How to pass a driving test without lessons

I recently sat my test in the UK as my original licence is from abroad and I didnt convert it to UK in time.
I had been driving for nearly 20 years and i got 5 driving lessons before my test. I wanted to drive the ppssible routes with the instructor and go through every manouver/bits they lool out for etc. Having driven for so long, I had also picked up habits that I needed to avoid during the test.

How can you drive without being able to do a three point turn? Reversing round a corner I can see might not be needed.

Definitely MSM. I have seldom seen this executed by drivers who have had their licence for a while! I was driving to an event with a friend a while back and she did not do it once on a 2 hour drive. She would just indicate and move.

Hi,

do you mean her dad doesn’t drive due to medical conditions or yourself?

a driving instructor doesn’t teach them how to drive, they teach them to pass the test.

all of us with a licence can drive on the road but I bet if we retake the test most of us will fail..

I’m pretty sure they don’t they teach reversing round a corner anymore, or a 3-point turn - my DIL passed her test last September and wasn’t taught either of those manoeuvres.
My friend has just taken her test, without official lessons, and failed quite spectacularly. It seems the danger is learning bad habits from an experienced driver.

Ok that doesn’t mean he’s a good driver though does it 🤣

My oh did no lessons just practice in his own car.

Because we have no idea what bad habits OP has passed on to her Dd. We are supposed to get lessons for a reason. I’m in Ireland and you HAVE to have at least 12 lessons with a registered instructor to progress to your test! And tbh I’m so glad of that!

I had to learn reverse around a corner, reverse into a parking bay and turn in the road, passed 2016

I passed my test a decade ago and even then reversing around a corner wasn’t taught or tested. It’s emergency stop, driving forward into a space and pulling up on the oppositive side of the road and then re-joining traffic. I think….

That’s a very good point @Chemenger

Gping off course. It doesn't matter. You don't get faults for going the wrong way. You get faults for doing things that are illegal or unsafe. It is often safer to go the wrong way if you find yourself in the wrong lane rather than trying to fight across. Don't be a lane change hero...

Fully agree there.
For various reasons, dc1 test was a bit of shambles. Usually instructors take tge students on the roads used for the test. His didn’t.
He ended up in the wrong lane on a roundabout, had to exit (when he was supposed to continue to the next exit). He just corrected, went back to the roundabout and that was it.
He wasn’t marked down. Got his test. But it did stress him no end at the time 😁

Another issue may be that when she passes this will invalidate your insurance because her status will be changed from provisional to full driving license. You need to update the insurance. So someone else has to drive back from the test centre.

Do you know anyone else who is taking lessons/a recent test in the area?

There are often tricky bits like sections of street that become one way, give ways with varying priorities etc. The places an instructor would take her to make sure she knows them and won't slip up.

Trying to gain some insights into these from others could be handy.

I had to take my test in a different area to where I'd been learning (house move) and failed a test because of an odd give way on a new build estate. I thought it was okay to allow the car to pass while pulling into the cul-de sac (where there was loads of room and I was worried about being hesitant) but apparently it applied to the massive section either side.

In all the years I've been driving never seen a similar set up.

i passed 18 years ago and alot has changed for instance i didnt have to use a satnav check tghe car or bay parking

my di said parents have very bad habits they pass on to their kids and he always has to correct them-just because she can drive doesnt mean shes test ready

You can use reversing cameras and sensors. You can use any driver assistance system, but not driver replacement systems. You do still need to maintain good all around awareness though, so don't just stare at the screen.

My son is having lessons, but he has a friend who just passed his test without proper lessons. I’m sure there will be tutorials on you tube.

My worry if she has been taught solely by you is that if you have any bad habits at all, even little ones, then she has learned to drive the same way and that would be enough for a fail. Your driving test is learning to drive to pass the test, your actual driving after that is where you really learn to drive. She’s sort of done it backwards in that she might not have or know the little things for passing.

A large chunk of the test now is sat nav following, it’s not following verbal instructions now.

My dd has her test next week after learning for just over 6 months.

Apparently the test route can be on a sat nav, so the route is mapped out on the sat nav for them to follow? Not sure if the instructor also gives instructions. Apparently the route can depend on the time of the test, so if it’s rush hour it’s likely not to be in the town/city centre.

There are instructions on what to expect online, including what manoeuvres they maybe asked to do. My dd is most worried about reverse parking. Apparently ‘3 point turn’ is no longer a manoeuvre 🤔 and neither is ‘revering around a corner’. Most learner cars are now fitted with built in sat nav, reversing cameras and sensors, though I don’t think they are allowed to use the revere camera, they still have to check mirrors.

I would let her go and take the test. If she fails she will know what she needs to improve on. She has obviously already done the theory test so knows the Highway Code, stopping distances etc..

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/driving-test-marking-sheet

This is interesting ...
You can use the driving test marking sheet (DL25) if you're a driving instructor carrying out a mock driving test.

it's got a lot of info on what's needed.

Where to start - there is so much misinformation in this thread...

OP, by the sounds of it providing you make sure you have done a bit of everything in the test it should be easy enough. Your daughter sounds like she is easily ready for a test, it is just polishing the details.

So basically the test will contain:

• 3 stops (slightly different types, but pulling up at the side of the road
• A manoeuvre: Parallel park, reverse bay park, forward bay park or reverse right
• Independent driving: Either following a satnav or road signs. Will be at least 20 mins, but could be more
• Possibly an emergency stop (roughly 1 in 7 tests)
• A show me and a tell me question

The test will include some dual carriageway driving if DCs are available in your area. It will have a real mix of left/right/ahead at junctions and roundabouts etc.

All the scare stories about holding the wheel in a particular way, steering in a particular way, making sure your mirror checks are excessive to visible are complete myths (for reference we can see even the tiniest bit of eye movement towards a mirror and examiner training goes beyond just looking for eye movement, but also judging how drivers respond to their environment).

Manoeuvres don't have to be done in a set number of goes. If you need to correct, what you do need to do is show that your corrections are improving your position and are done with appropriate all around observation.

MSM is important, but even that isn't as strict as previous posters are making out. If it's sometimes SMM instead, no problem. If sometimes the mirrors and signals are a little late but done before the junction, no problem.

In terms of the car you take, I had to laugh at the PP who thought the examiners would refuse a car on the basis of rain on the seat. It needs to have an MOT (it is checked on their ipads), legal tyres, inflated tyres, no engine management lights, plenty of fuel (you don't want a fuel warning light to come on in the test...). You need l plates and an internal mirror (although test centres have spares - but set the right tone and have the equipment for them).

A couple of things to watch out for that can easily trip people up:

• STOP junctions. You must stop. Completely. Stationery. No movement whatsoever. I emphasise this, and it may sound ridiculous, because for many people 'stopping' means get really slow and check it's safe. Not enough. You must stop or you get a serious fault and fail.
• Going off course. It doesn't matter. You don't get faults for going the wrong way. You get faults for doing things that are illegal or unsafe. It is often safer to go the wrong way if you find yourself in the wrong lane rather than trying to fight across. Don't be a lane change hero...
• Really brake on the emergency stop. Hard. As hard as you can. Once you have practiced doing it as hard as you can, do it again and press harder - I guarantee you didn't do it hard enough the first time. And check all around (including blind spots) before you move off.

My qualification for this advice - 15 years as an ADI - many people pass with no lessons. Do your research and ignore almost everything anyone unqualified (and judging by youtube videos, quite a few ADIs) tell you will definitely cause a fail...

EDIT: and just to prove my point the post above mentions instant fail for not checking over your shoulder when moving away. Nonsense. Only if there is something you need to be aware of, or if you have done it multiple times.

I don’t know whether it’s still a thing, but having passed my test abroad, I had to take a U.K. test after a year. I paid for a few lessons with an ex police instructor since the country where I’d passed my test before was lax to say the least!

One day he made me do a hill start over and over again - they were all perfect hill starts so I couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong.

Eventually he said, ‘You didn’t look over your shoulder. That would be an instant fail.’

I passed, but this was all ages ago, so I don’t know whether it’s still essential.

What about an intensive course somewhere?

Have a bit of a holiday...

In another point , if you can’t drive due to medial reasons are you actually insured to be able to supervise her driving currently ? You are supposed to be able to take over if necessary.

I did most of my practice in my own car. I watched a lot of YouTube and TikTok driving instructor accounts and purchased an app that was full of mock test routes for my test centre- I would practice multiple routes each week, although this was mainly because I wasn’t initially familiar with the area at all.

I did have additional lessons with an instructor though, and they were definitely invaluable, where have you been looking?