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How long did it take you to pass your driving test?

Just wondering, anyone out there who has passed, how many lessons did you take before you took your first test, and how many attempts did it take?

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Reply 1
My driving test journey was a disaster:

Took me 3 months to fully know how to drive at test standard but I failed 5 times and passed on the 6th time and I feel it was purely because I'm a young male.

1st: 1 serious 0 minors : Apparently I was a few seconds slow for over taking on the dual carriageway (I call bullsh!t)

2nd: 1 Serious 0 minors : apparently I didn't properly check my blind spot (over the shoulder) when performing the turn in the road and again I call bullsh!t as my examiner was a complete ar5h0le

3rd: 1 serious 0 minors : When reversing round the corner a boy racer behind me almost hit me and I got the blame for it.

4th: 1 serious 0 minors : I didnt stop at the round about to check for oncoming traffic (I cal bullsh!t as the roundabout was 100% empty and I slowed right down to like 5mph and done my checks and continued

5th: 1 serious 0 minors : I was minutes from passing my test but in the last minute a white van driver done the wrong indicator and almost hit me when I went to leave the roundabout. I got the blame for it.

6th : 0 serious 1 minor : The minor was going 31mph on a 30 for a second and I passed!!

Listen if you fail dont beat yourself up. Just check the state of me! Hahahahha




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Reply 2
I passed first time within 3 months of turning 17.
Mainly because my mother is a great driver and she took me out every night and i drove around for hours. Practice makes perfect! I was lucky enough to have my own car too which really motivated me to pass so I could actually drive it!


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Reply 3
i have been learning for over 5 months and have failed my theory and am yet to be close to passing
Reply 4
Original post by Rathor
My driving test journey was a disaster:

Took me 3 months to fully know how to drive at test standard but I failed 5 times and passed on the 6th time and I feel it was purely because I'm a young male.

1st: 1 serious 0 minors : Apparently I was a few seconds slow for over taking on the dual carriageway (I call bullsh!t)

2nd: 1 Serious 0 minors : apparently I didn't properly check my blind spot (over the shoulder) when performing the turn in the road and again I call bullsh!t as my examiner was a complete ar5h0le

3rd: 1 serious 0 minors : When reversing round the corner a boy racer behind me almost hit me and I got the blame for it.

4th: 1 serious 0 minors : I didnt stop at the round about to check for oncoming traffic (I cal bullsh!t as the roundabout was 100% empty and I slowed right down to like 5mph and done my checks and continued

5th: 1 serious 0 minors : I was minutes from passing my test but in the last minute a white van driver done the wrong indicator and almost hit me when I went to leave the roundabout. I got the blame for it.

6th : 0 serious 1 minor : The minor was going 31mph on a 30 for a second and I passed!!

Listen if you fail dont beat yourself up. Just check the state of me! Hahahahha




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Well the main thing is you've passed now :u: Over what period of time did these 6 tests take place if you don't mind me asking haha
My parents gave me some driving lessons before I did the official ones with a driving school. Can't remember how many I did, probably about 7-8, passed first time :smile: Good luck!
Reply 6
Original post by carrott98
Well the main thing is you've passed now :u: Over what period of time did these 6 tests take place if you don't mind me asking haha


Yeah man thank god!

Oh I dont mind talking about it dont worry aha.

Well I started to learn roughly Dec 2013 then I could drive at test standard by Feb 2014 (which is fairly quick I thought) Then the dates of the tests were:

1st: March 2014
2nd: May 2014
3rd: July 2014
4th: Sept 2014
5th: Oct 2014
6th: Dec 2014

Since I passed my test in Dec 2014 I have been driving as a named driver on a siblings car since and I still drive just as well as I did when trying to past me test, well I have developed a bad habit of one hand on the gear shifter and the other on the steering wheel but I feel confident etc on the road :smile:

Its funny though all the people I know that have passed 1st or 2nd time have ended up in a crash or lost their licence! So I feel happy passing 6th time but it did leave a HUGE dent in my personal savings (paid to learn to drive all by myself)

Are you currently learning to drive OP?



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Reply 7
Dunno how many lessons I did, I think I was doing lessons for a year... but that's because due to money issues I had to stop for a few months at one point and then at another point as well lmao. Maybe 50 lessons at a guess, before I finally felt ready enough.

Theory = 1 attempt and I passed
Practical = 1 attempt and I passed with 5 minors.
Reply 8
First lesson a few days after my 18th Birthday. 9-10 Lessons.
Theory - Passed first attempt with 100% in the first part and around 80% or something in Hazard.
Practical - Passed first attempt with zero minors.
About 30 hours before I passed on my third attempt (no outside practice and never driven before), crammed all my lessons into 4 weeks before my first test.
I passed on my first attempt after 14 lessons with no outside practice. I paid for 15 lessons in total and 'lesson 15' was my test.

My advice:

1) Do the theory test first. Once you've passed that, you're ready to get behind the wheel and start learning to drive.

2) Book your practical driving test asap. Now that you've got your theory test certificate in hand, you can book your driving test and inform your instructor of the proposed date. I'd book it for around 2-3 months after your first lesson. The reason for booking the practical test so soon is because it gives you a target to work towards and it also prevents your instructor from messing you around and charging you for more lessons than you need. If you don't feel you're completely prepared as the practical test date approaches, you can always reschedule it free of charge and switch to a later date to give yourself a little more time.

3) Watch YouTube tutorials for tips and tricks on manoeuvres or general guidance on what you should be doing in certain situations for e.g. which lane should you be on a roundabout if you will be taking the third exit etc. etc.

4) Learn your test route - it won't always be easy to find a test route which is fairly uncomplicated and easy to navigate around. Practice going around your test route and more importantly practice going around your test route at the same time as your test. If you've booked it for 4 pm, then practice it at 4 pm to familiarise yourself with the test route.

5) Keep calm and drive on - you can do this, do not stop telling yourself that. There will be times where it feels like you'll absolutely never get the hang of driving and that you're the worst driver in the world but I promise it gets easier. Just try your very best to remain hopeful, maintain your confidence and just breathe. Driving is not as hard as it seems, it's the same three steps over and over and over again - mirrors, signal (if necessary) and manoeuvre, that's it!

Best of luck to all of you :smile:
Reply 11
Original post by Rathor
Yeah man thank god!

Oh I dont mind talking about it dont worry aha.

Well I started to learn roughly Dec 2013 then I could drive at test standard by Feb 2014 (which is fairly quick I thought) Then the dates of the tests were:

1st: March 2014
2nd: May 2014
3rd: July 2014
4th: Sept 2014
5th: Oct 2014
6th: Dec 2014

Since I passed my test in Dec 2014 I have been driving as a named driver on a siblings car since and I still drive just as well as I did when trying to past me test, well I have developed a bad habit of one hand on the gear shifter and the other on the steering wheel but I feel confident etc on the road :smile:

Its funny though all the people I know that have passed 1st or 2nd time have ended up in a crash or lost their licence! So I feel happy passing 6th time but it did leave a HUGE dent in my personal savings (paid to learn to drive all by myself)

Are you currently learning to drive OP?



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Ahh I seeee, well a years not too bad, I've known some people take yeaaars because they've been put off by failing one or twice hahah.

I guess your driving is going to be the best it can be though, better than the people who rushed through it :smile:

I'm not actually learning to drive at the moment, been putting it off for ages because I always think I don't have the time/money and I'll be crap and it'll take me ages :tongue: but I'm determined to start properly in a couple of months and stick with it :biggrin:
Reply 12
Original post by carrott98
Ahh I seeee, well a years not too bad, I've known some people take yeaaars because they've been put off by failing one or twice hahah.

I guess your driving is going to be the best it can be though, better than the people who rushed through it :smile:

I'm not actually learning to drive at the moment, been putting it off for ages because I always think I don't have the time/money and I'll be crap and it'll take me ages :tongue: but I'm determined to start properly in a couple of months and stick with it :biggrin:


Well yeah I guess so but it was frustrating as anything every time I failed but I kept trying determined not to give up.

I say definitely go for it as long as the money situation is healthy as you don't want to stop half way because money is getting tight. So yeah if you go for it all the best and I hope you don't suffer the bad luck I did! Hahaha :smile:


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Reply 13
Original post by PPF
First lesson a few days after my 18th Birthday. 9-10 Lessons.
Theory - Passed first attempt with 100% in the first part and around 80% or something in Hazard.
Practical - Passed first attempt with zero minors.

Whaaat.. you must be a natural :tongue:
Reply 14
Original post by WoodyMKC
About 30 hours before I passed on my third attempt (no outside practice and never driven before), crammed all my lessons into 4 weeks before my first test.

Woah thats speedy I didn't know you could do that, how long after your first lesson did you actually pass?
Reply 15
Original post by Anonymοοse
I passed on my first attempt after 14 lessons with no outside practice. I paid for 15 lessons in total and 'lesson 15' was my test.

My advice:

1) Do the theory test first. Once you've passed that, you're ready to get behind the wheel and start learning to drive.

2) Book your practical driving test asap. Now that you've got your theory test certificate in hand, you can book your driving test and inform your instructor of the proposed date. I'd book it for around 2-3 months after your first lesson. The reason for booking the practical test so soon is because it gives you a target to work towards and it also prevents your instructor from messing you around and charging you for more lessons than you need. If you don't feel you're completely prepared as the practical test date approaches, you can always reschedule it free of charge and switch to a later date to give yourself a little more time.

3) Watch YouTube tutorials for tips and tricks on manoeuvres or general guidance on what you should be doing in certain situations for e.g. which lane should you be on a roundabout if you will be taking the third exit etc. etc.

4) Learn your test route - it won't always be easy to find a test route which is fairly uncomplicated and easy to navigate around. Practice going around your test route and more importantly practice going around your test route at the same time as your test. If you've booked it for 4 pm, then practice it at 4 pm to familiarise yourself with the test route.

5) Keep calm and drive on - you can do this, do not stop telling yourself that. There will be times where it feels like you'll absolutely never get the hang of driving and that you're the worst driver in the world but I promise it gets easier. Just try your very best to remain hopeful, maintain your confidence and just breathe. Driving is not as hard as it seems, it's the same three steps over and over and over again - mirrors, signal (if necessary) and manoeuvre, that's it!

Best of luck to all of you :smile:

Thank you that's really helpful :smile: I'm just so nervous I'll cock up my test due to nerves, the smallest thing could make me wobble haha
3 months after being 17, 19 hours of driving all told, failed with 1 major, 13 minors.
2 months after that, with 5 hours worth if more lessons, passed with 7 minors.


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Reply 17
Original post by Rathor
Well yeah I guess so but it was frustrating as anything every time I failed but I kept trying determined not to give up.

I say definitely go for it as long as the money situation is healthy as you don't want to stop half way because money is getting tight. So yeah if you go for it all the best and I hope you don't suffer the bad luck I did! Hahaha :smile:


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That's very admirable, I know a lot of people (probably including myself) would be discouraged after 3 or 4 attempts!

I guess it's just the insurance and everything really pricey afterwards that adds up, I feel like there's no point taking my test unless I've got enough to buy a car or get insurance on another fairly soon after (if I even pass within the next year or so).Thank you though haha, I definitely will get started by summer! it helps hearing about other people's experiences :smile:
Original post by carrott98
Woah thats speedy I didn't know you could do that, how long after your first lesson did you actually pass?


Yeah I started doing 2 hour lessons 3 days a week and worked up to doing 3 hour lessons 4 days a week. 3 hour lessons sound horrific on paper but they go surprisingly fast :smile: 8 weeks between my first lesson and test pass, like I said I did 4 weeks of lessons up to my first test, failed that (still don't agree with the decision of the examiner 2 years later and my instructor thought it sounded like a dodgy decision as well, but oh well), then had to wait 2 weeks for a second test. Had another 2 hour lesson the day before that test, then failed that one too (no excuses, just screwed up and got a serious). Then 2 weeks later I had my third test, didn't have any lessons in that time as my instructor thought I was ready but just needed to not let nerves get in the way, so I jumped right in on test day and passed with 1 minor :smile:
£700 later... Passed eventually

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