The car road test

Before you start

Before you start the engine, check that the doors are shut, the handbrake is on and the gear lever is in neutral (P in an automatic). Then adjust the mirrors and your seat, and put on your seat belt.

In the test yard

• Reverse S parking: reverse into the parking space the examiner points to. All four wheels must end up inside the white lines. Do it in one go: you may stop, but you may not change into a forward gear. Then drive out forwards in one go.
• Turning around in a narrow road: reverse into the turning area and stop close to the left side. Turn the car around by driving forwards three times and backwards twice. Then stop close to the left side again. Do not hit anything.

If you don't get a parking move right, but you didn't hit the kerb or anything else, you can try again. You have 3 failed tries in total for S parking and L parking together. On the third failed try, you fail the test and it ends there.

On the road

• Control the car smoothly and drive at a sensible speed. In normal traffic, driving very slowly, or in a low gear the whole time, counts as a serious mistake.
• Keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front and from anything you pass.
• When you overtake: check your mirrors, signal, and look over your shoulder at the blind spot. Move back into your lane only when it is safe, and do not cut in front of the vehicle you passed.
• Watch for road signs, parked cars, people crossing and anything unexpected.
• At junctions and roundabouts: signal, choose the right lane, and give way when you must. Before you pull out, look right, then left, then right again.
• Keep to the left. Check your mirrors and blind spots before you change lanes.

Hills

• Stop on an uphill slope close to the left side, then move off smoothly without rolling back.
• Manual cars only: before you move off, hold the car still on the slope with the clutch and accelerator, not the handbrake.
• Manual cars only: to slow down going uphill, change down to first gear instead of braking.
• Going downhill on the test route, drive in a low gear. In a manual car, use the same gear you used going up, or a lower one. In an automatic, don't drive faster than you did going up.

At the end

Reverse L parking: reverse into the parking space the examiner points to. If you pass, you get your temporary driving licence in the registration room.