The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is encouraging learners to have their driving instructor sit in on their tests so they can act as observers. The reasoning is simple – information:

  • Your instructor can tell you about the mistakes you made properly and in detail after the test – whereas the examiner only has limited time to explain so they will only focus on the most important ones.
  • Your post-test email only tells you how many and what faults you made during the test but, again, it won’t give you the level of detail you need to necessarily learn from your mistakes. By having your instructor sit in, they can tell where you were when the fault was made and offer expert guidance.

Such insights are invaluable – especially if you’ve failed and are too distracted during the post-test debriefing from your examiner to take anything onboard. Crucially, in future lessons, it means your instructor can work on the areas where your skills need practise and put you firmly back on track in time for your next test.

Six sit-in rules

While your instructor is encouraged to sit in on your test, there are strict rules for what they can and can’t do before, during and after it:

  1. Your instructor must ensure they’ve turned off their phone or set it to silent mode. Crucially, they are not allowed to receive calls during the test.
  2. During the ‘Tell me’ vehicle safety question, your instructor can help you lift the bonnet if you’re having trouble – but they must not interfere unnecessarily.
  3. It’s recommended that your instructor sits directly behind you during the test as it’s the least distracting position for them to sit in – though they can sit wherever they like on the backseat so long as they can sit upright and wear a seat belt.
  4. During the test itself, your instructor is allowed to make notes and change position during reversing exercises so they don’t obstruct your view.
  5. However, your instructor must never prompt you, say, with a cough, a nudge in the back of your seat, an enthusiastic nod or make excessive eye contact. This risks being seen by the examiner as a pre-arranged code.
  6. Also, while your instructor is allowed to look left, right and over their shoulder, they should not distract you or give any sign that they may be trying to coach you.

Rule of four

Finally, while only one person is usually allowed to sit in on your test, up to two people can ride shotgun “as a reasonable adjustment to meet a specific need you have,” says the DVSA. Again, they must adhere to the rules above or else your test risks being cancelled.

Know Your Code

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