Practical Test
What, Where,
When, How?

The practical driving test is a test of your ability to drive a car
without assistance from your instructor or accompanying driver. It covers a
range of situations and road conditions and involves demonstrating your ability
to manoeuvre the car safely in both forward and reverse gears.

The test is conducted by the Driving Standards
Agency at over 370 test centres throughout the Country. In East Berkshire and
the surrounding areas, the local centres are in Slough, Hayes (Middlesex),
Reading, High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Tolworth, Weybridge, Greenford, Pinner,
Isleworth, Chertsey, Farnborough, Ashford and Southall.

Your instructor will let you
know when you should apply for your practical test. Remember that if you are
not getting things consistently right with your instructor, then you are not
ready to take your test.
The fee
for the test is currently £62.00 (£75.00 on Saturdays and weekday evenings) and
this can be booked either directly with the DSA or, if you prefer, through your
Clearway Driver Training Instructor.
Eyesight
Test
At the start of the test, you will be asked to read a numberplate
from 67ft (20.5m) or 66ft (20m) in the case of it being a new-style
plate.

Show Me-Tell
Me
You will then be asked a couple of general
vehicle maintenance check questions. These are very straightforward and your
instructor will make certain that you know these well in time for your test. In
addition, details of the Show Me-Tell Me questions and answers can be found on
the Useful
Information pages of this
website

The
Drive
From this point on, you will
be driving the car for around 35-40 minutes. The routes used are all designed
to be as uniform as possible and there are no "easy" or "hard" routes. All of
them take in a range of typical road and traffic
conditions.
The
examiner will assess your driving and test you on most of the topics you will
have covered with your instructor. You will be asked to carry out two
manoeuvres and, possibly, an emergency
stop.
You are allowed to commit up to 15 driving (minor) faults but no
serious or dangerous faults. However, do bear in mind that repeated instances
of the same driving fault would be classed as an habitual problem and be
declared a serious
fault.

Result
At the end of the test, the examiner will inform
you of the result. Less than half of the people who take driving tests pass
and, should you be unsuccessful, you will be given a verbal explanation of where
you went wrong. This will help you, in conjunction with your instructor, to
work on the aspects of your driving that let you down to give you a greater
chance of passing the next
time.

For more information, see the
Driving Standards
Agency
website. |