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The new driving test starts October 4th 2010

The driving test is being changed from 4th October 2010. In late 2008 it was decided by the government that to coincide with the driving tests 75th birthday it should be made harder and more thorough in an attempt to cut the number of new drivers involved in accidents. Currently, 1 in 5 new drivers is killed or seriously injured within a year of passing their test.

If you prefer to take the current test rather than the new one then we advise you start learning as soon as possible because from July 2010 the test centres will be fully booked until after the new test begins.

How the test is changing

Independent driving - For 10 minutes of the test you'll need to drive to a location using only diagrams and/or road signs without any directions from the examiner during the drive. The examiner will give you up to 4 directions while the car is stationary, for example they may say "Drive to the first roundabout then take the 2nd exit straight ahead, then take the third road on the right, the 4th exit on the next roundabout and then the 2nd left turn."

Another way it will be done is a mixture of directions and instructions such as "Take the 3rd left, 2nd right and then follow road signs to Kings Norton railway station". For some of these directions you'll be given a diagram or map.

This part of the test will be quite challenging for many pupils. Once you have started driving the examiner will not repeat directions so if you forget where you're going then you're in trouble. It also means you'll have to decide everything on your own such as where the turn is, which direction to follow at roundabouts, plan lanes and watch out for signs as you drive.

It was decided that the current test focuses too much on just car control and not other skills needed to drive such as map reading, navigation and reading the road. It's not yet clear how this will be marked but it's likely that going the wrong way will fail you.

If you want to know more about this new part of the test then you can download the full 171 page document detailing all the research, background and thinking behind this new part of the test. Click to read part 1 and part 2. Or you could just watch the 2 minute video below.

Manouever changes - You will only do one manouever on a test instead of two. Current test routes are based on having to stick around quiet housing estates so there are enough opportunities to do manouevers. This will give you the chance to travel much further away from the centre so you may well drive in areas you have never seen before which will prove you are not just memorising test roads and routes.

Longer tests - It's likely to now be around 50 minutes in length. The DSA are in the process of designing routes and will decide over the coming months whether or not the test time needs to be extended. This will give examiners much more time to assess your ability and cover as many different junctions and situations as possible. Currently there just isn't time to test everything and you can pass a test having never even dealt with a crossroad, dual carriageway or high street.

Longer waiting times - If the test increases in length then there will be less tests done per day which could see the waiting times rise from the current 2 months up to 3 or 4 months per test. It will be more crucial than ever to make sure you are having high quality tuition to help avoid any possible chance of needing a retest.

Price increase - It's already probably rising in March 2010 to around £75 per test on a weekday and £85 on a weekend so will most likely be around £100 per test from October. If the length of the test increases then there will be less tests done per day which means they will have to earn more per test to balance the books. The other option is to employ more examiners but this will increase their wage bill and also push prices up.

Driver attitude test - This is currently going through its second phase of testing and is very likely to be introduced. You'll be asked questions such as "You smashed into a parked car while driving, should you report it or drive off?" with the idea being that this will stop people with bad attitudes from getting a licence.

Pass Plus overhaul - The Pass Plus scheme is years out of date and in it's current form it offers little to learners who have learnt with a good instructor. The scheme is being reviewed and is facing a possible huge overhaul which could see it made compulsory or changed in some way.

Observer driver - From April 5th 2010 you'll be asked if you want your instructor to go on the test and whether you want them present at the end of test debreif. This is possible at the moment but they will not ask you, currently you must tell them you want someone to go with you. It was going to be made compulsory for instructors to go on all tests with all pupils but after huge appeals against this it was overturned.

Other measures that may be introduced over the coming months include...

Minimum learning time - There may be a minimum learning time of a year, meaning it will not be possible to do intensive courses. An instructor will have to sign to say that you have been learning with them for a minimum period of time. Britain is one of the few countries in Europe not to have a minimum learning time and some countries such as Finland have a minimum time of 2 years.

Compulsory professional lessons - Parents/family etc may not be allowed to teach people to drive. To achieve this it may be made so that only dual controlled cars can be used on tests as no instructor will just take someone for a test without having given them lessons. At the moment pretty much anybody can just teach friends and family to drive no matter how bad a driver they are. Over 60% of people surveyed though that it should be essential for all learners to take lessons with a professional instructor.

New driver restrictions - New drivers may be limited to buying a car with an engine no bigger than 1.4 litres for their first year. Too many inexperienced drivers buy powerful cars that they just can't handle and end up killing themselves and others. A similar system is popular in Australia and parts of Europe, where speed limits are lower for newer drivers.

New drivers may not be allowed to have more than one passenger for the first year of driving. This is because when one young person passes a test they often fill the car with friends who encourage them to do stupid things. The weight of the car also changes a lot with passengers and can make a big difference to the way a car steers and brakes.

And it's not just changing for learners. Here's how it will affect instructors...

CRB checks - We have all had to undergo a criminal records check. Some instructors have been found to have serious offences and have been struck off. This will get even tougher and we will be monitored more closely to make sure our customers can be sure we're safe to be with.

CPD -  We'll have to undergo continuous professional development throughout our career. This may include days in classrooms, first aid courses, teaching courses etc. We will have to do at least 7 hours training per year to begin with.

Instructor ratings - Instructors may be given a star rating from 1 to 5 to show how good they are. At the moment most pupils choose instructors at random as there's no proper system available to learners to see how good someone is at teaching. This is not proving to be a popular idea as it is very unfair to give someone a rating based purely on how many passes they have had. There are many other factors that make a good instructor.

Declaration of test readiness - It may be made so an instructor has to sign to say a pupil is ready for a test and if the standard is too low we would have to explain why. The idea behind this is that far too many poor instructors are bringing pupils to test who simply aren't ready. Not only does this waste your time and money but it is dangerous.

This has created potential problems already though. There have been cases of instructors taking payments of up to £2000 per time to sit driving tests for pupils, pretending to be them. Police arrested several instructors in Birmingham during 2009 for this and having to sign a document to allow someone to go on a test could create a "cash for signature" problem.

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