What's involved?

There are 5 parts to the driving test:

• an eyesight check
• ‘show me, tell me’ vehicle safety questions
• general driving ability
• reversing your vehicle
• independent driving

The test will be the same for both manual and automatic cars.

How long does the test last?

You’ll drive for around 35-40 minutes.

You’ll drive for around 70 minutes if you’re taking an extended driving test because you’ve been banned from driving.

Taking someone with you

You can ask for your instructor or supervisor to accompany you on your test.

You cannot take a foreign language interpreter with you. You have to take the test in English or Welsh.

Eyesight check

You’ll have to read a number plate from a distance of:

20 metres for vehicles with a new-style number plate

20.5 metres for vehicles with an old-style number plate

New-style number plates start with 2 letters followed by 2 numbers, such as AB51 ABC.

You’ll fail your driving test if you fail the eyesight check. The test will end.

At Driving-Ed you'll be required to take the same eye sight test at the commencement of your course of driving tuition, so you'll have no problems on the day of your test.

Show Me, Tell Me Questions

You’ll be asked 2 vehicle safety questions known as the ‘show me, tell me’ questions. These test that you know how to carry out basic safety tasks.

You’ll be asked the:

• ‘tell me’ question at the start of your test, before you start driving
• ‘show me’ question while you’re driving - for example, showing how to wash the windscreen using the car controls and wipers

We'll be practicing these during your lessons so you can go into the test full of confidence.

You can download the Tell Me questions and view a video of the Show Me questions on this page.

Your general driving ability

At Driving-Ed we will get you fully prepared for your driving test so that all of these elements of the test should just fall into place on the day. Of course you may be nervous but you should also be confident that the skills you have learnt will give you success. It's time to believe you are going to be successful.

You’ll drive in various road and traffic conditions, but not on motorways. Since November 2025 driving tests feature more rural and high speed roads than before.

The examiner will give you directions that you should follow. Driving test routes aren’t published, so you can’t check them before your test and it's not something I really want you to become overly familiar with. During your lessons and particularly on the run up to your test we'll spend time in the locality of your chosen test centre but ultimately it's important to be able to drive anywhere.

Pulling over at the side of the road. You’ll be asked to pull over and pull away during your test, including:

Normal stops at the side of the road including pulling out from behind a parked vehicle and a hill start. Generally there will be 3 stops at the side of the road.

You might also be asked to carry out an emergency stop. On average there is 1 emergency stop in every 7 tests.

Reversing

The examiner will ask you to do one of the following exercises:

• parallel park at the side of the road
• park in a parking bay - either by driving in and reversing out, or reversing in and driving out (the examiner will tell you which you have to do)
• pull up on the right-hand side of the road, reverse for around 2 car lengths, and rejoin the traffic

Independent driving

• You’ll drive independently for 20 to 35 minutes. You’ll need to follow either:
• directions from a satnav
• traffic signs
• a combination of both

The examiner will tell you which you have to follow.

They’ll set the sat nav up for you. You cannot use your own sat nav.

Going off the route

Your test result won’t be affected if you take a wrong turning, unless you make a fault while doing it. It's ok to go the wrong way, correctly!

The examiner will help you get back on the route if you do happen to take an wrong turn.

If you can’t see traffic signs (for example, because it’s covered by trees), the examiner will give you directions until you can see the next one.

Progress Assessment

At Driving-Ed we can provide you with at least 1 "progress assessment” before your actual driving test. There could even be the possibility of being tested by another instructor to add realism for you. If you are interested in this please ask Jonathan.

Making mistakes

You can carry on if you make a mistake. It might not affect your test result if it’s not serious.

The examiner will only stop your test if they think your driving is a danger to other road users.

If you think something you have done has caused you to fail and you ask the examiner to tell you be aware that they can only inform you once the test is concluded. If you insist that you want to know they will end the test where you are and tell you. However due to the insurance regulations you are not allowed to continue to drive and the examiner is also not insured to drive you back to the test centre. Both of you would be required to walk back!

If you make a mistake

You can carry on if you make a mistake during your driving test.

If you make a serious or dangerous fault, which means you’ve failed, your driving examiner will continue to complete the test in most circumstances but won’t tell you that you’ve made that mistake.

What are Driving Faults?

There are 3 types of fault you can make

• a dangerous fault - this involves actual danger to you, the examiner, the public or property
• a serious fault - something potentially dangerous
• a driving fault - this isn’t potentially dangerous, but if you keep making the same fault, it could become a serious fault (This is often known as 'a minor')

Pass Mark: You will pass the driving test if you make:

no more than 15 driving faults (sometimes called ‘minors’)

no serious or dangerous faults (sometimes called ‘majors’)

If you pass your test the examiner will:

tell you what faults you made, if any

give you a pass certificate

ask you if you want your full licence to be sent to you automatically - give the examiner your provisional licence if you want to do this

send you an email with your driving test report on for you to review the marking

At the end of your test

Your driving examiner will:

give you your test result feedback

ask if you want your instructor to come over to listen to the feedback

It’s a Pass! What next?

At the end of the test your examiner will ask you if you’d like them to keep your old licence and receive your new, FULL licence in the post. It usually takes no more than 2 weeks to receive your new licence. More often than not it’s just a few days.

You can also apply for your full driving licence within 2 years of passing your test if you don’t want to get your licence automatically.

TIP: Want to update your photo? Let your examiner apply for your new licence on your behalf and when it arrives pop over to the post office and ask for a form to change the details on your new licence. Send it off, with your new photo.

When you can start driving:

You can start driving straight away when you’ve passed your test. You don’t need to wait for your full licence to arrive. Contact DVLA if your full licence hasn’t arrived 3 weeks after you applied for it.

You’re unsuccessful. What happens now?

If you are unsuccessful the examiner will explain what the faults were that caused you to fail and send you a copy of the driving test report to you by email.

We’ll discuss where you need to improve and plan how to prepare you for another driving test.

You have to book another test and pay again. You have to choose a date at least 10 working days away. It’s usually possible to book a new test on the same day but you won’t be able to take it within 10 working days (about 2 weeks).

You can appeal if you think your examiner didn’t follow the regulations when they carried out your test.