We both were very happy to welcome about 750 trainee driving instructors and approved driving instructors (ADIs) to our latest webinar on Wednesday 6 November 2024. It focused on the top 10 faults that cause people to fail their driving test.
We were particularly pleased to see that 97% of those who filled in the feedback form found the webinar interesting, and that 96% said they’d recommend that other ADIs should watch the recording.
Thank you if you attended.
Watch the webinar recording and get the slides
We’ve now made the recording of the webinar available, and you can watch it here.
It includes an explanation of each of the top 10 faults, and the question and answer session where we took your questions.
Some of the questions we answered during the session were about:
- repeatedly making the same driving fault, and at what point it becomes a serious fault
- mounting the kerb
- control of steering
- creeping out when turning right at a junction
- blind spot checks at roundabouts
- good coaching questions to analyse faults
To make navigation easier, we've added timestamps in the video description. You can select a relevant timestamp to jump to a particular fault, or to go to the question and answer session.
If you were not able attend and have any questions about the top 10 faults, please ask them in the comments and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
Download the slides
You can also download a PDF version of the main slides that cover the top 10 faults.
Download ‘Top 10 faults made during driving tests’ (PDF, 2.1MB, 14 pages).
Questions we could not get to during the webinar
It was great that so many people had questions. Unfortunately, we were not able to get to all of them within the session.
But we’ve reviewed all of them and saw some themes emerging. So we’d like to give a quick overview of some important areas where you asked for guidance and advice.
Repeated driving faults becoming a serious fault
During the webinar we answered a question about when repeated driving faults (or ‘habitual faults’) become a serious fault.
If a repeated driving fault becomes a serious fault, both the driving faults and the serious faults will be recorded on your ADI driving test analysis report.
Remember, you can request your report at any time to analyse which areas your pupils are making faults in. This is one of the reasons why we encourage you to keep your ADI certificate (badge) in the windscreen when you bring your pupils to the test centre.
Roundabouts
One the topics we received most questions about was roundabouts.
When dealing with roundabouts, it’s important that your pupils take effective observations before exiting and changing lanes. In most cases, the centre and left door mirror should be checked before exiting the roundabout.
If your pupil finds themselves in the wrong lane when approaching the roundabout
If there’s enough time to change lanes safely before they emerge into the roundabout, this would be the best course of action for your pupil to take.
Mini roundabouts
When exiting mini roundabouts, we know that checking mirrors and giving a signal is not always possible due to the focus on controlling the vehicle. The driving examiner will allow for this.
Steering
Steering was one of the hot topics during the webinar.
Remember that the most important thing is that your pupils should maintain proper control of the steering wheel by using a firm yet relaxed grip, making smooth, steady movements. They should avoid over-gripping or sudden jerks and keep both hands on the wheel unless they’re changing gears.
If your pupil lets the wheel spin through their hands, the driving examiner will assess this accordingly. If there’s no loss of control, they will normally deem this as a fault not worthy of recording.
Observation and blind spot checks
A few of your asked questions about observations and bling spot checks.
Checking over the right shoulder before changing lanes on dual carriageways is not a mandatory procedure, but it can be helpful if the circumstances call for it, for example, in heavy traffic.
There’s no need for your pupils to exaggerate moving their head to show the driving examiner that they’re checking mirrors or doing a blind spot check. Driving examiners are trained to make sure learners are making the proper observations.
If your pupils focus on exaggerating moving their head, they might forget to pay attention to something more important.
Signalling
We had a few questions about signalling at the end of the road.
Signals are not always necessary when you can only go left or right at the end of a road. However, your pupil should consider signalling if it would benefit other people driving, cycling or walking.
Positioning, lane discipline and bus lanes
We received a few questions about lane discipline and bus lanes.
If your pupil does not use a bus lane that they’re allowed to drive in at that time, the driving examiner will consider these factors when deciding whether to record this as a fault:
- how long they did it for
- whether any other road users were affected
- how clear the signage was
Getting in the wrong lane or taking a wrong turn
We know that learners worry about getting in the wrong lane or taking a wrong turn, and this came through in some questions.
They should not worry if they go the wrong way. If it’s done safely, the driving examiner will not record a fault and will help them get back on track.
Speed
We received some questions about speed during the webinar.
It’s important to remember that the speed does not have to breach the speed limit to be too fast for the road and traffic conditions.
The driving examiner will take factors like weather and how busy the road was into account before they reach an appropriate assessment of speed faults.
Traffic lights
We had a few questions about traffic lights and what driving examiners will assess.
Turning right when there’s a filter light
You can turn right on a full green signal before the green arrow shows. The green arrow means that turning right should be easier. The driving examiner will assess that your pupil checks that opposing traffic has stopped before they proceed in this scenario.
If the full green is replaced by an ahead arrow, your pupil must wait until the right-turn arrow shows before they turn right. If your pupil proceeds before the right-turn arrow shows, the driving examiner will assess this as either a serious or dangerous fault, depending on the circumstances.
What driving examiners are looking for on the approach to traffic lights
If the lights are showing green, the driving examiner will be assessing to make sure the learner:
- does not speed up to ‘beat the lights’
- is ready to stop, especially if the lights have been green for some time
If the lights change to amber, the driving examiner will be assessing whether the learner stops, unless:
- they have already crossed the line
- they are so close to it that pulling up might cause an incident
Reverse exercises
We received a few questions about parking in a bay and parallel parking at the side of the road.
We were asked if correcting the position during the exercise is a fault. The easy way to understand this is to ask yourself, “Was re-positioning required to correct a loss of control or accuracy?” If it was, then a driving fault would normally be recorded.
Parking in a bay
During the bay parking exercise, if the trye or tyres finish on the white line, this would normally be a driving fault. This could potentially progress to a serious fault if the number of corrective shunts were to increase for example.
Parallel parking
When doing the parallel park exercise, the learner should always aim to park as close as safely possible to the kerb without touching or mounting it.
There’s no set distance away from kerb that will result in a serious fault. The driving examiner will be assessing whether the car is in a dangerous position or where it causes unnecessary obstruction of the road (rule 242 of The Highway Code).
Keep learning
Watching the webinar recording counts as continuing professional development (CPD). Make sure you keep a record of your activities.
And remember, if you want to understand more about the faults that your pupils make during driving tests, you can:
- request your ADI driving test data report and see an example of what a report looks like
- sit in and observe your pupils’ driving tests
Finally, don’t forget that we have detailed guidance to help you carry out mock driving tests with your pupils. This has lots of examples of different faults and how they would be marked.
2 comments
Comment by Jackson muiruri posted on
Well explained blog
Comment by Victor Francis posted on
Thank you for this seminar
It’s good because it clarifies some of what I do / know and teach but also highlights a few areas I haven’t considered so I might mark a fault but maybe in a different box and the bit about creeping right being acceptable IF safe with long queues from left but clear to right. No one asked about palming with steering again certainly not best practice but if control maintained would it be kind of ignored but maybe brought up on examiner debrief?