Help! I failed my driving test Q&A by BIG TOM Driving School in Bourne

In response to a very good question from a viewer of the BIG TOM Learner video channel Tom (Owner of BIG TOM Driving School in Bourne 01778 309 773) gives the following help to viewers who might be struggling to come to terms with a driving test fail.


Here is the question from the viewer Hannah486:

"I failed my first test the other day for going 33mph in a 30 for what could only have been a few seconds before I realised and corrected and my position on a round about ( when going straight). Apart from those two I only got 1 minor for mirrors. I didn't even realise anything had gone wrong so I was very surprised at the end of the test! What is your opinion/advise about this? Any advise would be welcome for my next test :)" Hannah486


First of all, here is the video that is the subject of the question, take a few minutes to see what is said, it will help you to understand the answer I give to the above question.....

There are 2 parts to Hannah's question.  The first is to do with speeding, and the second is to do with incorrect position when going straight over at a roundabout.  

I observe over 95% of the driving tests that are conducted for BIG TOM Driving School in Bourne.  That helps me and it helps my customers.  It helps me to keep up to date with how errors committed on driving tests are assessed, it deepens my knowledge so that I can accurately replicate this same standard when I do my mock tests for my customers.  It is very rare indeed for a customer of BIG TOM Driving School in Bourne to fail a mock test, but pass the actual driving test - that's how accurate they are.  But perhaps more importantly, when I observe a driving test in Peterborough or Grantham, I can see for myself precisely what happened, so I am able to recollect where the fault occurred and what the precise circumstances were that led up to the fault occurring.  Do not underestimate how powerful this is, as for some people who have just taken a driving test, it can be very tricky to actually recollect even where the fault arose, let alone the circumstances leading up to it - such is the "event".

The reason why this is so important when attempting to answer the question from Hannah, is because it is important to know what the positional error on the roundabout was, what was the consequence of the error, was there anything about that roundabout, the approach, or even on it, that was unusual or unfamiliar to Hannah.  There can be a wide range of answers to that question, only Hannah will know for sure, how she genuinely feels about spiral roundabouts, mini-roundabouts, roundabouts with traffic lights on them, multi-lane roundabouts, lorries on roundabouts near her etc.  But a Driving Instructor like me sitting in the back observing the driving test, will have seen what the speed and gear was on the approach, what the vision was like on the approach, what vehicles were doing to the side or in front of Hannah when she went on to the roundabout, literally what the position of the car was when on the roundabout.  This might well tend to be crucial information for being able to "root cause" a driving error, in the way that I describe it on the video.  

And this ultimately is a key concept of effective learning; being really honest with yourself, reflecting on how you feel in certain situations when driving, and communicating those feelings, concerns or anxieties so that coping mechanisms can be developed to help deal with the situation.  If you take ownership of your learning experience, and effectively analyse how YOU think and feel in certain situations, you are far more likely to build up rock steady techniques to help you should something crop up.  For sure, you can attempt to ignore them, and hope that the situation does not arise on the driving test, but think long term, even if it doesn't crop up on the driving test, how are you going to feel dealing with it post-test?  The DVSA tell us that one of the key differences that they intend to introduce to the new driving test in 2016 will be to test the ability of the candidate to prioritise and manage situations.  It is in your interests not only for the driving test, but for the safety and comfort of all your years driving post-test, to be honest with yourself; don't buckle under peer-pressure and attempt to get to the driving test like it's some kind of race.  For your learning to drive experience to be an effective process, it needs to take as long as it takes, we are not all the same.  I recently did a road safety talk to 170 Yr 12 pupils at Bourne Grammar School, and if I were to re-visit them in 2 years time, and ask out of the 170 what was the average number of hours taken actually driving, either with a Driving Instructor or with family, I would get a wide range of answers.  There would undoubtedly be an "average" figure, but we must be very careful to not allow any pre-determined figure that might be heard between peers, to become the "goal".  A recent pupil of mine, openly stated that she had a bet with her group of friends to see who could pass the driving test with the least amount of driving lessons.  This is the kind of talk that flies in the face of an "effective learning experience", and goes some way to explaining why the national average driving test pass rate is under 50% and also why 1 in 5 newly qualified drivers are having an accident within 6 months of passing the driving test.

With regards to the question about doing 33 in a 30 mph zone.  This is also very tricky to accurately assess, Hannah is suggesting that the speeding element was only for a few seconds and in doing so confirming that she knew that she was speeding.  There is recent talk from certain Police authorities that they are considering removing the current allowance of 10% + 2mph over the speed limit before prosecution takes place.  But in any case, sometimes I think it would help if you just consider what message you are giving to an Examiner by any amount of speeding on a driving test.  If you feel like you can get away with it on a driving test, the Examiner must well be thinking what that says about your general attitude to speeding.  It would be a bit like failing the driving test for failing to check your blind spot before moving off.  The car is not even moving, and yet, the driving test can be failed purely and simply as repeatedly failing to make effective observations before moving, sends a very clear message to any Examiner assessing, how safe you are going to be for all of the years of driving ahead.

I very much welcome this question from Hannah, and I hope I have gone some way to answering it for her.  I do hope that she will respond again if needed.  Please feel free to add any comments at the bottom of the video or this blog.

BIG TOM Driving School in Bourne   Bookings: 01778 309 773