Can’t get past Hazard Perception test

[BethanyGilbert]

Hi all.
I am hoping for some advice. I have my driving theory test coming up. This will be my fourth attempt and I have failed the previous 3 all by 1 point in the hazard perception. I’ve always passed the first part of the test but can’t get past the hazard perception and only by one point. It’s driving me mad. Any advice would be greatly appreciated TIA

Have you got a decent practice version of it?

Change test centres

Have you done any online practice?

Yes lots of online practise on my iPad.

Do you do a fair few clicks as soon the hazard comes into view?

Are you clicking enough?
Once when you first see the hazard, once as it develops, and once more to be on the safe side.

Are you losing points by missing things completely or by not getting them early enough?

Generally rule of thumb would be to aim to click every 3 seconds.

If you click too much that's also a fail. Do you have a PC? I used a practice disk with a mouse. It replicates the real test.

Are you passing the practice tests? Is it a question of technique or nerves?

Op, my DD passed on her 5th attempt last year, always one or two points off on HP.

Before the test that she eventually passed, we took advise from her instructors wife, who had also been an instructor and was tutoring her DS through the theory test needed for him to train as an instructor.

She said that there needs to be multiple clicks, minimum 5 or 6, but without a pattern. We had always believed that too many clicks would be penalised, but she said it was the pattern, and by limiting number of clicks to 2 or 3, as my DD was doing, risked her missing a hazard by finishing clicks too early or starting too late.

Whether that was the right advise, I have no idea, but she passed it days later. Then went and sailed through the practical!! The delay in getting her theory meant she got lots of driving practice and she is actually a very good driver now.

(I think the thought of taking the theory again, if she was ever banned, also contributes to her being a v careful driver 😂😂😂)

Thank you for the great advice x

You're supposed to click when you see something that might become a hazard, even if it turns out not to be. For instance, suppose a video shows some children carrying a ball; then a child drops the ball, and runs into the road to retrieve it. To get the maximum score, your first click should be when you first see the children carrying the ball. Clicking again later is fine, but if you only click when they drop the ball, you don't get as many points.

If it's any comfort: when this test was first introduced, they made all instructors take it, even those who had been doing the job for years. Some of the veteran instructors failed multiple times, because they thought this test was nothing like reality!

I nearly failed mine because I used to ride motorbikes. This meant my hazard perception was so far ahead, the program interpreted it as not seeing the hazard because I'd seen it all the way on the horizon, instead of waiting until it was pretty much centre screen - which would have been too late for anybody, had it been real. And I'd spotted other things that were potential hazards that they hadn't even included, as it was presumably created by a non-biker. Fortunately, the centre had a power glitch, so had to restart everybody's tests and I patiently waited until each hazard was glaringly obvious.

I struggled with it at first because I thought you had to click where you saw the hazard. So I was losing valuable nanoseconds navigating the cursor to the right bit of the screen.

You don't need to do that, just click. You may already know that but I thought it was worth saying in case not!

This was the bit I failed on too. I understood what a hazard was and I could spot them but i was clicking too early and not enough times. It's not clear what they want from you. I did pass - after practising online