Booked test but don't think I'm ready!

I'll just explain my situation.

I've been learning to drive since November, and have had about thirty lessons. I've been doing alright, and my instructor says I've been progressing well, but recently I've been messing up on manoeuvres and making silly mistakes, such as not looking in my mirrors.

Last Tuesday, I passed my theory test (at last :p:

!). On my lesson this Tuesday, my instructor told me to book my driving test. I told him that I wasn't feeling at all confident for it, and thought I'd really mess up, but he seemed to have a lot of faith in me - he tried to reassure me that I'd be fine and that most people improve a lot between booking their test and actually sitting it. He seemed confident that I'd be ready for my test in time. So today I got round to booking it and got a test for mid-October.

But I definitely don't think I'll be ready. All I have is time with my instructor - I can't do any home practice, as my mum can't afford to pay for insurance for me on her car. As well as that, the pedals are incredibly stiff. I'm really worried that I'm actually going to fail, and it's not worth me sitting it then as I definitely won't be ready. My mum also seems to be putting a lot of pressure on me - today, she made it clear that she expected me to pass it first time, as so did she and all of our cousins and my dad and her partner and her partner's children and their pet dog and whatever :rolleyes:

. So aside from not being ready and wasting her £50 (plus more) on the failing, I'm worried I'm gonna disappoint her.

Edit : I should also add that my instructor still hasn't covered all the maneuvres with me. I haven't done a wide corner reverse, but think I've done everything else.

What can I do? :s-smilie:

I want to sit it, but I think it'd be a futile attempt as I'm not ready.

Reply 1

dh00001

well if youre really lacking confidence then cancel it. normally i would say do it anyway for the experience. but with the amount of pressure your mums putting on you i wouldnt be so sure.
you should probably tell her shes being unfair and taking all your confidence off of you by her pressure.

Reply 2

kookabura

You can cancel your test quite late (I think its 5 working days before - but you prob want to check that). So you may as well keep it for now and see how you feel abit nearer the time. Mid-oct is still a fair way away. How many lessons/hours are you having a week? You could always see as well if you could fit in more lessons if you wanted for a bit. Maybe an extra lesson a week, or a two hour lesson rather than a one hour?

At the end of the day, it is you taking your test, so you need to feel ready for it. Not your instructor/friend/parent telling you that you should be taking it by now. I know that I got talked into taking my first test, and failed it spectacularly. That really knocked my confidence, and it took ages for me to pull it back together, and eventually pass a test.

You say you havn't done a wide corner reverse, but you think you have done everything else. Have you done...turn in the road, parallel park, bay park (depending on your test centre), emergency stop, and reverse round the corner? If you have already done some reverse round the corner it doesn't take that long to adapt that method to wide/tight corners. But again, it all depends how confident you feel with them.

Anyway, I'm rambling a bit here. Maybe you are best to do a mock test. If your instructor is part of a driving school they may be willing to get another instructor to take you for a mock test (which is often useful, to get someone elses opinon on your driving). Or if you can't do that, just get your instructor to do a mock test, it shoudl give you some idea as to how much work you have left to do before you are at test standard.

One last point, I understand you don't want to disappoint your mum, but plenty of people don't pass first time, so try not to worry about that too much. Besides, you could always start saying that the test is much harder to pass now than when she was learning (but that obv depends on when she passed!!) Maybe it would be worth not telling your mum when you have booked/taking your test. Although I told my parents when I had tests booked I didn't tell any of my friends, as they kept going on about how long it was taking me to pass my test. I didn't want the extra pressure of them asking me how it had gone.

I think thats probably enough of my waffle for now....might add extra if I think of anything!!

Reply 3

bubu

Your instructor is wrong, after i booked my test thats when my mistakes kept happening mirrors is major on the test the examiner knows when were and what mirror checks should be done.

i say cancel but it also depends on what your doing your test for? i did mine just for the experience and if i passed then it would have been great, my confidence was ok but i hated Parallel park and was my weakest thats what i failed on after i did that and knew i failed i then made more mistakes.

its up to your really you could use your test as a goal and experience maybe waste some money or hold out, dont let anyone pester you in doing it and dont let mums pressure get to you its hard without pressure

Reply 4

Abz90

It's up to you, really.

When I was told to book my test, I had not done a single maneuvre (sp?) but my instructor told me I would be ready by the time the test came around. Even the day before my test, I was making silly mistakes, but come test day, I passed (first time).

If you really do not feel ready, you should cancel it. But leave it for a while, you might fell different after a few more lessons.

Reply 5

Siz

I thought I was ready for my first test and wasn't. I failed it spectacularly, actually. But my second test I passed - and actually, I'm so glad I'd had that first test that I failed. I knew completely what to expect, I knew the area far better and was generally feeling far more confident. Just to say, really, that I'd go for it - it's REALLY not the end of the world if you fail (you're a pretty special case if you pass first time :P) and actually I found it so beneficial to have that 'test experience.' Made it far easier to pass the second time.
Just my $0.02.

Reply 6

__verticalskirt

I made stupid mistakes the lessons before my test. You know you can do it, and keep in a possitive frame of mind. Don't think about your test, possible reasons why they'd fail you and what you might do wrong. Take things slowly, don't rush, I cannot stress that enough. Good luck!

Reply 7

~Kirsty~

You still have time, if by october your not sure, cancel and rebook on a different date. Just have confidence - i improve vast amounts week by week! Sometimes having longer lessons each week or a couple of lessons a week may help.

Reply 8

anaerialview

When my instructor told me to book my test, I really didn't think I was ready, but I found that having a date and a target to work towards actually made me focus more and stop making the mistakes on mirrors etc. I passed. So if your instructor thinks that you're ready you probably are. Just talk to your instructor about the bits of your driving you're not confident about then you can practice them more. I'm sure you'll pass!

Reply 9

*River

I'd book it. There can be such a long waiting list for tests that you're better off holding onto the date and cancelling (I think you get a refund up to 5 working days before) if you really aren't ready, which any half-decent instructor will alert you to anyway.

Latest

Trending

Articles for you

Students who got A*s at A-level explain study, learning and revision tips that everyone can follow

Try out the app

Continue on web

Booked test but don't think I'm ready!

Related discussions

Articles for you