Tips for your Driving Test

Practical Driving Test Tips to Help you Pass First Time

• Driving test tips and advice
• Help for your driving test success

Tips on how to pass your practical test are probably one of the biggest driving searches on the internet. Everyone wants the answer, everyone wants there to be a magic wand out there that someone can wave, if only you could find their email address to ask.

Sadly, there isn’t a failsafe, foolproof answer. Like school exams, your instructors (and, of course, the team here at TDT) give you as much information, practice and advice as they can; but it’s up to you as to how you use it on the day.

• Your CONFIDENCE in driving the car. Are you comfortable being in control? Do you know what you want to do and how to make the car respond?
• Your RESPONSIBILITY towards other road users. Are you giving other vehicles warning of your intentions? Are you driving in a safe, sensible manner without causing problems for others?
• Your CONSIDERATION for other people on the road. Do you make allowances for other drivers? Do you take other drivers and their intentions into account when you drive?
• Your AWARENESS of what is going on around you. Are there any hazards or dangers that you can see? Can you react to them appropriately?
• Your MANOEUVRES. Can you perform the required manoeuvres without problems? Do you take other road users into account when performing manoeuvres?

REMEMBER: The examiner wants to see that you are in general control of the car. If you make one or two mistakes, but the examiner can see that it’s not a recurring problem for you, and that for the majority of the time you’re confident behind the wheel, they’re going to pass you.

Can I talk during my test?

One of the major misconceptions people have about their practical test is that it has to be done in absolute silence, and you’re not allowed to speak. This simply isn’t true. You shouldn’t engage in idle chit-chat with your examiner (they’ll assume your attention is not fully on the road) but you are allowed to ask for clarification if you don’t understand something.

A good example is if, for instance, your examiner asks you to take the next left turning. If you’re not great with ‘left’ and ‘right’ (as many of us are not) you can ask for clarification: “Do you mean up towards the chip shop?”, for instance. This is most useful when you know the area where your practical test is taking place, but can also come in useful when you’ve forgotten an instruction – you can simply ask the examiner to repeat what they said, or ask “Did you say to go right at the roundabout?”.

Can I take someone with me during my test?

One of the best tips for passing your test, though, is to take your instructor with you on your test. They’re not allowed to speak, help or interfere in any way with the test, but they’re useful for two reasons. One: they’re a familiar face, which can help you get over your nerves. Two: they can watch your driving in the same way as the examiner does, and analyse where you might be going wrong, and where you might need to make some improvements.

It’s also important to RELAX on your driving test. It may seem an impossibility, but as with many tests, it’s often nerves that get the best of people. The examiner doesn’t get into the car expecting to fail you; so you shouldn’t either.

If the worst comes to the worst, though, and you don’t pass first time, the most important thing you can do is to LISTEN to the examiner. He’ll go through your test with you at the end and explain what you did wrong. That way, you know what techniques or issues you need to work on with your instructor in preparation for your next test.