Unfortunately, many learner drivers have a rough ride when it comes to taking and passing a Practical Driving Test.

Disappointment and disillusionment are just some of the emotions suffered; but it doesn’t have to be like that.

Here are some practical tips to help you pass your driving test and get rid of those “ L” plates!

1: Learn the Driving Test routes.

Each Driving Test Centre will have set of test routes that are used to test a candidate’s ability. Officially the DVSA stopped publishing test routes a while back, however routes that are near enough to those used by DVSA can be found online using a few “Google” searches.

The routes used are designed to test a candidate’s ability to cope with a variety of road and traffic conditions. They are designed to be challenging.

When in discussion about the benefits of training learner drivers on established Driving Test centre routes with other Driving Instructors, we sometimes hear them say “well if they can drive a car, they can drive it anywhere can’t they?”

Our answer to this question is yes, but when learner drivers pass their test’s and are driving for real, it won’t be under test conditions with an examiner sitting next to them wearing a high visibility vest, scribbling on a marking schedule!

As professional Driving Instructors, we know that anyone taking a driving test will suffer with nerves to varying degrees and that this can affect driving performance. When our learners take a Driving Test they are on familiar territory in terms of routes. We have found that this improves performance as it gives them one thing less to worry or stress about.

2: Mock Test

Schools don’t let their pupils take exams without “mocks” so neither do we!

Every pupil would want to know if they are ready to take a test or not; wouldn’t they?

Mock Driving Tests are a great way to assess driving performance against DVSA test standard.

Some pupils can drive very well during lessons, but use the word “ test” and bring in a physical marking schedule on a clip board………….and it all goes wrong!

The human factors that can negatively affect performance should never be underestimated.

As part of our learning to drive course, we always put in a couple of mock tests to build up resilience to the pressure of a test situation.

At ProCoach Driving School, we only work from the Eastbourne and Hastings Driving Test Centre’s and therefore have total familiarity with the test routes used by the D.V.S.A. Driving Test Examiners.

We also happy to mock driving test pupils that come to us from other driving schools where training has taken place in the Sevenoaks area.