The number 1 reason why people fail the driving test by BIG TOM Driving School

Stats from the DVSA indicate that in 2012-2013 at Grantham Test Centre, 65% of people passed the driving test on their first attempt, in Peterborough Test Centre that figure is 51%.  More recent figures in 2015 show a general levelling out between the two test centres, but both being below 50%.  Why are those figures so low?

BIG TOM Driving School (0800 689 4174) offers some reasons in this helpful blog, it looks at the number 1 reason why people fail the driving test.  Notice that I’m not referring to the driving faults that cause the “fail”, I’m talking about the people who take the test.

What are your thoughts on this?   Common things that come to mind include test day nerves, erratic driving from other drivers, completely losing the plot for a second or two and doing something daft, a very strict examiner, not knowing the roads you were tested on, a shaking left leg that couldn’t control the clutch and so on.

Whilst there might well be an element of truth in your symptom analysis, it’s not the root cause.  The root cause is quite simply that at that moment in time, you were not ready to take the test.

You see, with exams at school/college, if it turns out you had not got yourself quite prepared for the exam, the consequence is often that you just did not quite get the grade you were hoping for.  But with a driving test, if you are not quite ready for the test, you fail it.  You simply fail the test.

So, how do you know if you are ready to take the test?

Your Driving Instructor can assist with their professional opinion, in addition, you will know, in your heart of hearts, how you feel about it.  

But here is the “bang” in this blog.... 

If you set yourself an unrealistic date that you absolutely MUST take your test by.... come what may, you will HAVE to take your test by this date or the whole world comes to an end, then, you have very probably just sealed your own fate. 

The reason why that is such a dodgy strategy is that it completely disregards the fact that we are all different, we all learn at different rates, we all progress differently, and you are no different.  How can you possibly know with certainty that by a given date you are going to be ready to go to test?  The above stats would tend to suggest you simply can’t. 

Why do people insist on going to test before they are ready?  Well, there can be tons of reasons.  But know this, as soon as the little seed of doubt is in your head that you are trying to pass a test that you are not ready for, that seed doesn’t magically disappear, what it does is grow, it grows bigger and bigger every day closer to your test date.  Come to the day of your test, that little seed has now fully grown, to the extent that you are already convinced that you will fail before you have even turned the engine on!

This is a mindset.  

This is something that is entirely preventable and it is something that you have the absolute power to avoid..... you really do have the power to prevent that seed of doubt from even spreading roots, let alone growing.  Not always, but very often, a test fail is brought about because you have set yourself a date to go to test that was based on anything and everything completely UNRELATED to the rate of progress of your driving ability.

So before you go head long into a path of self-destruction, make sure you design in a mindset based on positivity, and not one based on pressure.  It is often under-estimated how the state of the mind can seriously affect the ability to drive effectively (and that will remain a true fact well beyond the time you pass your driving test).

The reason why people fail the driving test is offered as a helpful guide to attempt to raise the national pass rate for driving tests in the country.

BIG TOM Driving School  Intensive Driving Course in Peterborough, Spalding, Stamford, Boston, Sleaford and Grantham 0800 689 4174

How to become an intuitively good driver by Tom of www.BigTom.org.uk/home/

This blog is going to explore how a driver develops the skill of making the right decisions when driving, without making a lot of effort... intuitively being a good driver.

When we really get stuck in to learning to drive, there are a couple of things that occur.  Firstly, we start to get so used to doing the act of driving that it becomes second nature.  I am not talking about dipping our toe in the swimming pool here, or paddling in the pool up to our ankles, I am talking about properly warming up the muscles, putting swimming goggles on, and swimming 64 lengths of the pool (a mile) in a time that you are continuously improving.  You get my point?  

The second thing that happens when you drive for that amount is that you start to develop 'deep mind' skills.  You actually start getting really good at it. This does of course depend on a few things, one of which is that you are being provided with good training.  As such, you start to develop key driving skills such as the ability to anticipate and forward plan.  Good driving habits are forming, less conscious effort is being made, you are now becoming a 'good driver'.

A customer on my Intensive Driving Course this week, has a Sister who is learning to drive in another part of the UK (doing weekly driving lessons) .  They are calling each other and swapping notes.  He is covering aspects in his training that she has not even heard of, let alone had a chance to experience.  Her confidence is already dwindling having failed the driving test 3 times, but now her brother is talking about things like how to use "limit points" to assess the severity of a bend and properly prepare with the correct approaching speed and gear, something she has no idea what he is talking about.... her confidence is fading away fast.

And so if you learn to drive on an intensive driving course that enables you to be constantly, repeatedly practising good driving habits, then you are ticking that 'experience' box.  As long as you do that enough, you then start getting good at it, you are learning well, and you then find yourself becoming an intuitively good driver. 

You can't short cut that process in my experience.  You can't attend a course that calls itself an "Intensive Driving Course" in name, but actually doesn't provide you with that much experience driving.  The beauty of having a 4 hour driving session ahead of you is that you can drive further in that time than you could ever possibly drive in 4 lots of 1 hour sessions.  You can greatly increase the variety of driving conditions you come across; different towns/cities/counties will allow you to experience different road markings, road design, signage etc.  So when you are driving 80 - 90 miles in a session, and being given the opportunity to 'swim that mile', you start to truly develop skills such as intuition, reading situations on roundabouts as you approach, anticipating the likelihood of potential hazards BECOMING hazards.

Watch more about this subject of 'intuition' here

This has been a short blog exploring the advantages of being able to "drive more, to experience more, to learn more" and how that develops skills in the deep sub-conscious.  Hope it helps and good luck!

www.BigTom.org.uk
  

 

Intensive Driving Course in Grantham Price Comparison

I was chatting to a prospective customer the other day who was comparing prices of driving schools that offer Intensive Driving Courses in Grantham.

The conversation got a little lost, went a bit wayward, and on reflection, I can't help but feel the problem that we were both struggling to come to terms with was that we were not comparing 'like with like'.

The whole ethos of my approach to learning to drive is that there simply is no substitute for driving experience.  "You drive more, to experience more, to learn more" is embedded in every minute of my Intensive Driving Course sessions.  How much you agree with that philosophy is your personal choice of course, and the problem comes when you start comparing it with other driver training providers who think differently.

Others will have their own take on things; in the conversation the other day DVD systems were mentioned, workbooks, and I've heard of classroom simulations before now.  But, the fact of the matter is that you could read, watch videos, do simulations and all the rest of it, at some point, you need to APPLY knowledge and start developing driving skills.

The act of driving can be a sensory overload, it is hard to imagine that until you have experienced it (you ask anyone how they felt on their first occasion of parallel skiing down a mountain, watch their eyes light up as they speak).  Reading books and watching dvd's does not come close to the feeling you will experience of co-ordinating your hands, feet and eyes as you drive.

And so, to summarise, the hours I quote in my driving courses that you pay for are "driving hours", that is the time you spend behind the wheel driving.  Often driving sessions on my Intensive Driving Courses cross county boundaries, 80-90 miles of driving is not unusual.  Let me stress this is not at the expense of quality, there is no reinforcing bad habits going on here.  You only need to view my #gooddrivinghabits series on my YouTube channel and Twitter feed to see that the quality is in the detail.

This blog has tried to explain how to make meaningful price comparisons between Intensive Driving Courses in Grantham.  If it has been useful, please "share" the knowledge!

www.BigTom.org.uk/home/

How to get driving test cancellation slots by BIG TOM Driving School

This short blog is going to tell you what options are available to you to get a driving test date that is perfectly aligned to your needs.  This is achieved by making use of driving test cancellation slots. Here at BIG TOM Driving School we deal with this every single day for our customers doing our popular Intensive Driving Course (0800 689 4174). 

Every day there are literally thousands of cancellations going through for one reason or another on previously booked driving tests.  When the cancellation is processed, that slot is then available to be used.  Getting to know when these driving test cancellation slots crop up is key.

You have 3 options.  The first 2 options involve connecting up with the booking service, you can do it on line or on the phone using this link   Going on line has the advantage of you being able to temporarily 'reserve' a slot that crops up for 15 mins, which is long enough to check with your Driving Instructor if s/he can make that new time/date.  Persevere, persevere, persevere.

The 3rd option is to use a company that does nothing else but this; and there are many of them on the market.  You make the original test booking, and then provide them with the details of that booking and the date that you would actually prefer, and they get on and find you one.  The benefit to you is that you do not have to spend the time on the phone or on line.  The downside to you, is that if they find a cancellation slot, it could come through at any time, and who is to say that you even notice it come through on your mobile?  You may be busy. You may not be able to instantly get through to your busy driving instructor.

So there you have it.  The first 2 options are free, but will take some patience, persistence and ultimately time to get the result you want.  The third option comes with a fee, but you have no control when they contact you.  

For BIG TOM customers on our Intensive Driving Course, we provide a fabulous service that truly allows you to sit back and relax.  We do EVERYTHING for you.  We will know your commitments, we know our commitments, when we find a cancellation we will check it works for everyone, and then inform you of the good news.  It really is a fabulous service that our customers constantly tell us is greatly valued.  You will see from this update here, that because this IS our business, we make it our business to keep completely up to date with what is happening with driving test cancellations slots and driving test waiting times.  It is a comprehensive service that we provide, and it is one we are very proud to offer to our valued customers.

Hope this blog is helpful to you, any questions, ask away.

BIG TOM Driving School   Intensive Driving Course in Peterborough, Lincoln, Stamford, Spalding, Boston, Sleaford and Grantham  0800 689 4174