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Driving Test soon! Help!?

So I have my driving test coming up soon and I've never been so nervous. When I'm with my instructor in the car, I can drive okay and she said I'm a good driver just that I haven't had enough experience on the road even though I've had about 45 hours or more now. I feel okay on the road but when we do mocks I suddenly just freak out and mess everything up even though 10 mins before I was fine.

With some of the majors she gave me I would've assumed it was a minor. Do they do that on purpose because they want me to see what the worst outcome would be?

My boyfriend did his mock and got about 10 majors and 11 minors and in his real test only got about 4 minors.

I don't want the mocks to put me off or actually be the real deal.

So yeah... Help? If anyone has done their test already can you tell me how it went and what happened on the day etc?
Reply 1
Original post by Gabbie95
So I have my driving test coming up soon and I've never been so nervous. When I'm with my instructor in the car, I can drive okay and she said I'm a good driver just that I haven't had enough experience on the road even though I've had about 45 hours or more now. I feel okay on the road but when we do mocks I suddenly just freak out and mess everything up even though 10 mins before I was fine.

With some of the majors she gave me I would've assumed it was a minor. Do they do that on purpose because they want me to see what the worst outcome would be?

My boyfriend did his mock and got about 10 majors and 11 minors and in his real test only got about 4 minors.

I don't want the mocks to put me off or actually be the real deal.

So yeah... Help? If anyone has done their test already can you tell me how it went and what happened on the day etc?


I think the first thing is to remain positive in your ability as you have the skill to drive when you're not under pressure from the mock test. In the hour before my test I was doing a mock test and almost smashed into another car because I was feeling really nervous, especially because it was my first practical test. However once the actual test started, I felt a lot less nervous as I didn't have my instructor continuously telling me how to drive and giving me advice. Instead I had the freedom to drive independently and to trust my judgement, which made it much easier compared to trying to do everything my instructor says whilst trying to judge everything for myself.

Also I think it's useful to remember that if you have three minors in an area, then it becomes a major and that your instructor would have told you if he/she didn't think you were ready
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by nju
I think the first thing is to remain positive in your ability as you have the skill to drive when you're not under pressure from the mock test. In the hour before my test I was doing a mock test and almost smashed into another car because I was feeling really nervous, especially because it was my first practical test. However once the actual test started, I felt a lot less nervous as I didn't have my instructor continuously telling me how to drive and giving me advice. Instead I had the freedom to drive independently and to trust my judgement, which made it much easier compared to trying to do everything my instructor says whilst trying to judge everything for myself.

Also I think it's useful to remember that if you have three minors in an area, then it becomes a major and that your instructor would have told you if he/she didn't think you were ready


One of my worries is that I will mess up on the independent driving. During my mock I was told to follow signs to the M25 but on a roundabout I took the wrong exist going somewhere completely different. I left the roundabout safely even though it was the wrong way. She said if that happened in the real test I would get an instant fail because the independent driving is about knowing where to go but I'm scared that will happen again. Will they fail me for going the wrong way even if it was safe?

I got a bit confused because my instructor told me that they look out for mistakes and want everything to be right. But I was reading other peoples experiences and they said that the examiners want you to be safe overall rather than right, e.g. is I stall the car they're looking how I would make sure it's safe i.e. handbrake on, neutral look all round then move off etc but my instructor said if I stall that would be the end of my test??
Reply 3
Original post by Gabbie95
One of my worries is that I will mess up on the independent driving. During my mock I was told to follow signs to the M25 but on a roundabout I took the wrong exist going somewhere completely different. I left the roundabout safely even though it was the wrong way. She said if that happened in the real test I would get an instant fail because the independent driving is about knowing where to go but I'm scared that will happen again. Will they fail me for going the wrong way even if it was safe?

I got a bit confused because my instructor told me that they look out for mistakes and want everything to be right. But I was reading other peoples experiences and they said that the examiners want you to be safe overall rather than right, e.g. is I stall the car they're looking how I would make sure it's safe i.e. handbrake on, neutral look all round then move off etc but my instructor said if I stall that would be the end of my test??


No you won't fail if you stall your car, unless you aren't being safe (e.g. handbrake, neutral, look around). My bf stalled at the beginning of his test and still passed :smile: but there might be something on if you stall 3+ times but I'm not sure about that. If I was in the independent portion of the test and got confused on the roundabout, I personally would just go around again and make sure that I do so by being safe. But honestly, I found that during my driving test that the independent driving portion was much easier than during my mock test. All I had to do was follow signs to a nearby town which involved turning left at crossroads and then continuing to go straight but I don't know if it was because I was lucky in getting an easier route. If your'e feeling nervous about that specific roundabout, it may be useful to go to that same roundabout again, until you feel confident
Reply 4
Original post by nju
No you won't fail if you stall your car, unless you aren't being safe (e.g. handbrake, neutral, look around). My bf stalled at the beginning of his test and still passed :smile: but there might be something on if you stall 3+ times but I'm not sure about that. If I was in the independent portion of the test and got confused on the roundabout, I personally would just go around again and make sure that I do so by being safe. But honestly, I found that during my driving test that the independent driving portion was much easier than during my mock test. All I had to do was follow signs to a nearby town which involved turning left at crossroads and then continuing to go straight but I don't know if it was because I was lucky in getting an easier route. If your'e feeling nervous about that specific roundabout, it may be useful to go to that same roundabout again, until you feel confident


Thank you so much! :smile:

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