Practical Driving Test

About forty minutes on the road,
and everything you have been working towards.

4.9/5 from 114+ reviews
4.9/5 from 200+ positive reviews

Calm Driving is rated 4.9/5 by over 150 learners - proof that calm coaching works.

Learn To Drive
Learn to drive with confidence, the Calm way.

Learn to drive across Dorset and beyond from Poole to Bournemouth, Wimborne to Wareham, and everywhere in between. We offer manual and automatic lessons across most areas, with automatic only in Totton, North Baddesley, Rownhams, Eastleigh, Southampton and Romsey, and manual only in Blandford. Click below to see all the areas we cover.

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On The Day

What happens when you arrive

You start with an eyesight check, reading a number plate from twenty metres, then one vehicle safety question before you set off. The drive itself lasts around forty minutes, with the whole appointment taking about an hour once the paperwork and result are done.

Most learners use their instructor’s car, and your instructor can sit in the back if you would rather not be alone. The examiner talks you through the report at the end either way.

What the test covers

General Driving
Around twenty minutes

Normal driving on a mix of roads chosen by the examiner — junctions, roundabouts, changing speed limits and whatever traffic gives you on the day. This is simply the driving you have been doing in lessons.

Independent Driving
Around twenty minutes

Following either a sat nav set up by the examiner or a series of road signs, without being told each turn. Taking a wrong turn is not a fault. The test marks safe driving, not navigation, so handle it calmly and carry on.

Manoeuvre and Safety
One reverse, two questions

One reversing manoeuvre from parallel parking, bay parking, or pulling up on the right and reversing. Add a “tell me” question before you drive and a “show me” question during it. An emergency stop comes up in roughly one test in three.

How It’s Marked

The three kinds of fault

Driving faults
01
Also called minors
Up to fifteen and you still pass
Most passes collect four to eight
The same fault repeated can be upgraded
Serious faults
02
Something potentially dangerous
One is an automatic fail
However good the rest of the drive was
Most often observation at junctions
Dangerous faults
03
Actual danger to people or property
The examiner may step in
One is an automatic fail
Rare, but decisive
What to bring, and what to check

Bring your provisional licence — without it the test cannot go ahead — and your glasses or contacts if you need them to read a number plate at twenty metres. The car must be roadworthy, insured for the test and showing L plates, which your instructor will have in hand if you are using theirs.

If you need to move the appointment, cancel at least three clear working days ahead to keep your fee. Less notice than that and you lose it. If the DVSA cancels for weather, you are rebooked free.

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