Past first time, but had stalled several times during the test. Reader, Im afraid i asked him 'are you sure' when he announced I had passed.
Well, I think i could be forgiven for wondering. I had had about 12 lessons, one a week, then went away abroad for a few weeks at Christmas and came home to find a test date. My driving instructor was on holiday too, but found me another instructor with the same kind of car. I was used to driving a white car, so took the examiner to the first white car i could see. He asked was this really the right car. Looking back, i expect he had noticed that the car had no l plates up. I was too busy trying (unsuccessfully) to break in using the key. Eventually we found the car i was supposed to be using. I stalled within a few minutes of pulling away, and assumed that that meant that i had failed, so relaxed into it.
Oh, and i had had my lessons earlier in the day. Throughout the test, i could see that it was getting darker outside (January) and knew i should turn on the lights but had no.idea where the switch was. I was also unsettled by the new driving instructor asking me a few questions from the highway code on our way to the test centre. I was doing an MSc. at the time, so gave a very balanced, on the one hand it could be, on the other hand it is... He just said they are looking for short answers. It was obvious he thought i was wasting everyone's time.
To this is day, i am convinced that he passed me, because he (the instructor) was coughing a lot. He actually apologised for coughing. I was never going to complain, since i had passed.
That is why i think i passed. 1983. Just sayin'