Page 4 | DS theory test in a week, has done no revision

DuchessDeuce · 2026-03-23T19:47:04+00:00

DS has his theory a week today. Was bought all of the books, flashcards etc as well as the official app, and I've asked him repeatedly if he's confident, feels ready, would like me to test him. "No, im fine. Feel OK about it" etc. Asked tonight if he's done ok on the hazard perception parts, and its basically come to light that he's done fuck all. Im fuming. We're £1000 into practical lessons and he's got a little car waiting for him, being gifted by his grandparents. Seems to be enjoying the lessons, so i dont get it. So annoyed by the apathy! What are the chances of him passing? They're not gonna be good are they?

firstofallimadelight · 24/03/2026 06:47

It’s lovely that you have made life easier for him by funding all of this but unfortunately it seems to have taken away his incentive.
I wasn’t in a position to help DDs but eldest worked and paid for her lessons at 17 passed first time. Went to uni so didn’t bother with a car until she finished uni but saved and bought her own.
Middle dd didn’t want to learn to drive, said she didn’t need a car. So left her too it but she had to get and pay for public transport everywhere. The job she got was a 15 minute drive/60 min bus and walk. She suddenly decided she did want to learn to drive !

ACIGC · 24/03/2026 06:49

Has the theory test changed a lot since the early 2000s? None of my friends or I “studied” for it. Most of it was basic common sense/common knowledge.

arethereanyleftatall · 24/03/2026 06:50

He won’t necessarily fail. Dd passed and only revised on some app she found on the drive to the test. Half hour.
all you need to say to him now is be absolutely clear you’re not paying for a resit. That’s up to him. Then you don’t have to say another word.

OhWise1 · 24/03/2026 06:50

It's supereasy!
I don't think much 'revision' is necessary for most people! I've 4 kids who have done it in the last 10 years and its mostly common sense.

maysayyea · 24/03/2026 06:52

download The app tomorrow and tell him to try and mock test. It may prompt him into action

plusminusequals · 24/03/2026 06:54

Your ds sounds irresponsible. If he want to drive on our roads he needs to want to know how to do it responsibly, Gifting him a car is probably not helping his motivation, on the contrary. Let him fail, and learn.

metalstrawsarecoldbutnotsoggy · 24/03/2026 08:00

My son just used the app the night before to revise and passed. I bought the Highway Code and a theory test book and he never even looked at them!

MadisonAvenue · 24/03/2026 08:02

Giraffemug30 · 23/03/2026 23:14

The point is whilst you need to be aware of hazards you can't be braking for every pedestrian that approaches, or every car at a junction. You press when the potential hazard starts developing into an actual hazard I.e when youd react in real life

It's a hazard perception so there's a high probabilty potential hazards will actually become hazardous, so it skews towards positive, but pressing really early in really life just makes you an over cautious driver. Anticipate hazards yes, but you only need to react at the point of a "developing hazard"

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I understand what the point is and I certainly don’t slow down for every pedestrian and every car at a junction but on the hazard perception section there’s a split second between clicking in the correct place and clicking too early, being marked down and potentially failing. It’s easy to spot what will be the developing hazard on the test but timing is what matters.

WhatNextImScared · 24/03/2026 08:04

newornotnew · 23/03/2026 20:11

If he fails it's a life lesson for him.

If he passes it's a life lesson for you.

Either way, it's a minor matter as he can pay for a retake.

I love this perspective

WhatWouldDianeLockhartDo · 24/03/2026 08:15

To be fair, after 1k of lessons, this is stuff he should already know anyway. Perhaps that’s why he’s relaxed.

the hazard perception is marmite. Some think it’s like a game, for me it’s a ballache. It was clear where the hazards were going to appear but if you click too early then you get zero.

interested to hear how he does and I’ll have my fingers crossed until the update.

begonefoulclutter · 25/03/2026 17:57

Giraffemug30 · 23/03/2026 23:14

The point is whilst you need to be aware of hazards you can't be braking for every pedestrian that approaches, or every car at a junction. You press when the potential hazard starts developing into an actual hazard I.e when youd react in real life

It's a hazard perception so there's a high probabilty potential hazards will actually become hazardous, so it skews towards positive, but pressing really early in really life just makes you an over cautious driver. Anticipate hazards yes, but you only need to react at the point of a "developing hazard"

Show quote history

Wrong. Nobody is suggesting you brake every time you see a pedestrian or every car.

The awareness of something which may become a potential hazard is the key thing here. If you are aware of it, then you can anticipate in advance that you may have to slow down or move out of the way and be ready to do so.

What horrifies me is that they aren't teaching people like that. They are only expecting you to react when it happens, not to spot it well ahead.

If you see a person with two small children walking along the footpath a hundred yards ahead, you can be ready to brake if one of those tots makes a run for it across the carriageway. You don't blithely drive along ignoring them until they become an actual hazard so you have to make a sudden emergency stop. You can ease off your speed a fraction and be ready to brake ready just in case you have to do that.

If you see a vehicle in a side road waiting to pull out, you can keep an eye on their hub caps and immediately spot if they start to turn. You wil also have had time to check the presence or absence of other traffic in front of you, behind you or coming the other way, and predict whether this vehicle is likely to make a sudden dash for it or wait for a gap (if there's a tractor coming, you can be sure they'll try to pull out in front of it rather than wait till it has gone past, for instance).

It's all about reading the road, and everything around you, and anticipating what other road users might do, so you are prepared for it.

My phenomenal driving instructor (whose previous career involved driving a vehicle with blue flashing lights on it at high speed) said that you have to assume that every other driver is an idiot and will do something stupid. Nothing I have seen since I passed my test in the early 1980's has caused me to dispute that.😂

CDTC · 25/03/2026 18:03

I didn't do anything until about 2 days before and I passed. Not everyone needs to revise weeks in advance.

OhBettyCalmDown · 25/03/2026 18:12

I don’t think everyone needs weeks and weeks to revise for this test. A few days is usually enough for most people. The hazard perception test isn’t one you definitely need to prepare for it’s common sense and uses the observational skills he’ll be picking up in his practical lessons.

If he fails, let him know you’re not paying for another or withhold paying for practical lessons until he passes. Whatever consequence suits you really but I wouldn’t just assume he’s going to fail.

Original poster

DuchessDeuce · 31/03/2026 18:22

Just for clarity, being £1000 in isn't a lot of lessons these days. We've paid upfront for 2 blocks of 10 hours. That's the best part of a grand. He's only been learning 3 months. Scandalous!

Also, yes he's being gifted a car by his grandparents who no longer need two, but he was told about it a bit against my wishes. I didn't want him to know until he'd passed his test but excited/kind GP's spilt the beans early! And that was that.

Anyway, annoyingly, he passed his theory with flying colours! I'm proud and slightly annoyed as a little life lesson wouldn't have gone amiss! 🤣

Still got the practical, so we'll see how apathetic he is when that rolls around!

OP posts:

Mintchocs · 31/03/2026 18:24

I admit cramming for about 5 hours the day before mine and I passed. So there is hope. But he needs to cram if he uses my strategy!

Edited to add...bravo! Well done to your son.

BasilParsley · 31/03/2026 19:12

Anyway, annoyingly, he passed his theory with flying colours! I'm proud and slightly annoyed as a little life lesson wouldn't have gone amiss! 🤣

I'm sorry why are you slightly annoyed he passed his test regardless of not apparently learning the lessons you thought he should? He clearly absorbed the learning, remembered and used it to pass probably without your help...

Original poster

DuchessDeuce · 31/03/2026 19:25

Because he was a bit lazy and ungrateful until the last couple of days and it's OK for me to feel that way! 🙄

OP posts:

WhatWouldDianeLockhartDo · 31/03/2026 20:12

Haha! Congratulations to him but it is annoying when you can’t say you told him so 🤣

BasilParsley · 31/03/2026 20:22

DuchessDeuce · 31/03/2026 19:25

Because he was a bit lazy and ungrateful until the last couple of days and it's OK for me to feel that way! 🙄

You lack faith in your boy. I think you need to reflect on that...

mumof5five · 31/03/2026 22:21

My son revised twice. And on the day of the test he spent about 6 hours revising and he passed. So yes, he can pass. Just tell him to spend all his time between now and then revising.

embolass · 31/03/2026 22:30

I’m glad he’s passed, thanks for update, I was wondering how it had panned out

OhBettyCalmDown · 01/04/2026 09:52

Really pleased he passed and wishing him the best of luck for the practical. I think perhaps the life lesson is that there isn’t just one defined route to success

wherethewaterisdarker · 01/04/2026 10:07

I did my theory test recently and a week is absolutely enough time to learn everything using a good app (just keep going til he has done 100% of the questions and all the hazard perception practice vids). An hour a day and he would have a very high chance of passing.

Giraffemug30 · 02/04/2026 12:29

begonefoulclutter · 25/03/2026 17:57

Wrong. Nobody is suggesting you brake every time you see a pedestrian or every car.

The awareness of something which may become a potential hazard is the key thing here. If you are aware of it, then you can anticipate in advance that you may have to slow down or move out of the way and be ready to do so.

What horrifies me is that they aren't teaching people like that. They are only expecting you to react when it happens, not to spot it well ahead.

If you see a person with two small children walking along the footpath a hundred yards ahead, you can be ready to brake if one of those tots makes a run for it across the carriageway. You don't blithely drive along ignoring them until they become an actual hazard so you have to make a sudden emergency stop. You can ease off your speed a fraction and be ready to brake ready just in case you have to do that.

If you see a vehicle in a side road waiting to pull out, you can keep an eye on their hub caps and immediately spot if they start to turn. You wil also have had time to check the presence or absence of other traffic in front of you, behind you or coming the other way, and predict whether this vehicle is likely to make a sudden dash for it or wait for a gap (if there's a tractor coming, you can be sure they'll try to pull out in front of it rather than wait till it has gone past, for instance).

It's all about reading the road, and everything around you, and anticipating what other road users might do, so you are prepared for it.

My phenomenal driving instructor (whose previous career involved driving a vehicle with blue flashing lights on it at high speed) said that you have to assume that every other driver is an idiot and will do something stupid. Nothing I have seen since I passed my test in the early 1980's has caused me to dispute that.😂

Show quote history

But the point of the test is you press when the hazard starts developing. If you were pressing early you were in fact the one who was wrong, that doesn't make you a better driver because you were doing the test wrong. Everyone doing the test right is also aware of the potential hazards, they just know when to press

I know how to drive.

They are absolutely teaching to be aware, but yes you can keep an eye on the car or the children but you don't need to react until they start to become a hazard, otherwise yes your just irritating every driver around

Giraffemug30 · 02/04/2026 12:31

DuchessDeuce · 31/03/2026 18:22

Just for clarity, being £1000 in isn't a lot of lessons these days. We've paid upfront for 2 blocks of 10 hours. That's the best part of a grand. He's only been learning 3 months. Scandalous!

Also, yes he's being gifted a car by his grandparents who no longer need two, but he was told about it a bit against my wishes. I didn't want him to know until he'd passed his test but excited/kind GP's spilt the beans early! And that was that.

Anyway, annoyingly, he passed his theory with flying colours! I'm proud and slightly annoyed as a little life lesson wouldn't have gone amiss! 🤣

Still got the practical, so we'll see how apathetic he is when that rolls around!

Edited

Perhaps this is a lesson to you in trusting your son?

Plenty of people have said a week is enough time, and turns out it was. He's been learning to drive so presumably has a reasonable idea of his ability (more than you obviously). Did he need a lesson in being less apathetic, or did he actually just know his current ability