What to practise before your driving test

The real test: can you do it without help?

GOV.UK says to only take your test when you can do everything without instruction, and there’s no minimum number of lessons. You’ll drive for around 35 minutes, on all sorts of roads but not motorways. The full list of skills is DVSA’s national standard for driving cars and light vans.

So the best practice question is simple: if your instructor or supervisor said nothing for a whole drive, would it still go well?

1. The eyesight check

You’ll read a number plate from 20 metres (20.5 metres for an old-style plate). Fail it and the test ends there. Check it before test day, with glasses or contact lenses if you need them to drive.

2. ‘Show me, tell me’ questions

You get one ‘tell me’ question before you drive off and one ‘show me’ question while you’re driving. Getting one or both wrong is one driving fault, but driving dangerously while you do the ‘show me’ task fails the test.

There are 14 ‘tell me’ and 7 ‘show me’ questions on GOV.UK. In the car you’ll test in, practise finding these without looking down for long:

• front and rear windscreen washers and wipers
• dipped headlights
• rear demister and front demist
• the horn
• opening and closing a side window

3. Moving off and stopping

GOV.UK says you’ll be asked to pull over and pull away, including a normal stop at the side of the road, pulling out from behind a parked vehicle and a hill start. You might also be asked to do an emergency stop. Practise each until it’s routine.

4. Every reversing exercise

The examiner picks one, so you need all three:

• parallel park at the side of the road
• park in a bay, either driving in and reversing out, or reversing in and driving out
• pull up on the right-hand side of the road, reverse about 2 car lengths, then rejoin the traffic

Practise slowly, with all-round observation.

5. Independent driving

Part of the test is driving without turn-by-turn directions. You’ll follow a sat nav, traffic signs, or both. The examiner sets the sat nav up, and you can’t use your own. Taking a wrong turning isn’t a fault. Practise following a sat nav on unfamiliar roads, and following road signs to a nearby town.

6. The faults DVSA sees most

DVSA publishes the 10 most common faults on car tests. For April 2025 to March 2026 they were (DVSA table DRT121F):

1. Junctions: observation
2. Mirrors: changing direction
3. Junctions: turning right
4. Response to traffic lights
5. Control: steering
6. Moving off safely
7. Response to road markings
8. Response to traffic signs
9. Positioning in normal driving
10. Maintaining progress: speed

That list is a practice plan in itself: busy junctions and roundabouts, mirrors before every signal and turn, and positioning for right turns. DVSA explains each fault on GOV.UK.

Practising with family or friends

GOV.UK says the person supervising you (without being paid) must be over 21, be qualified to drive that type of car (a manual licence for a manual car) and have held a full licence for 3 years. They can’t use a mobile phone while supervising, and you can’t practise on a motorway with them. You need the right insurance too. Driving without the right supervision can mean a fine of up to £1,000 and up to 6 penalty points. GOV.UK also has a form to record any practice you do without your instructor.

How you pass

You pass with no more than 15 driving faults and no serious or dangerous faults. Repeating the same driving fault can turn it into a serious one (GOV.UK). For how each fault is judged, see how the driving test is marked.