To think that passing your driving test depends a lot on the examiner?

[snaroo]

Some want to pass you and some want to fail you.

Nonsense. You are either up to the standard to pass or not. It took me some time to pass my test and I became incredibly nervous but it was the right decision when I failed and the right decision when I passed. Quite frankly, when we witness the amount of dangerous idiots that are already on the road, why would we want to add to that number?

With respect, this is nonsense.

Do you really think they don't track the results to ensure consistency overall?

It would highlight very quickly if certain examiners has an unusually high pass or failure rate!

I've wondered this. I failed first time with just too many of the same minor fault and passed soon after, with a record of just under the limit of the same fault.

Obviously I was still doing it repeatedly within a forty minute period, and needed to get better at it. But did one person think it negligible and another serious? It's subjective enough to err on the side of caution or give the benefit of the doubt.

I agree with this. I had a very strict first examiner, who registered 15+ minor faults (same thing). 2 years later I took 10 more hours with a lady instructor who gave me some good tips and this time I also had a lady examiner. I was shocked when she told me I had passed with very few minor faults. The lady instructor told me one precious clue - when you look in the mirror, not only look, but tilt your head properly from side to side. That's what the 15+ minor faults were for the first time - apparently not looking in the mirrors. I did look, but the guy didn't see it. I was also told by the lady instructor that he was incredibly strict with everybody.

I agree. My husband should NOT have passed his exam. He pulled out in front of traffic at a roundabout and a taxi had to slam their breaks. Him and the examiner discussed football the whole time. Support the same team. The team who happened to kick off that day at 12 and my husbands exam was 10.30. He passed.

My mum failed her test....she couldn't reach the gear stick due to the examiners size. So yes it is possible they might want to fail you....

I got my license back in the mid 90s. I had no formal lessons before, only a bit of practice with my mum. I only drove around the car park and an estate behind where the centre was. Not even on a proper road. I was asked to parallel park and I couldn’t do it. I passed. 😂 I am actually a very good driver. I’ve never had an accident in 30 years of driving. But I probably shouldn’t have passed back then. It felt a bit like the examiner was bored and just wanted to get the whole thing done with.

i failed first time - one fault I got was passing too close to parked cars. The examiner told me to turn down a street that is not only narrow, but always has a ridiculous number of (often badly) parked cars along it. It’s well known locally for this. In order to get down the street you literally have no choice but to pass fairly close to the parked cars. I felt that one was a bit harsh.

Definitely! First time I took my test at 19, the examiner was so stern and cold, I had to pull away from the test centre and there was constant traffic. He was huffing and sighing and made me so nervous I forgot to take the handbrake off! Needless to say, I failed 😂 second test, the examiner was lovely, chatted away to me and I actually enjoyed the drive and I passed! I don't know why some examiners are such miserable arseholes 🤣

I think it's more about how strict and also how abrupt. Cold, serious etc they are. It can make the person make nervous mistakes if the instructor either seems nervous themselves or is very impatient, or grumpy and sour seeming.

I don’t think it’s about wanting you to pass or fail. But there is obviously an amount of subjectivity in terms of what constitutes “hesitation” for example.
I got marked down for hesitation during a manoeuvre - he said I was checking my mirrors/blind spots too much. I’m not saying he was right or wrong, but I’d imagine examiners differ on how much is too much to check before moving.

I have a friend who recently took her test she had the car professionally cleaned as was her own car. The examiner refused to do the test due to dog hair on the seat. They’ve never had a dog or had a dog in the car. My driving instructor has said in a round about way that there are definitely examiners with lower pass rates that others

I think it's certainly a factor. I sat my test a few weeks back, my examiner was initially fine but he got impatient when I didn't change lanes quickly enough (I was checking my blind spot) and he shouted at me, which I found quite upsetting and I felt like it affected the rest of my test. I got a serious fault for this ('progress'). I'm not upset about failing the test but thought my examiner was harsh and perhaps another examiner wouldn't have considered this a serious fault. Also I'm a grown woman, there was no need to shout at me.

On the Google reviews for my driving test centre, one specific examiner was repeatedly mentioned as being excellent, helpful, putting people at ease etc. I feel like I may have passed with him. But I'm not sure.

I failed my first test, cant remember why but on my second test I got the most lovely examiner. He was a biker and usually did the bike tests he said. I started panicking I'd fucked up about halfway through and he told me I was fine so far and not to stress out. I passed.

I think it might depend more on the location. Some places have much higher or lower pass rates than others. I guess that could be partly related to the examiners, but it must also be down to the town's layout and traffic systems. Booking a test is really hard at the moment. Ds swapped his from a town with one of the lowest pass rates in the country to one with one of the highest. He passed first time last week.

Not these days wheres its tickbox. Maybe in the 90s

Yeah think my local test centre is the most difficult( or one of them ) to pass in England

Although seems to be a bit easier now. Was 30% pass rate when DDs learnef

My eldest has just passed their test ( 2nd attempt) both with the same examiner.

I'm not so sure nowadays but when I did my driving test as a teenager in the early 90s, yes I absolutely do believe so.
On my first test, I failed despite driving really well and I'd noticed my examiner get sneery with me as soon as he asked if I was related to a certain person (I have an unusual maiden name and the person he asked about was my uncle and I'd told him so) - after I failed the test, I discovered that the examiner is a neighbour of my uncle and they had a very long-running feud - I never even used to see this uncle often, so it felt doubly unfair.

Waited a bit and took my second test - drove really well and even now I think I should have passed and so did my instructor - but I failed and the examiner actually smirked when he failed me.

Instructor put me straight back in for my test which I had soon after and that day I feel that I drove really badly - I even drove through an unmarked crossroads at 30mph and halfway across, I realised and I said to the examiner "I'm sorry, I've just driven through that unmarked crossroads at 30! I've failed now haven't I?" but he made me continue with the full test - at that point I'd decided I wasn't doing it again and it must have helped because I calmed right down - at one of the point where he wanted me to take a turn to do a Turn In The Road, I refused because we were literally on the corner and I felt it was too late to indicate safely and I told him why and offered to go to the next corner ........ to my amazement, he passed me with only a minor on the unmarked crossroads and admitted that if I hadn't have acknowledged it or driven as well as I had afterwards, he would have failed me and he said he'd been surprised at but respected my response regarding turning into the side road.