Applying for Uni 2019 Part 7: IB and A Levels are but a memory, we're relaxing and let's not even think about the 15 August yet!

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Carrying on from the previous thread which filled up very quickly.

, and for everyone

I honestly think the theory test is just a money-making govt swindle!

Tend to agree!

Pearson are making a bundle! I worked out that out of the 50 questions there are around 7 that are totally left field, random, designed to catch out the people who have got a couple of the normal questions wrong and thus fail.

Flyingarcher - thanks, that explains my DD's first fail (by one mark!)

Does anyone pass the theory test first time these days (it sounds as if the answer is no!)?

If you haven’t passed the theory, can you still book your practicals?

No, you can't shimy. You have to pass the theory first.

I have just seen DS's scores. He only got 1 right on the motor vehicle maintenance section. It is these bits that really require adult experience of driving that bugger a lot of young people. But he also only got 1 traffic sign correct!

Article on the BBC today saying that driving practical tests are at their lowest pass rate ever.

Not ever, but for years:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49046226

Ds hasn't attempted theory or practical yet, but many of his friends/our friends' kids have taken 5-7 attempts at the practical test!!

Dh has obviously had his driving licence decades before the theory was a thing, but he had to take it a few years ago to get a motorbike licence. He passed first time with 100% and he is not academic at all, with a rubbish memory and also not actually a very good driver. He said it was just common sense if you're already a driver/an adult...

5 - 7 attempts at how many £ per test??? Yikes, that's a lot of money before even setting foot in a car for lessons.

5-7 attempts at the practical... What's that? £100 a go? Not been as much chat about the theory but they all must have passed it eventually!

Thanks Piggy. I bought DS the theory test book for his theory exam. Is this what everyone else used because I’m noting quite a few mentions of an online test? Is this a test you do to practise after reading the book ? I’m referring to “The official DVSA Theory test for Car drivers” book.

Apparently the theory test costs £23 a pop.

My Dd and her boyfriend passed theory and practical first time. Both 18, both not driven a huge amount since their tests. I have just had a FaceTime of them whizzing along the roads (opposite side as different country) in some sort of golf cart laughing their heads off in the sunshine in glee, pointing out landmarks whilst Dh and me are shouting ‘keep your eyes on the road!!!’. They took their licences abroad as Dd had researched and wanted to do this. I had forgotten all about it. Is it bad of me to wish they hadn’t passed yet!?! There are advantages to Dc failing!!

My two older DC's took 2 goes to pass the theory (both passed the practical with one minor). DS2 passed the theory & practical first time, but he says about 50% of his friends didn't. I agree that the theory is a money making exercise. It's not so much that the practical test is easier, it's just that it's about the actual skill of driving! If they've had enough practice & nerves don't get the better of them they should pass, whereas the theory can be knocked out by a couple of left field questions, or the computer thinking you reacted more quickly than is possible.

For the theory Dd used an app and just kept going through the questions over and over again. It was a distraction from A Level revision! There are some completely bizarre ones that Dh and I weren’t sure on - especially car maintenance ones and trailer regulations.

Zanda pls what is the app your DD used?

Shimy just been told the app they used was ‘Driving Theory Test 4 in 1 Kit by Focus Multimedia’. It’s £4.99

Asking about the App gave me an excuse to check they’re still in one piece!

Thank you.

DS has just recently passed his theory test. I bought him all the official books off amazon (which I’m not sure he ever even opened) and he bought the app that Zanda mentioned. And did the practice test on the gov website too. He claims it was mostly common sense and reckons he picked a lot of it up watching Police Interceptors and Road Wars - says it was good for hazard perception and road markings/signs.

Mind you he also reckons he picked up most of his general knowledge by watching The Simpsons so I’d take it with a pinch of salt.

Could be worth a try though if you have a similar model of DS to mine.

He's never failed the Hazard perception to be fair to him...just everything else!

Prolific yes I too bought all the books off Amazon and they are unopened too. They just used the App.

Unfortunately it seems the app can only run on a Kindle and DS doesn’t have one.bummer!

Hmm it was on an iPad and an iPhone. Will investigate....