DVSA guide to the Driving Test

It will take about 40 minutes

  • the ‘independent driving’ part of the test is 20 minutes.
  • learners are asked to follow directions from Sat Nav or follow  a series of traffic signs, during the independent drive.
  • you may be asked to either drive forwards into a parking bay and reverse out OR reverse into a parking bay and drive out.
  • you may be asked to do the parallel parking manoeuvre on the road.
  • you will be asked vehicle safety questions (show me, tell me) - one at the beginning of the test (before going out on the road) and another during the test - eg how would you wash the windscreen.

ARE YOU READY TO TAKE THE TEST?

How to pass your driving test by learning vital skills, managing nerves and taking mock tests.

Passing your driving test gives you independence and freedom. But many learner drivers take their test before they’re ready. It leads to a failed test, disappointment, extra costs and delays in getting on the road.

Get ready to pass with our advice and tips.

DVSA wants to make sure that training and the driving test reduce the number of young people being killed in collisions.

Skills you need to pass the Driving Test

When you learn to drive, you'll be learning and practicing 27 important driving skills, that you'll need for a lifetime of safe driving.

BASICS (skills 1-4)

CONTROL AND POSITIONING (skills 5-7)

OBSERVATION, SIGNALLING AND PLANNING (skills 8-13)

JUNCTIONS, ROUNDABOUTS AND CROSSINGS (skills 14-16)

MANOEUVRES (skills 17-20)

ROAD TYPES (skills 21-23)

DRIVING CONDITIONS (skills 24-26)

FOLLOWING ROUTES (skill 27)

Researching how the changes will affect drivers

DVSA is working with the Transport Research Laboratory to find out how the changes better reflect real-life driving.

Over 4,500 learner drivers and 850 driving instructors have been taking part in a research trial at 32 locations across Great Britain.

The trial is due to end later in 2016, and a full report on the findings will then be published.

Helping you through a lifetime of safe driving

DVSA Chief Executive, Gareth Llewellyn, said:

Great Britain’s roads are among the safest in the world. But there’s still more that we can do to keep road users safe - particularly newly-qualified drivers.

Making sure that the test better assesses a driver’s ability to drive safely and independently is part of our strategy to help every driver through a lifetime of safe driving.

DVSA Chief Driving Examiner, Lesley Young, added:

Candidates will be given more responsibility for making decisions during the test. We want them to show they can cope with distractions and assess risk without the intervention of their instructor or examiner.

Support from road safety professionals

Initial feedback from those who have taken part in the trial and representatives from the driver training industry has been positive and supportive of the proposed changes.

They include driving instructor associations, the RAC, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and the AA.

Driving Instructors Association CEO, Carly Brookfield, said:

We fully welcome the developments to the test and are compelled by the evidence we have seen to date from the trial to recommend that these long overdue developments are made to a driving test - which has been fundamentally unchanged for over 20 years and has not kept pace with how our roads and driver behaviour has developed over time.

Head of BSM, Mark Peacock, said:

The proposed changes to the practical driving test, particularly the extended independent driving and use of a sat nav, should help to produce better, safer motorists. We have already had positive feedback from our instructors and their pupils and therefore fully support these proposed changes.

AA president, Edmund King OBE, said:

We know that new drivers are a higher risk on the roads, therefore we need to better prepare them for real-world driving. These changes will test drivers in a more realistic manner which is essential to improving their safety once their L plates are removed.