Didn't pass. Didn't fail....

Test Centre: Upton
Reason For Fail: N/A

This morning, at the crack of dawn, I got up, and picked up my pupil for his driving test.

We went through the manouevres, and did some tight slow roads to get him dealing with things defensively, and we got to the test centre at about 8:10 am.

There were 4 candidates on test, but only 3 examiners came out. One of them called me and my pupil to one side. One of the examiners had not been able to make it to work because of illness, and because it was the first test of the day, there hadn't been time to arrange cover.

Since there was no examiner to conduct the test, it could not go ahead.

Ouch! You could have had a lie-in!

I could. But I'd have missed out on being paid for the work.

You mean your pupil had to pay you?

Well yes. I got up at half past 6, and gave him a lesson, and I couldn't have taught anyone else in the time he was supposed to be on test, so in that situation, us instructors will expect payment.

But doesn't that mean your pupil lost out?

No. My pupil will be given a free re-test, and any expenses he incurred, such as the money he paid me, and compensation if he'd taken time off work to do the test are reimbursed by the Driving Standards Agency. It was their responsibility to ensure they had an examiner available, and because they failed to fulfill their responsibilities, they had a duty to provide an alternative date, and to compensate the candidate for any losses he incurred.

So how do you go about claiming the money back then?

You need to go to this webpage - http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_196463?CID=Motoring&PLA=url_mon&CRE=driving_test_expenses

You'll find a link to a pdf document which tells you more about it and includes an application form.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@motor/documents/digitalasset/dg_196447.pdf

Simply print off the form, complete it, and send it to the address shown in the first link.

Poor at Parallel Parking? Practice Precise Positioning!

It's been a while since I had anyone fail! This is a good thing of course, but it's also meant I've had little to say on this blog for the last few months.

Test Centre: Upton

I was sat in the back for this one. My pupil, Neil, was relaxed and confident on the pre test lesson, but when it came down to the real thing, he got a bit of the fear in him. And it showed.

He was asked to do a parallel park in Sparks Lane, Thingwall and ended up putting his wheels up on the pavement. The examiner let him try to sort it out for a little while, then when he couldn't correct it, asked him to move on.

The mark Neil got on his test sheet was a serious fault, reverse parking (road) - Control.

We'd actually done a parallel park as part of the pre test lesson. Neil did it quite well. He didn't do it in the structured way I'd taught him, but what he did do seemed to work for him so I left it at that. Shame really. If he'd made a mess of it, we would have done a bit more on it, and he might not have got it wrong when it mattered.

If you do get it wrong, and touch the kerb, you haven't at that point failed your test. Generally if you try to reverse further you're going to make matters worse, so if you do touch the kerb, put the car into first gear, Check it's Clear Around You!!!!, and correct it by going forwards. Often, if you can fix it, the examiner will mark it as just a minor fault.