The Practical Driving Test

This test will be conducted from your local driving test centre by a Driving Standards Agency examiner. The test will take approximately 40 minutes and consists of a number of elements. The examiner will assess your driving ability to ensure you can drive safely and deal with any arising hazards competently without endangering yourself or any other road users. The test routes are designed to test many of the skills you will have learned in your lessons and will incorporate a number of different road and traffic conditions.

There are three types of driving fault that you can make on your test:

Minor Fault
A minor driving fault is an error in control or procedure, such as missing a mirror check. You are allowed a maximum of 15 minor faults. Any more will result in failure.

Serious Fault
A serious fault is an error that could potentially cause danger to other road users. You will also incur a serious fault if you accumulate too many identical minor faults. You will fail the test if you commit a serious fault.

Dangerous Fault
A dangerous fault is an error that causes danger to other road users. A fault will be marked as dangerous if your actions cause another road user to unnecessarily change speed or direction. You will fail the test if you commit a dangerous fault.

You will be told the outcome of the test at the end, and the examiner will talk you through any weaknesses they identified. You will also be given a report sheet showing where you went wrong. Should you not be successful, you can apply for another test straight away, although you must wait 10 days before you can retake it.