Practical Driving Test: The Facts

Before you take the practical driving test, indeed before you book it, you must have passed the theory and hazard perception tests.

Always seek the advice of your driving instructor before booking the test. They should give you an honest appraisal of your driving abilities, and the chances you have of passing.

The practical test will start at one of the many driving test centres dotted around the UK. When booking the test, you can choose which centre you want to use.

You MUST take to the driving test centre

Your valid provisional driving licence, including the paper counterpart if you have a photo-card licence.
Your theory test pass certificate.

If you are using your own car, you will need to fulfill further requirements. You can read all about these here.

If you can’t find any of the documents you need you must phone the DVSA as soon as possible. If you arrive without the required documentation your driving test will be cancelled and you won’t receive a refund.

Glasses – if you need to wear glasses to drive, don’t forget them, as you can’t legally drive without them.

Don't Be Late For Your Test

If you are late, as little as five minutes, the test examiner will cancel your test, and you will lose the test fee you have already paid. It will then be up to you to book another test and wait for another test date to become available.

The Start of the Test

At the start of the test, the examiner will come out and call your name. You will then be asked to read and sign the insurance and residency declarations while the examiner inspects your documentation. If all is in order, you will then be asked to walk to your car.

You can have your driving instructor accompany you on your practical test. This decision is entirely your own to make. The instructor is not permitted to help you or assist you in any way while the test is being conducted.

Eyesight Test

Before getting to your car, the examiner will ask you to stop and read a new-style number plate from 20 metres or an old-style number plate from 20.5 metres. If you fail to do this, the exam will go no further you will fail.

Show Me and Tell Me Questions

At the car, the examiner will ask you two questions from the show and tell question bank. To see all the show me, tell me questions and answers. Fail to answer either question correctly, and you will score one minor fault.

The Driving Part of the Practical Test

The examiner will now ask you to get into the car and prepare yourself for the driving part of the practical test. Get in and perform a brief cockpit drill. As you have used the car to drive to the test centre, the examiner won’t expect you to alter anything, but they will expect you to make a visual check to make sure everything is as it should be. Don’t forget to put your seatbelt on.

The examiner will then give you the following instructions:

‘During the test I would like you to follow the road ahead at all times, unless signs or markings indicate otherwise, or I ask you to make a turn, which I will do in good time. When you are ready, move off.’

You should now start the engine and move off. To be successful and to pass, you must drive safely and demonstrate through your driving that you have a sound knowledge of the Highway Code. Don’t worry if you make a mistake. Keep calm and continue driving. Unless you make a serious or dangerous fault or make a less serious mistake a number of times, you won’t fail the practical test. To learn how the driving test examiner expects you to drive on the test click here.

The duration of the test will be up to 40 minutes and will cover a variety of roads and traffic situations. You will have to deal with roundabouts, crossroads, pedestrian crossings, and where possible dual carriageways, and rural and residential roads. Test centre’s do have specific routes that they follow, but these routes are designed to include the widest range of driving possible in that area and to give a consistent standard of testing across the whole country.

You will have to perform one of the following driving manoeuvres and show that you can control the car safely and correctly: bay park, parallel park, turn in the road, reversing round a corner. You may also have to perform an emergency stop.

If you come to a junction or roundabout and the examiner gives you no instruction, you must follow the road ahead, for example, go straight ahead at a roundabout.

If the examiner gives you an instruction that you are unsure about, ask them to repeat it.

General Driving

Road traffic signs. Does the sign relate to a hazard ahead?
Pedestrians: walkers, people with walking sticks. Will the pedestrian suddenly enter the road and become an actual hazard? Are they looking into the road, as if getting ready to cross? Do they need to cross the road to get to a bus or to something else?
Children playing. Are they playing with something, a ball perhaps, that they may chase into the road?
Cyclists and motorbikes, especially young cyclists. Is there a right turn ahead? If so, will they pull out into the centre of the road in order to take it? Are there obstacles on the left side of the road, such as parked cars or drain covers, that may force the cyclist to swerve right into the road and become a hazard to following traffic?
Emergency vehicles. Is the vehicle moving towards you? Will you have to stop to let is pass? Will vehicles around you stop or slow down, thus causing you to take action?
Blind bends. Could a large vehicle be coming the other way?
Road lanes. Will a vehicle suddenly change lanes and cause you to take action? Can you see indicator lights flashing? Does another driver want to turn into your lane?
Brake lights on vehicles. Is traffic ahead responding to a hazard that you can’t yet see?

Residential Streets

Residential streets are full of potential hazards as they contain not just moving road traffic but pedestrians, cyclists, and parked vehicles restricting views and movement. Look out for:

Cars pulling out suddenly. Is there a pedestrian hurrying to get into a parked car? If so, once in the car, will they pull away into your path without looking properly?
Children playing near the road. Do parked cars conceal the children? If so, an actual hazard could quickly develop.
Vehicles pulling out of side roads, especially those vehicles with restricted views. If a car speeds towards a side road junction, is the driver more likely to emerge from the junction too quickly and so become a hazard?
Pedestrians crossing roads. A pedestrian running while looking to cross a road may take a risk and become a hazard. can you see a pedestrian edging towards the road as they walk? Will they start to cross without looking?
Cars stopping to park. Where there are few available parking spaces, drivers may brake sharply when they see a space.
Oncoming traffic not giving you priority. If an obstacle on the opposite side of the road restricts traffic flow on-coming traffic should give you priority and let you pass. But will they?

Roads Near Schools

There is always a good chance that the hazard test will include a hazard by a school, as the powers that be, quite rightly, like to highlight the safety of children on our roads. Look out for:

Children playing near the road, especially ball games.
Children running, as they may run suddenly into the road.
Children crossing the road without looking.
Crossing patrols and other forms of crossings. A ‘lollipop’ lady may step into the road without due warning.
Children cycling on pavements. May they swerve into the road?
Ice cream vans that children may walk out from behind.

Country Roads

If you are a learner driver who lives in a city or large town, it may be that you will never have a driving lesson on a rural road. This unfamiliarity with rural driving increases the likelihood that a rural hazard will appear in the hazard perception test, as the DVSA wants to prepare you for the day you do drive on a rural road. Look out for:

Single lane roads. What could be coming the other way?
Slow moving vehicles, such as tractors. Always treat them as a hazard.
Animals, especially horses and riders, cows and sheep. Are they in the road, and will they cause you to slow down or stop?
Blind bends. The blocked view ahead could hide all sorts of hazards.
Objects in the road especially manure, mud, hay and water, that may cause a vehicle to swerve.
People walking against the flow of traffic.

Motorway Hazards

Cars breaking down on the carriageway.
Exit roads. Cars may pull across lanes to reach an exit and so become a hazard.
Cars changing lanes to overtake slower moving traffic.
Cars joining the motorway. Will they pull in too early and become a hazard?
Emergency vehicles.
Stationary traffic.
Road works.

Preparing For The Test

To prepare and practice for the hazard perception test, try testing yourself. Take a journey by car and watch the road ahead. Numerous hazards will emerge. Some will develop, and others will not. Can you tell which?

For the potential hazards that develop into actual hazards, ask yourself what action you would need to take to deal with them safely. Of course, the driving lessons you take in a car will give you a good insight into how potential hazards develop into actual hazards.