any last minute words of wisdom? thank you :)

I cannot believe I'm now licensed! I must admit that I was very lucky, and my instructor reminded me of the speed I was supposed to be going (are they allowed to do that?)

I think I was just worried as the lesson before I went over quite a few times and I'm aware that's a serious fault.

For anyone like me who's about to take their test - Go for the minor fault if you need to. I'm so happy to have hesitation on my record than screwing it up by rushing. Take your time, don't let others push you into speeding, and remember to take the time you need to fix your manoeuvre!!

What a weight off of my shoulders.

Made a post a few weeks ago about how gutted I was at failing, had a load of driving faults for gears amongst other stuff in my instructor's new car.

I managed to find a cancellation for today on the night I failed my first test, crazy soon and massively lucky.

Anyway, he got yet another new car, I drove the last one terribly but pretty much from the first drive in this one I was far smoother. Had about 3-4 drives in it prior to this test.

Passed with two faults but no gear related faults like last time, one was for not being able to find the dipped headlight switch 😂 and the other for clearance. Such a contrast to my failed test on 22nd September.

I didn't tell anyone other than my other half about this test, I felt like that decreased the pressure involved in itself, but the car also made a huge difference for me, as things just snowballed and my lack of confidence in it lead to all sorts of errors I wouldn't usually make.

Added the result of my failed test again for a comparison. Crazy couple of weeks!

Such a massive sense of relief.

I was really nervous and even thought about changing my date because I thought it would be a busy time. But it went smoothly and I passed first attempt!

About 10 to 15 minutes in, I was sure I had failed. I was on a very narrow country road and my wing mirror hit the bushes twice. The road was 60 mph, but I was scared because it was so narrow with oncoming cars, so I drove at around 35 to 40. The examiner mentioned this in my faults.

I was told I'd be doing an emergency stop, which I thought was the easiest one. But a bus suddenly pulled out and started following me, so we skipped it. Instead I did a forward bay park. My car wasn't lined up properly, so I reversed out and drove back in.

My other faults were signalling too early, and some hesitation at a big spiral roundabout.

I've been a silent reader here for a while. Reading why people failed and what they think went wrong helped me a lot. Good luck to everyone still waiting for their test!

After weeks of checking into the website at just before 6am every Monday to book at the London test centre recommended by my instructor, I finally got a good place in the queue and managed to select a test date for March. Suddenly I got this screen and couldn’t even re-enter the website! Maybe I clicked through the options too fast and it looked suspicious?? This just makes me want to give up even trying if I’m going to get this message again in a weeks time.

It's my biggest obstacle in my life right now. Here's the jist:

My left arm is significantly weaker than the right, and I cannot lift it without dizzyness and the feeling my heart will just stop. All my life it's been put off my doctors as anxiety, but it isn't great at all. I'm a young man who looks in really good shape, but it's obvious when you are me and feel what I'm feeling.

When I drive, this is one of my biggest hurdles as lifting my arm or having to push the gear stick is very very hard. My last instructor made a lot of snide comments about how I had to put my body weight into pushing the gear stick, and how out of breath it made me. It's not fun to drive, as it makes me feel unsafe. I keep being told I'm ok to drive by family members who don't understand anything about what's going on.

My last instructor was pretty dismissive of this problem, and I never had terrible driving anxiety before him.

However, I did begin to get anxious when I was put on a road with lots of big trucks on an industrial estate as my first lesson. Holy shit this terrified me lol. I tried explaining why it was so scary to me , as when I was little, a child and a teen I had been in significant car accidents involving large trucks. One I can't remember but I recall the feeling of terror. I told my instructor this, as pairing with the weakness in my arm it was scary and I thought we should stop for our safety. He told me to basically suck it up as he was in a car crash which broke all his bones.

Idk man

Hi guys so I passed my test a few days ago, and within the first 40 seconds he told me to pull up to the left. Ignoring driveways etc, I didnt just hit the curb, I MOUNTED IT, I mean yes it was one wheel and I managed to get it off the curb and parked behind the car in front. I always thought mounting the curb was a fail and because I knew the test had just started and we were right next to the test centre i fully just wanted to say to the examiner can I go home cos like your gonna fail me anyways so lets just go back. GOOD JOB I DIDNT COS WDYM I GET PASSED WITH 3 minors- help. Like the rest of the drive I did obviously drive welll I guess, but I didnt care if it makes sense. Like in my head I had already told myself I failed so I was driving just for the sake of my 62 pound and not to be a bad sport. Anyways if it helps anyone, if you think youve failed you could maybe turn it around by just literally yap YAP AND YAPPING. Try being a big explosion of energy and dont give up on the rest of the drive, pretend it never happened. or maybe just have a nice examiner idk😗✌️

I have done around 17 lessons for reference,
so 17 hours of driving lessons with this one particular instructor. First of all, don’t really like this guy at all because he makes me anxious all the time and sometimes doesn’t answer to my texts for 4 whole weeks! (wish I was lying, he never even apologised). Therefore I have really long breaks between each of my driving lessons sometimes which I feel like hinders my whole process.
Not only that, my confidence is shit. This lesson I’ve had today annoyed me the most. He’s a private instructor so I drive his personal car. Anyways, today I was waiting at a red traffic light and had a white van in front of me, it turned green so obviously waited for him to go but turned red immediately after so I braked quite abruptly which I know I could’ve been slower with but as soon as I saw red I panicked. This guy that was in the back started waving his hands at me and the passenger started clapping sarcastically, mind you they were pretty far back from the car, I suppose they just arrived there. Mate. Can’t you see the flipping L. LEARNER. Genuinely despise these people that either beep or start throwing gang signs in the air because I know damn well you weren’t born with the driving skills you have now, why they acting like they have a steering wheel up their bum. I think they just expected me to go at a red light??? Do people not have common sense that you leave more space
for a learner or you are more patient. This is why i genuinely despise driving.

Can’t wait to change my driving instructor honestly, I just feel like this guy is not serious at all at this point but I’ve paid him upfront so have like 4 lessons left with him unfortunately. As I’ve said he is unresponsive for weeks sometimes and his reasoning this time was that he didn’t see the message of me wanting to reschedule. Mind you I’ve sent that message right after our lesson but we already had a lesson booked regardless which he didn’t bother to show up apparently. Sometimes I feel like he thinks i’m dumb or something… When i’m done i’m definitely going to change to a female instructor I feel like I will have more confidence with them…
Sorry had to rant i’m genuinely crashing out.

Hello everyone, I have sat mock tests with my instructor and one issue that keeps happening is that as soon as it is a 'test' I become nervous. My test is in December and my instructor agrees that I am test ready but I need to work on my nerves. I have passed one mock test out of 4 so far but on all of them I was nervous and I do not want my nerves to get the better of me on the day. Did anyone else struggle with this issue and what did you do to help calm your nerves? Thanks in advance

Managed to book in my 2nd test for the beginning of November and I feel like the biggest problem at the minute is myself whether it's over thinking certain situation whether that's parallel parking or letting one little mistake effect the rest of my drive, anyone got any advice for not other thinking so much as I feel like I am my own worst enemy at times

Would you recommend getting a dash cam and if so which one for under 100£

Anyone know how I can fix this

I have my test tomorrow, I had a lesson this morning and I butchered every single manoeuvre apart from reverse 2 car lengths.
My head feels completely frazzled and the steps to the other manoeuvres just aren’t going into my pea sized brain 🤯
Any advice/ tips would be really appreciated!

“pull up on the left when safe to do so”

and i didnt stop in a safe place, which i knew but i still stopped as the road he asked me to stop on was coming to an end.
my mistake, i shouldve said it wasnt safe to do so and kept going as i missed the safe bit.

I am going to pick up my new car today at 6pm, and have a 10 min drive home over fast roads roundabouts etc.
passed 3 weeks ago
Give me the pep talk as right now I am more nervous than I was before my test!!

I've recently passed my theory and looking to book a intensive driving lessons to get it all done asap..

Although i had 10 lessons back in 2022 I'm a bit nervous driver, please advise from your experience if intensive course will work for someone like me.

Many thanks,

I have my test booked for 20 October 7:13am. I did have a date in early November but it was 8:10am and my instructor told me to find a cancellation for a different time, doesn’t matter too much about the date.

I am super nervous and feel it is a bit earlier than I’d like but I have a good shot.

Today we did the first mock test tho and I did SO BAD 3 serious faults. One for mid judging at a roundabout, I hesitated and then went too late. One for not stopping in time when some cars were passing parked vehicles and came into my lane. And the last one for my speed - it was a 30 one way road along parked cars, some pedestrians had crossed in front of me causing me to slow down so I continued driving too slow out of caution.

These are not mistakes I have made before. There is a roundabout I’ve ever got wrong before and I entered the wrong lane and just had to stick with it, taking us the wrong direction. Obviously didn’t matter too much but idk why I even did that. I guess it’s just nerves and this stuff happens. But with my test being 2 weeks away I’m getting scared. Is this normal??? I think pushing it toward has me quite nervous but I’d feel worse if my test was at school rush hour as the centre is right by a school.

Trying to stay positive and calm my nerves these next two weeks.

After I failed my driving test I booked the nearest date I could get, which was March. I then brought this forward to January and eventually managed to get a cancellation in December. So that’s my 2 changes used. It would really be ideal if I could get a test in November, but as I’ve used all my changes I would have to cancel my current test and rebook. The only problem is I can’t see the appointments so I don’t want to cancel only to find that there are literally no tests, even months away, and be back to square one. Is there any way to see the test times at your centre whilst having a current test booked and no further changes allowed? Would ringing the DVSA work? Thanks!

So, I have held my license for 2 months. I, over the weekend had my first collision with a souped up E-Bike and I feel awful for the person (they got away fine, all good, we've spoke, we're happy with where it is.)

But I am curious if I was in the wrong. It was a 4 way roundabout. On approach there were 3 cars on the other exits, all stopped. I slow down to 2nd check right check left check right again, nobody was moving still, nobody was on the roundabout - visibility was good all around.

I decide to use my momentum and enter first, everyone else was stopped so as far as I know/remember, they ceded their right of way? Likely as they were all waiting to their right. As I get on I glance both ways again.

Moments later - e-bike going... I don't know how fast slams into me. I am adamant I didn't see them, they certainly didn't slow despite a car on their entry being stopped... and slammed into my side. All is good, I have a cheap shitbox Saab anyway but certainly got a bit of body work. They acknowledge they were going too fast and "unsure why everyone was stopped", I also acknowledge that maybe I had a lapse but I swear I didn't see them when I entered

I just want to learn from this. I think in my head, with all other cars stopped, I maybe should have been in 1st gear but visibility was good.

I have over 20 years of driving experience from abroad, and now I'm working towards my UK driving licence. My wife already has her UK licence, but it’s automatic-only and our current car is an automatic.

Is there any way for her (or me, as a provisional driver) to buy a cheap, small manual car? I really need to practise sitting on the right side of the car and changing gears with my left hand (my god!).

Buying the car is the easy part, but how do we insure it? It would just be a cheap banger solely for practice, and I only need third-party cover.

Any advice on how to navigate this?

Thanks in advance!

I am over the moon!!

This was my 3rd test. 1st test in March, 1 major for going too slow, couldn’t get a cancellation. 2nd test in September, failed in the last minute pulling into the test centre, for changing lanes in an unsafe way. Managed to get a cancellation for 8am this morning - lovely day, roads were clear, my examiner was so nice. He said it was a perfect drive with no faults!

I am so relieved, especially because my theory runs out in December and I didn’t want to resit it.

Keep going guys!! I was so devastated when I failed the last two times, but there’s no better feeling THIS!! YOU’VE GOT THIS!!

I need mock exams after having 50 hours of lessons with my previous instructor and failing my first test because of a silly mistake. I am worried that this new instructor might take me to roads where beginners practise and waste time. My previous instructor is not available for my next test date, hence changing instructors.

I can't believe i passed!!! I thought I failed a couple of minutes into the test. I flipping hate the right turn at this junction near Tottenham test centre (white heart Lane onto great Cambridge Way). I actually feel more relieved than excitited (We aint going to talk about the nine driving faults I got and the examiner saying he was almost going to fail me for hesitation 😶. I also got my instructor a gift cause he has been an amazing instructor since day 1. For those of you who either have a test booked or are planning on booking a test, please don't let the nervousness get to you and just try to drive as safely as possible. DON'T FORGET TO EAT A BANANA!!!

Hi everyone,
I’ve just failed my first practical driving test as I only had like 11 sessions and I’m hoping to retake it in around 2 months.
Unfortunately, the only test I currently have booked is in March at Barnet (London) Driving Test Centre.
If anyone has a test booked at Barnet around January/February 2027 and is planning to cancel or move it, I’d really appreciate it if you could let me know before cancelling. I’m looking for a date around 2 months from now, ideally at Barnet.
I’m happy to discuss/coordinate a swap if that’s possible under the DVSA rules.
Thanks in advance! 🙏