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July 1st 2008 - More changes to the driving test

From September 2008 the driving tests will involve pupils being marked on how economically they drive. A few examples of this are how you will need to use the highest gear possible at all times, avoid harsh use of the gas when moving off and show better planning ahead to prevent heavy braking. The lower gears use far more fuel than the higher so stopping and starting unnecessarily needs to be avoided as much as possible. Here at 1stDrive we have always taught these things anyway so there will be no changes for our pupils to adjust to.

8th May 2008 - Major changes to the practical driving test

The government announced today a massive overhaul of the entire driving test system. The overall aim will be to reduce the accident rate of new drivers and to show people that passing the test is not the main aim of driving lessons. The test is just one small first step that you take to becoming a good driver, it is not the end. These changes will come in sometime over the next 2 years.

The following points are being considered, nothing is yet confirmed.

Taking multiple tests - The test may be split into separate smaller tests that can be passed one a time, effectively making intensive courses impossible as tests will be spread over several months. This is much fairer for pupils as you won't just have to pass everything in one go and you will have to show you can constantly perform well, not just on one day.

Giving more responsibility to instructors - they will pass you on some parts of your test such as manouvers and it will be compulsory for your instructor to be in the car with you and the examiner for other tests so both can see if you are fit to drive

Giving pupils good marks on the test for doing things well instead of just marking you down for making errors.

A 1 to 5 star rating system for pupils to find a better instructor. The roads are flooded with trainee instructors and instructors that qualified decades ago and hide behind the name of a big school because they aren't good enough to survive on their own. Pupils will now be able to judge how good individual instructors are, not just what school they work for.

Asking pupils to show navigational skills by asking them to drive to the nearest train station, towards the M42 etc using road signs. You will not have to read maps.

Interviewing pupils at the end of a test to judge their attitude to situations encountered on the drive 

Increasing the depth and difficulty of the theory test by adding more questions and using 3D animations to test peoples awareness of situations instead of the current film clips. The questions and answers on the test may no longer be published and instead of multiple choice you may just have to type in the answer, testing your knowledge much better

Post test courses on motorways, night time driving etc to help develop the attitude that the driving test is just one step in learning to drive, not the end.

If you want to read the full 84 page document on the proposed changes then Click here or visit www.DSA.gov.uk to have your say on these changes. Please give the DSA (Driving Standards Agency) feedback as it it vitally important and will help shape the new driving test. We at 1stDrive are already forwarding our suggestions to the DSA but need learners to do the same.

6th May 2008 - New show me/Tell me questions

There are several new questions being put into the show me/tell me part of the test. Visit our driving test page to see them. These will be used from July 1st 2008

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