How to pass a driving test without lessons

[Bilster]

My daughter is keen to pass her driving test. Her dad lives a 8 miles away, can’t drive for medical reasons and the bus there takes ages, so I drop her off and pick her up with her doing the driving and me sitting next to her. We’ve been doing this for a while and she’s a natural. She’s driving perfectly now.

She’s booked a test for 2 months time amd ever since she booked it I have been trying to get her driving lessons. There are just no instructors near us with any availability. I’ve been trying for a few months with no luck. What would it take for her to pass her test with no lessons? What is she likely to fail on? Any tips very welcome cause I’m feeling desperate and don’t want to have to ask her to put the test back.

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.

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.

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 😁

That’s a very good point @Chemenger

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….

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

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!

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

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

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.

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..

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.

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

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.

Following

Is it still called a 3 point turn though? Last I heard it’s just called a turn in the road and you can take as many turns as you need just don’t hit the kerb etc

Not for a competent driver. I didn’t have lessons and passed first time. I’d never driven the test route previously which was the only concern but other than that, if someone has been driving competently and legally there’s no reason to think it will be a disaster.

Correct, it changed in December 2017. Reverse left around a corner and turn in the road were dropped and forwards bay park and reverse right were added.

In Ireland we have to learn all four and you are usually asked two or three of them.

If she has a PC, tell her to get a driving wheel and download beamng and asseto corsa and play them, that's how I passed

I’m in the ‘no chance’ camp.

You say she’s driving perfectly. Who says? Is she doing msm every time? Is she looking in her mirrors every 8 seconds? Is she looking in her blind spots during manoeuvres at the correct time? Does she have her hands in the correct position when driving? Is she always using gears correctly, not coasting? Does she know ‘show me, tell me’? Does she use her handbrake appropriately when waiting in traffic? Does she change gear correctly when approaching junctions/crossings, in anticipation of a hazard? Has she practiced all manoeuvres? Can she do them with the required technical element? There’s so much more to driving to the standard to pass a test, than just driving on the roads every day.

Driving lessons teach you HOW to pass the tests, not just drive. All the checks, observations, safety etc it's endless and you have to very obvious and intentional when checking mirrors etc, almost exaggerated. I highly doubt it can be done without any lessons (sorry!) but best bet is YouTube alongside it the practicals with you

My DD has her test in a couple of weeks and we have been going out regularly. She is also having weekly lessons. The test routes are now via satnav, we've paid/downloaded the test routes for the test centre and been going through those. Will also need to know the basic maintenance under the bonnet.

There should be no warning lights on the car used for the test and it should be in good order, tyres etc. An interior mirror is also required for the examiner.

Check your insurance is valid too for the examiner. Good luck!

Sorry to pick on one person, but this beautifully highlights why asking randos on the internet about driving and driving tests is a really bad idea. Everyone thinks they know, but almost noone actually does...

• MSM every time - important but not as important as you might think
• Checking mirrors every 8 seconds - completely irrelevant - regular checks are good but not required to pass a test
• Blind spots in manos matter - but there aren't set times when you have to do them (other than before you start moving - and even then it isn't in itself a serious fault, but could lead to one)
• Hand position on the wheel doesn't matter - control of the car and its position does - how you achieve it is not relevant
• Coasting is rarely the problem you imply - it could lead to faults but in itself isn't a fault and most learners coast to some degree
• Handbrake doesn't matter in the way you think - you can pass a test and never use the handbrake between start and finish - indeed I have had a clean sheet where the examiner actually remarked on it
• Shouldn't be changing gears in anticipation of a hazard, you should be changing speed in anticipation of a hazard and changing gear when you need to supply drive again and know what gear is relevant for the speed you are doing

I’ve read the OP’s posts but not all the replies.

I passed my driving test three months ago. My advice would be t definitely try for at least a couple of lessons so she can a) get a clear idea about what they test on and b) so the instructor can point out her bad habits.

She’ll be asked to do 2-3 of:

• forward bay parking
• reverse bay parking
• parallel parking
• reversing two car lengths
• pulling up on the right side of the road
• emergency stop

Half the driving bit of the test will be the instructor saying “turn right”, “pull up on the left” and half is driving by sat nav.

If she books a test and fails, the wait to get another test could be 6-7 months. Hence why you should try and get lessons first.

When you contact instructors, are you messaging to say you’re only looking for a couple of lessons? They’re v likely to be able to her in for that rather than months and months. Make that clear and you should get callbacks.

If you really can’t get lessons, you need to do a LOT of research online about the current test format. Also google what constitutes major and minor faults, and “most common reasons to fail a driving test”