Opinion: Using Failure to Improve Driving Test Results

Introduction

• Being a winner is nice, whatever you are doing, you are doing something right, but do we learn more from failure?

• The DVSA publishes the Driving Test Data. Click the link, then scroll down to DRT121F to see for yourself.

• This will list the top ten fails from 2007 to 2024, and what will be striking to you is the consistency of what our pupils are failing on.

First Place is:

• Junctions (observations)

Without fail, this is the consistent number one, and we all should take note of this.

Second Place is:

• Mirrors (change direction)

For complete accuracy, I should point out that ‘Mirrors (change direction)’ was number three in 2007, but every year before and since, it has been number two.

It is never out of the top three.

Third place:

• Moving off (safely)

Never out of the top ten, it is normally a mid-table failure.

Interestingly, its twin, Moving off (control), last got a mention in 2020 when it was placed tenth and prior to 2020, it was rarely out of the top ten.

I think it would be reasonable to assume that the rise of the auto has led to the demise of this fault in the top ten.

Fourth place:

• Junctions (turning right)

A regular finisher in the top half of the table. If the top three are observational faults, this is the highest finishing positional driver fault.

Fifth Place:

• Response to signs (traffic lights)

Always in the top ten, apart from 2007 when it didn’t place, this one is closely related to seven and eight.

Remember, at the beginning of a Driving Test, the examiner says, “I want you to follow the road ahead unless otherwise directed by road marking or traffic signs”.

If your pupil does not see either the markings or the traffic signs, or worse still, does not know how to deal with them, how will they cope in normal driving?

Sixth Place:

• Control (steering)

A mid-table finisher since the stats have been recorded, it did for the period 2014-2019 achieve third place consistency before dropping back to mid-table.

Along with number four, this is a positional driver fault.

Seventh Place:

• Response to signals (road markings)

It wasn’t till 2011 that this started placing in the rankings of failures; it is now making its way slowly up the table.

This could have a number of causes, such as volume of traffic giving less opportunity to see the road marking and lack of road maintenance, meaning that they are harder to see.

Eight Place:

• Response to signals (traffic signs)

This didn’t enter the tables until 2011 and remained at number ten till 2018, and has slowly moved up.

The comments on five and seven also apply here.

Ninth Place:

• Positioning (normal driving)

A mid to bottom table regular placing, your position is the first part of your PSL routine.

Tenth Place:

• Use of speed

A late entrant to the tables, it has only been placed for a couple of years.

Possibly changes to the driving test have resulted in more high-speed roads and hence a greater emphasis on the use of speed.

What does this all tell us:

A read through all the data will tell you a number of things.

• Observation is the main driver fault
• Control faults have gone from 3 out of 10 down to 1 in 10
• Positional faults are roughly the same at 3 in 10
• The “Control (Steering)” driver fault could be positional, or it could be procedural

Has the rise of auto reduced the number of overall control faults?

If the above is true, is this why observational driver faults have increased?

Has the increased volume of traffic on the roads made an observational driver fault more likely?

Would this explain why “Response to signals”, while not mentioned once in 2007, gets three slots in 2024?

Would the reason for the two comments above be that a driving test candidate only has so much bandwidth to deal with things?

If the reason above was valid, does this mean that most candidates are taking the test too soon before they can comfortably process everything that’s happening around them?

Is the marking of the driving test changing?

We have noted elsewhere that in 2007, 0.5% of test passes were zero faults, while now it’s nearly 5%.

See table DRT121E from Driving Test Data

Clearly, if your pupils’ chance of getting a zero-fault driving test result has gone up nearly tenfold, but the overall pass rate is only up about 5%, so something is happening.

How can we use this:

The DVSA regularly publishes a blog with a list of the Top Ten Fails on a Driving Test.

I strongly urge you to read this for the following reasons:

• The list of fails, while it does change, remains fairly consistent in what fails
• If you want to know how an examiner marks things, it will be there for you to read in black and white
• It won’t be comprehensive, but it’s a very good start

• You could get your own report Your Driving Test Data, compare your results and use the Top Ten Fails on a Driving Test blog to improve

Micro Training:

For example, with your own pupils and “Moving off (safely)”, make doubly sure that they are checking the blind spot and acting on what they see.

Reference The Highway Code Rule 159 and Driving The Essential Skills, and you are covering driving theory with your pupils, which is part of both Part 3 and Standard Check criteria.

If you see another road user not doing this or doing it badly, ask your pupil about this. “What made them do it like that?” “What could be the consequences of doing it like this?”

Using what is happening around you is part of both Part 3 and Standard Check criteria.

It won’t take long before your training becomes pretty solid.

Note here, there is a methodology:

• Read the DVSA’s  Top Ten Fails on a Driving Test blog

• Pick an item from the list of fails
• Look up any Highway Code rules that apply
• Do the same with Driving the Essential Skills
• Watch out for what is happening on the road relating to the item you’re looking to improve on
• Use that situation with your pupil

Work your way through the list, and you will have a good idea of how an examiner marks driver faults. Follow these steps and your own pass rate should improve.

Liam Greaney
ADINJC Committee Member
www.driving-pro.com