..........THE PRACTICAL DRIVING TEST........

In Nottingham, reorganisation of driving test venues has taken place in March 2013. Chalfont Drive has been replaced by two choices of venue located at Nottingham Trent University, one at the Clifton campus and the other in Clarendon street in town.There is also Colwick a new, multi purpose driving test centre (MPTC), opened in October 2008 and located at the end of private road No5 on the Colwick industrial estate. So that's three possibilities to choose from.

Your instructor will advise you when to apply for your driving test.

book by phone 0300 200 1122

on the internet (put DSA in Google)

or by post (get a form from the post office).

You will receive a letter of confirmation a couple of weeks after you apply and the test date will usually be six to eight weeks after you first applied.
The driving test fee is currently £62.00 (£75.00 on Saturdays)

On the Day of Your Test

On the day of your driving test you should have a warm up session in your usual tuition car with your driving instructor, arriving at the test centre a few minutes before the appointment. You will go into the driving test centre with your instructor and wait for the examiner.

At the Driving Test Centre

The examiner will come out of the office and will ask to see both parts of your driving licence and your driving theory test pass letter. He will ask you to sign in a box on his test form to say your car is insured for him to carry out the driving test. Then he will ask if you want your instructor to ride in the back of the car during the test. Some people like the idea. Others prefer not to have their instructor watching. The choice is entirely yours. Your instructor will not be offended if you say no. Then the examiner will ask you to lead out to the car, ask if he can call you by your first name and tell you his.

Outside, he will ask you to read a number plate as an eyesight check.
He will then want you to show or tell him how to do a couple of the safety/maintenance checks taken from the full maintenance schedule which your instructor should have practiced with you. They are not difficult. They take no more than two minutes to do. It's only a minor fault each if you get them wrong.

The Driving Test

You will then go for a drive lasting approximately 40 minutes. Most of the time the examiner will give you detailed instructions as to where to go but for a period of about twenty minutes he will want you to follow a route he gives you and want you to sort out that route unaided. He will say something like 'follow the route for Loughborough A60 until further notice'. If there are no road signs or road markings you can use to sort things out, the examiner will have shown you a couple of simple diagrams of where he wants you to go. Try to sort out where to go next as you drive but don't worry if you get lost. As long as you continue to drive safely and without causing significant inconvenience, you won't fail.

At the end of the test the examiner will tot up your driving faults and then tell you whether you have passed or failed. He will then ask you if you want your instructor to hear his anaysis of your faults. You can ask for your instructor to leave the car first, if you want. Having given his analysis, he will give you some paperwork and leave the car. Your instructor will lend you some tissues and drive you home.

When to Take Your Driving Test?

Your instructor should have given you two or three practice tests. As a result of these, he may advise you to take extra lessons and put your test back to accommodate them. In this event, you need to give four working days notice to change your driving test appointment.

You should delay your driving test if your instructor says you are not ready for it.

Taking and failing your test when you are not ready will cost you a lot more than a few extra lessons. It will damage your confidence and could ruin you for subsequent driving tests.

kev stevenson