Best time EVER to take driving test as they’re ‘getting EASIER’ with instructors told to boost rates – 5 tips to pass

IT COULD be the best time ever to take your driving test as instructors are apparently being urged to up their pass rates.

The measures are reportedly being implemented in order to address the huge backlog in the wake of the pandemic.

Average waiting times for learners to get onto the test ground are currently stubbornly high at 26 weeks.

That’s almost four times the Department for Transport’s target of just seven weeks.

The figures have prompted the Transport Select Committee in Parliament to look into the issue and see how it can be addressed.

In the latest round of hearings the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union, which represents DVSA employees, accused the agency of putting pressure on examiners to be more lenient.

They also claimed that the agency used a piece of software to identify the trickier routes around test centres, with the intention of taking them out of the rotation.

The Union raised concerns that the test was being made less rigorous in an attempt to slash the backlog.

Catherine Atkinson, MP for Derby North, told the committee: “It’s absolutely essential to maintain standards.

“But what is also clear is that if you’re managing the system you want to make sure that all your examiners – and we’re talking about 1,500 people – are applying those standards consistently.”

However, DVSA chief executive Loveday Ryder insisted that chipping away at the delays would not have a negative effect on standards.

She said: “I’d hate for anyone to be under the misapprehension that we don’t desperately care about getting this sorted out.

“At the DVSA it is our top topic of management attention and we have worked tirelessly over the last four years to try and address this situation.

“It’s priority one, and I am desperately sorry for people really struggling to get their tests.

“It’s really important that we have fair and consistent standards, and that means looking in detail at the statistics to make sure every test route is round about the same level of difficulty, and that examiner pass rates are consistent, and the way things are marked and passed on routes are ‘normed’ so people are marking them in the same way.”

It comes after driving instructor James Southall shared his five tips to make passing your test a breeze.

He advised learners to:

• Use the road markings as a guide but don’t let them become a distraction
• Make it obvious when you are checking your mirrors, even if you need to slightly exaggerate the movement
• Do the same with your blindspot checks on both sides
• Don’t sweat the small stuff – you can receive up to 15 minor faults before you fail
• Only pull out on a roundabout when you are 100% sure you have a gap – you won’t fail for being patient

SunMotors has contacted the DVSA for comment.