helpful to you whatever it may be (meditation, going for a walk, talking to family etc.).

Spoiler

I'd advise talking to your driving instructor at least a week in advance so he can get you driving for a good 45 minutes before your test.

Before leaving home make sure you have the following items:
- Provisional driving licence
- Theory test pass paper

Now onto the test bit.
You will be driven to the test centre where you will wait for your name to be called. When your name is called the examiner introduces themself and asks if you want your driving instructor in the back of the car during the test. He will also ask if you want your examiner to hear the results at the end of the test. Either way make sure your instructor has given you the keys to the car.
The first thing that will happen is the examiner will ask you to read a number plate approximately 20 metres away, if you fail this the test ends, but you can ask for them to get a measuring instrument out. Now that you've passed the eyesight test you will get a "tell me" question and then you can get comfortable in the car whilst the examiner carries out checks of the vehicle.

The test lasts 40 minutes, with 20 minutes of independent driving. You'll get one;
- Show me question
- Manouevre/ emergency stop.

If there are any unusual things, such as a sign covered by a tree or somewhere where you have to make a fast lane decision after a roundabout then the examiner may give you a hint. For example "go straight ahead on the roundabout and then turn right, you may find it useful to exit the roundabout on the right hand lane". In this example, they would say this so that you don't have to cross 2 lanes to go to the turn right lane only.

At the end of the test your driving and serious faults will be added up and then you'll be told if you've passed or not.

Your driving instructor will drive you back home for safety reasons. After passing you'll be too excited to drive back and might do something silly.

Here are some tips based on my experience:

- If you have trouble learning the show me tell me questions, remember they are only looking for buzzwords, so for example you can just remember "main beam = blue light" instead of remembering an entire sentence.

- Make sure you know how to use the car keys before the test.

- Look under the hood of the car immediately before driving into the test centre.

- Make it obvious that you're looking in your mirrors by moving your head rather than looking in the corner of your eye.

- Everytime you stop have a good look round, this includes in the middle of manoeuvres.

- don't feel under pressure when the examiner writes something down. My examiner wrote stuff down at least 15 times, but most of those weren't faults.

- even though its not part of the test, learn the turn in the road manouevre, as if you end up going the wrong way and you reach a dead end round, you'll need to turn around.

- If you've gone the wrong way, don't try to correct it, keep going straight and wait for the sat nav to redirect you.

- See if you can find your test route on YouTube.

Here are some useful YouTube channels that I have watched before the test:
DGN Driving
Learn to drive Travis
Paynos
World driving

Don't forget to thank your instructor after passing and say your goodbyes (the sad bit).

If you have anything to add please do, tell us about your experience also.

Lastly, good luck!

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 1

doodle_333

Good post! I would say though many centres have 20+ routes which are subject to change so don't ever go in expecting anything. Also... I never turned my head for mirror checks and was complimented on my good observations, examiners aren't idiots, the important thing is to do GOOD mirror checks not a cursory glance rather than worrying about making it obvious enough.

Reply 2

JackMoseley

I would like to also add that Ashley Neal has some amazing videos which will hopefully allow you to deal with unexpected situations but also has many tips for and after your test :smile:

I’ve been driving for little over a year now and still watch him as there’s amazing advice from him on there!

Reply 3

xoxAngel_Kxox

This is a good post. My dad is a driving instructor so taught me, and for about a month running up to the test we practicing routes around town in the evening (so I had an advantage as I knew them all inside out). On test day however, I ended up doing a route I'd never seen before, and all my dad said was oh they've never done that one for any of my pupils. Haha. Passed anyway.

Reply 4

JackMoseley

Original post by xoxAngel_Kxox

I had much the same with my instructor! Done mostly all test routes, the one they didn’t take me down, because it had been added 6 months ago and they’d never seen a test go down there, I did it! Still passed and very thankful :smile:

Reply 5

lou2602

I failed my first driving test, although it went entirely my fault. I was emerging onto a two lane roundabout and a car already on the roundabout changed lanes without indicating and had to brake. Bearing in mind this roundabout has 5 exits, it's important that you indicate where you're going. Either way, I was able to get back in about 5 weeks later and passed with only 3 minors.

Also, remember that you only really start learning how to drive once you pass your test and you're driving full time.

Also not to freak anyone out but even as a confident driver, travelling to and from work 4 days a week (via motorways), I still managed to total my first car due to poor road conditions. With my second car, I may be slightly more cautious but sometimes being overly cautious can be more dangerous (i.e. doing 25 in a 40 zone, doing 40 on a motorway when there's nothing wrong with your car and it's national speed limit).

Drive to the best of your ability and practice lots (go up and down the motorway by a few junctions to get a feel for it) - disclaimer: I passed before they let learners on the motorway. But also don't get fazed by idiots who just want to go fast, let them go and focus on your driving and the cars immediately around you.

As my driving instructor said to me: as long as you're a safe driver, it doesn't matter what's going on around you.

But also as my mum pointed out: I trust you, I just don't trust the other drivers

Reply 6

NotNotBatman

My test went quite well, it wasn't busy and other drivers seemed to slow down and give way a lot more than usual; maybe because they saw a guy in high vis. I got the question on how to switch from high beams to main beams and how to wash the back windows. The manoeuvre I got was the "pull up on the right hand side of the road, reverse 2 car lengths and then rejoin the traffic" there were no other cars on the road and it was a dead straight road. My examiner made me feel really relaxed as well.

Reply 7

Don L Gates

Original post by doodle_333

Also... I never turned my head for mirror checks and was complimented on my good observations, examiners aren't idiots, the important thing is to do GOOD mirror checks not a cursory glance rather than worrying about making it obvious enough.

Correct, there is no need to exaggerate anything, examiners are trained observers and can tell simply by the movement of your eyelashes when you are checking mirrors.

But THIS is what you need to be aware of - just looking is not enough, you must look soon enough, judge what may happen, and act accordingly! This simple advice used to be given out to all people who had failed a test in a small pamphlet called the DL68- such a shame they no longer do this.

Regards
Don L Gates
UK Driving Skills