The driving test will change from December 2017 onwards

The driving test in England, Scotland and Wales will change from Monday 4th December 2017 onwards.
 

The examinees will have to follow directions from a satellite navigation and will be tested for their skills in performing different manoeuvres. Read on to learn more about the upcoming changes to the driving test.

  • Following directions from a sat nav
    During the independent part of the test most examinees will have to follow the directions from a sat navigation. The examiner will provide the navigation and set up the route for you. You can practise for this part of the driving test with any navigation model, but during the test you will have to follow the examiner’s navigation, not your own. If you go the wrong way, this in not considered a mistake unless you make a fault while doing it. Every 5th examinee will not have to follow a sat navigation. Instead, you will need to follow traffic signs.

     
  • The independent driving part will increase to 20 minutes
    Currently the independent driving part lasts only 10 minutes. From December 4th 2017 it will increase to 20 minutes. During this part of the test you will not receive turn-by-turn directions from the examiner.

     
  • Answering vehicle safety question while driving
    The examiner will ask you 2 vehicle safety questions during your driving test. These questions are most commonly known as ‘show me tell me’ questions. The ‘tell me’ question will be asked at the start of your test, before you start driving. But the ‘show me’ question from Dec. 4th 2017 will be asked while you drive. As a ‘show me’ question, the examiner may ask you, for example, to clean the windscreen.

     
  • Change in reversing maneuvers
    Two maneuvers will no longer be tested: ‘reverse around a corner’ and ‘turn in the road’. These manoeuvres should still be taught by driving instructors but are excluded from the driving test. The manoeuvres that will be used in the driving test are as follows:
  1. parallel park at the side of the road
  2. pull up on the right hand side of the road, reverse for
  3. car lengths and rejoin the traffic
  4. park in a bay

 

Theorytest.org
Support