A former examiner on what is actually assessed during the driving test

Igor used to conduct driving tests himself, and joined the Autokool Kindel Rool team in the autumn. We asked him six questions about the things learners fear most, or get wrong. The answers are his.

The first two minutes in the car: what the examiner sees straight away

The test does not begin when the car starts moving. It begins with how you get in. The candidate settles in and prepares what Igor calls their workplace. The seat, the mirrors, the headrest and the steering wheel all have to be adjusted, every time.

“It cannot be that everything is already set up for you the moment you sit down. If a candidate does not do this and is ready to drive immediately, it means they are not quite ready to sit the test.”

What the examiner reads into it is that the person has not mastered this part of the job. And it is not a box-ticking formality: the same thing decides how safe the rest of the drive is.

Does one mistake end the test?

This is the fear most learners bring with them: make one mistake and you spend the rest of the drive going through the motions. According to Igor it does not work that way. The examiner does not stop the test on the spot, unless the situation is dangerous.

Creating a dangerous situation ends the test there and then, and there is no reason to keep driving for another twenty minutes. Nothing else is decided by a single mistake. What does count is repetition: a minor error that keeps coming back is a different matter altogether.

“There were cases where the test was passed after gross, serious mistakes, even though the examiner had already settled on a fail.”

The politeness that looks like not knowing

We asked what candidates do out of courtesy or fear that reads, from the passenger seat, as uncertainty. Igor named three things:

• braking before junctions where there is no reason to;
• giving way where they do not have to;
• choosing the wrong speed.

The driver believes they are being careful. From the outside the impression is different: this person does not know who has priority. Giving way where it is not required is not courtesy, it is a sign that the rule has not been learned, and it gets in the way of everyone else.

The most common myth about examiners

What Igor hears most often from learners is that examiners are trying to fail them. The second common belief is that they are bad-tempered and rude.

“The test is a check of your practical skills and of your independence out on the road.”

Which also answers the question of how to prepare: not by memorising a route, but by being able to decide for yourself.

What separates someone who passes first time from someone on their third attempt

You would expect that by the third attempt a person has more practice behind them and is calmer. Igor says the opposite.

“Practically nothing. Many people drive worse on their third test and are more nervous than on the first.”

And one more thing worth knowing: the examiner does not know which attempt this is for you. Nobody gets into the car with an opinion already formed about your being there for the third time.

What to do in the hour before the test

Igor offers no trick here.

“Get a proper night of sleep. Take the test more lightly, however important passing is and however much depends on it.”

Which means the advice for the last hour really starts the evening before.

• Adjust the seat, mirrors, headrest and steering wheel, even when it all feels fine as it is.
• One mistake is not the end of the test. A dangerous situation is.
• Do not give way where the priority is yours.
• The examiner does not know which attempt this is, and is not looking for a reason to fail you.

The interview was conducted in Russian; the quotations are translated.