Will the Test Day be a Worry?

Will the test be a worry? That depends near enough entirely on the weeks that came before it. Do the hours and it is only another lesson with a quiet stranger in the seat beside you. Skip them, and no amount of deep breathing in the car park at five to eleven will put them back.

Here is my rule, and it does not bend. I will not sign your logbook until you have passed a mock of my own well enough that I genuinely believe you will pass the real one. If that sounds hard, it is meant as a kindness. Far better you hear a not yet from me than lose your fee and your place in the queue to an examiner.

The night before, keep it plain. Leave the tranquillisers well alone. They dull the very reactions you need sharp, and they leave you looking unsure of yourself, which is the last thing an examiner wants to see across the seat. Get your sleep, keep your head, and trust the repetition you have already banked. There's no rush on the morning either.

Booking the test

You book the practical through the RSA's national call centre. The number is 1890 406 040. They take the fee and give you a slot. Everything after that comes down to what you carried in from your EDT training. Wanting it is not an extra you bolt on at the end. It is the thing that carries you through.

What the wait and the odds really look like

People like a straight number, so here are the local ones. They shift about, so check with the RSA before you plan your life around them, but this is roughly how the land lies out this side of the county.

These move. The RSA holds the live figures.

The tips that actually earn their place

1. Set the morning up so you arrive early and know exactly where you are leaving the car you will be tested in. Do a quiet run of it the day before. Getting lost on the way in has beaten people before the engine was ever turned.
2. Report in and wait to be called. When you are brought out, be civil and easy with the examiner. It costs you nothing, and the man or woman beside you is doing a job, not hunting you.
3. On the questions, think before you speak. It is not a race. If something is not clear, ask. Nobody was ever failed for asking what was meant.
4. When you are asked what sits under the bonnet, or what a control is for, answer to the point. Short and right beats long and wandering every time.
5. Take the moment to be sure you understand what is being asked. Trying to dazzle with a half-formed answer is a quick road to a fault. Say what you know, plainly, and stop there.

The drive itself

Most people make their worst mistakes in the first two minutes, and the examiners know it well. They make room for it at the start. Crunch a gear or stall her at the lights, and the move is simple. Say sorry, take the one breath, and go again, easy. You settle faster than you would think. As you settle you drive better, and the examiner is marking the whole drive, not the one stall at the start. That is not them being soft on you. That is just how nerves work, and they have watched a thousand of them go the very same way.