DSA Driving Test Car

There I was sitting in the waiting room of the test centre with some other driving school instructors having a chat, our clients had not long ago departed with the DSA examiners to the car park to begin the 40 minutes of the practical assessment.

In walked a man who was more than 5 minutes late for the driving test, we adviced him to ring the bell knowing fully well that he was not going out on this ocassion with the examiner who was probably having a cup of tea while filling out the necessary paperwork.

The examiner walks in, and the candidate begins to explain that the reason why he was late was that the bus he took got caught in traffic! So you didn't come here in a car then? No, I was going to use the DSA car for the driving test! The kind examiner goes on to explain that they don't provide cars for the practical assessment, that it is the responsibility of the candidate, and that all this is explained in the test appointment letter. He also advices him that he will have to re-book another appointment, and he needs to talk to one of us ADIs about using our cars.

After the dsa examiner goes back to the office, we find out that the man is a foreign licence holder who just booked the theory test passed with flying colours, went on to book a practical test without speaking to a driving instructor or doing any proper research, and didn't even bother to read the appointment letter he was sent in the post by the DSA! Well that mistake cost him £62 in driving test fees, a wasted journey and day off work!

You need to bring your own car for the test, and it must meet the requirements as par the letter sent to you confirming your test appointment, better still get an approved driving school instructor to take you, he or she would usually ask you to book an assessment driving lesson prior to the day, to confirm you are at test standard, and will not crash thier means of income, more importantly it will get you to actually demonstrate that you have the skills expected by the DSA examiner, and the ADI would also give you some advice to increase you chances of passing.
Even if you don't think you need driving lessons, I strongly suggest you thoroughly read the book Prepare for your Practical Driving Test: The Official DSA guide, as it contains all the information you need to make sure you adapt your international skills to the UK standard.

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