Too confident about passing driving test?

[Slavetolove]

I have a test booked on the 8th. Done two mock exams, failed the first one because I forgot to do the 6 point check. Had my second one last week and got 1 minor and 1 major for rolling back a foot.

I feel like I have so much pressure on myself to pass, we’ve just bought a horse and I need to be able to get to her without relying on my husband lol.

I really want to pass. I think I can drive, and so does my instructor but I’m just worried something will happen.

I haven’t drove around the area before either! I’m going on Tuesday which I’m hoping will settle my nerves! We live about 40 mins away form the test centre.

i passed my theory 49/50.

im just worried as I have dyslexia so need time to process instructions, do I need to tell them this?

also, I like to talk lol either to myself and talk my self through situations or to my instructor sbout random stuff. I seem to drive better then. Can I talk on my test?

In the police advanced driving tests they do a “commentary drive” where they talk through every aspect of what they are seeing and doing. I would hope a normal driving test would therefore allow for such things as it shows situational awareness?

if you just however want to talk nonsense to relax yourself then you’re just distracting yourself and others, which isn’t the point

I’m more of a “what’s that car doing?” Type talker to myself. I know I won’t be able to talk about what they had for tea last night lol.

my instructor encourages it because I’m more relaxed and drive so much more better.

I was convinced I would pass first time but fucked my parallel park up(mounted the curb) because I rushed it.
Take your time you've got as much chance as any one else.

I'm a talker when driving too. I asked the man doing my test if we can chat away whilst doing it, in between his instructions, and he was totally fine with it. Think it really depends on who is doing the test.

Just get some saddle bags and tie up your horse outside Asda.

How did you manage to get another test so quickly! DD failed hers last week and the next test she could get is February …. about 250 miles away 🤷🏼‍♀️

good luck

Thanks all! I’m so bloody nervous

@BigSandyBalls2015 if you put the rebooking page on your homescreen set to the town you want and check every couple of minutes you'll get a cancellation.I had 3 tests in 6 weeks doing this and passed on the third.

It was a mock test with my examiner!

i recommend downloading driving test now and paying the £14 fee, I managed to change my test to a more local one and the date. Its fab!

@MintyGreenDreams do you mean the DVSA booking page?

I’ve got the Testi app and local cancellations pop up but literally disappear before I can click in

Ah this thread makes sense now

I was convinced I'd failed my test but I passed first time.

My instructors' advice was to take Kalms and paracetamol an hour beforehand, and to have a banana for breakfast, but no caffeine as it makes you jittery. He also said (if it applies) to tie long hair up in a ponytail so that when you do your checks and use your mirrors, it's obvious you're moving your head

I passed my test 2 weeks ago with the examiner who failed me on my first test! Luckily I remembered he was not a friendly chatty person so I barely spoke unless it involved something I was doing,such as checking I'd heard him correctly. Out of the 3 examiners I've had only one was chatty and friendly.
I would inform them that you're dyslexic,it can't do any harm. I may be remembering wrong - but I think there was a part on the form when booking your test that you could state things like this.
I booked my last test in February so it is a long wait but I managed to pull it forward a few weeks using the Testi app.

Good luck with your test!

Took me several goes to pass my test. On the day I passed, a different instructor from my usual one came to do the pre test drive with me. I think that helped a lot.

I talked my way through my test (and my lessons) commenting on what other cars were doing in an observational way. The examiner had no issues with it at all.

As an ADI, the thing I would advise you to be most alert to is that you won't really know the area. In principle that isn't a problem - you should learn to drive, not learn to drive a few select roads around the test centre. In reality though, especially for most inexperienced drivers, that little bit of local knowledge can be very useful especially when you are under pressure. That said, if you are only getting small numbers of driving faults on mock tests it is a good sign that you are handling driving largely automatically, which will help deal with the lack of experience on the test roads.

I would be too worried about the two mock test fails. From your description at least I wouldn't guarantee that either serious fault would actually have been marked that way in a real test.

The first one you describe would only actually be a serious fault if there was no observation at all (so if you just do some mirror work but forget the blind spot that would just be a driving fault) or if you actually caused a problem or the instructor/examiner had to intervene to prevent a collision.

The second one is difficult to know without being there - context is everything, but in general a rollback of about a foot/30cm or so would generally only be a driving fault as well, unless there was a car close behind at action was required by the ADI/examiner.

Most ADIs seem to be surprisingly poor with marking mock tests. Partly because some use it as a weapon to improve performance (not a great idea educationally in my book), or more commonly because they don't sit in on actual driving tests. I have probably been in 500+ tests over the years - I never ceased to be surprised by the nonsense other instructors tell me about test fails and yet they refuse to sit in on tests.

My son is learning to drive and found this chap's videos really helpful. He talks through camera footage of people's actual tests, why they make good decisions for lanes etc and does do the running commentary. Here is one of them. I think it helps raise awareness of potential issues.

@BBigSandyBalls2015 yes :)

Thanks all! I can’t think of anything else lol I’m so nervous and anxious. I really want to pass :(