From the 4th December, there are going to be 4 changes to driving tests. The major difference will be the independent section, where you have to drive without turn by turn directions, will be increased to 20 minutes, around half of the total test.
You will also be required to follow directions from a sat-nav in the independent section of the driving test. The examiner will provide a TomTom Start 52 and set it up. He won’t ask you to set up the route as they’ll do this themselves so don’t worry about what you practise with. However, you aren’t allowed to use your own but it won’t matter if you go the wrong way as long as you don’t make at fault while doing it. You may also ask for confirmation from the examiner if you’re unsure of where you’re going. Only one in five tests will now use road signs.
The ‘reverse around a corner’ and ‘turn-in-the-road’ manoeuvres will no longer be tested, but you should still have been taught them by your instructor. You’ll be asked to do one of 3 possible reversing manoeuvres: Parallel park at the side of the road, park in a bay – either driving in and reversing out, or reversing in and driving out (the examiner will tell you which you have to do) and pull up on the right-hand side of the road, reverse for 2 car lengths and re-join the traffic.
The examiner will ask you 2 vehicle safety questions during your driving test – these are known as the ‘show me, tell me’ questions.
You’ll be asked the ‘tell me’ question (where you explain how you’d carry out a safety task) at the start of your test, before you start driving and the ‘show me’ question (where you show how you’d carry out a safety task) while you’re driving – for example, showing how to wash the windscreen using the car controls and wipers.