Learn to drive in Glasgow

Practical

Gerry Brennan School of Motoring

The UK car practical driving test

The UK practical driving test is designed to see if you can drive safely in changeable road and traffic conditions. You should be able to adapt to changing weather conditions and demonstrate your knowledge of the Highway Code by reading road signs and markings correctly and navigating for yourself unaided on the independent part of the test.
You’ll need to have passed your driving theory test before taking your practical test.
On the test day you must produce your provisional driving licence, sign your name on the examiners Ipad, and show you can read a car number plate at a distance of 20 metres (for vehicles with new style plates). You will be asked before you go to your car “if you would like your instructor to accompany you on the test or have him there on the debrief”

Vehicle safety questions: ‘show me, tell me’

You’ll be asked one “Tell me” question at the start of the test – (for example “Tell me how you would check your tyres have sufficient tread depth and are in a safe condition”). Whilst you’re driving, the examiner will ask you one “Show me” question – (for example “When it’s safe show me how to wash and clean the rear windscreen”).

Your driving ability

On your driving test the examiner will be looking for an overall safe standard of driving from you for about 40 to 45 minutes.

Drive the way you were taught by your instructor on test and the examiner will give you directions that you should follow. It is important to deal with every situation at the time, once you have completed it, the examiner will deal with the assessment. Once a hazard has been dealt with you cannot change things, so concentrate on what happens immediately after that. Worrying about what you have previously done could affect your ability to cope with the next circumstance effectively.  ie stalling the engine, retrieving it, but forgetting to recheck the movement of other drivers around you. The test includes :

Angled start (pulling out at an angle behind a parked car)

Pulling in for a normal stop

Hill start

Emergency stop  (1 in 4 tests)

Reverse exercises :

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

  • Parallel park at the side of the road
  • Park in a 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, reverse for around 2 car lengths, and rejoin the traffic

Independent driving section

Your driving test will include around 20 minutes of driving either following road signs or directions from Sat Nav.  It’s designed to assess your ability to drive safely while making decisions on your own. You can ask the examiner to repeat the directions again and don’t worry too much about taking a wrong turn – the examiner will inform you of this and re-route.  At the end of the independent section the examiner will inform you to revert back to his directional instructions.

Once you have passed your theory test and your instructor feels you are ready, the next step is to check the test fee and book a practical test.

 DSA Online booking service.

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