Taking The Theory Test
You must take the following items with you to the theory test centre. If you do not, you may not be allowed to carry out the test and you may lose your fee.
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Both parts of your GB driving licence,
which must be signed and valid; |
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If you have an old-style paper licence you must bring both your paper licence and a valid passport; |
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Your appointment letter, which will have been sent to you when you booked your theory test. |
You should arrive at the test centre in plenty of time. Once you have registered at reception you will go through to the test room. You are not allowed to take anything into the room with you; all personal items must be stored in the lockers provided.
Once you are in the test room you may not talk to or distract other candidates. The computer screen will display your name and the category of test you are taking. If you have any problems during the theory test, you should raise your hand to attract the attention of the test invigilator.
The multiple choice part is delivered using a touch screen computer and the hazard perception part records your responses through the use of a computer mouse button. If you pass one part and fail the other you'll fail the whole test, and you'll need to take both parts again.
Part One - Multiple Choice
Before the test starts you'll be given instructions on how the test works. You can also choose to go through a practice session of the multiple choice questions to get used to the layout of the test. At the end of the practice session the real test will begin.
A question and several answer options will appear onscreen and you have to select the correct answer to the question by touching the screen. Some questions may require more than one answer.
For the car theory test you'll be asked 50 questions in 57 minutes and the pass mark is 43 out of 50.
You can navigate between questions and 'flag' questions that you want to come back to later in the test. After the multiple choice part you can choose to have a break of up to three minutes before the hazard perception part starts.
Part Two - Hazard Perception
After the break you'll then be shown a short tutorial video clip about how the hazard perception part works.
The hazard perception part is also delivered on a computer but you respond by clicking a button on the mouse. You'll be presented with a series of 14 video clips which feature every day road scenes. In each clip there'll be at least one developing hazard, but one of the clips will feature two developing hazards.
To achieve a high score you'll need to respond to the developing hazard during the early part of its development. The maximum you can score on each hazard is five.
You won't be able to review your answers to the hazard perception test; as on the road, you'll only have one chance to respond to the developing hazard.
The pass mark for the hazard perception part of the theory test is 44 out of 75.
At The End Of The Test
At the end of the hazard perception part of the theory test you'll be invited to answer a number of customer survey questions. You don't have to answer the questions if you don't want to, and any information given is anonymous and confidential. The survey questions don't affect the result of the test.
When you have finished the test you may leave the examination room. Once you have left the room, you'll not be allowed to enter it again. You'll then be given your result letter by the test centre staff.
The letter tells you if you passed or failed, and it gives you feedback on your test. It tells you in which topic areas you answered questions incorrectly, so you know which topics to look at again, and it tells you the breakdown of points you scored throughout the hazard perception part, for example how many 5s, 4s, 3s you scored.
If you scored mainly 0s, 1s and 2s you are reacting slowly to the hazard that is developing onscreen, whereas if you scored mainly 5s and 4s you are identifying the developing hazards in good time.
