Before test day
Mock driving test
£100. A real DVSA route, marked to DVSA standard, by someone who used to mark them for a living.
Why bother
Feeling ready and being ready are different things
Most people who fail a first test are not bad drivers. They are drivers who had never been tested properly before.
The practical test is not a driving assessment so much as a marking exercise with rules. Faults you have made harmlessly for months — a rolling stop, an unchecked blind spot, sitting a little wide on a roundabout exit — count, and they count in a way nobody has ever counted them for you.
A mock test puts that in writing before it costs you a test fee and another six-month wait. It also does the other thing nobody talks about: it is the first time you drive with someone silent in the passenger seat holding a clipboard, and doing that once takes a surprising amount out of the real one.
What happens
Forty minutes and a marking sheet
- Length
- Around 40 minutes of driving, the same as the real thing, plus the show-me tell-me questions and an eyesight check.
- Routes
- Real DVSA test routes from your own test centre — not a convenient loop near the office.
- Marking
- To DVSA standard, on a marking sheet, by a senior instructor. Driving faults, serious and dangerous, recorded as they happen.
- Afterwards
- The sheet goes through with you fault by fault, and your remaining lessons are built around what it says.
- Price
- £100. The same as the two-hour assessment, and for the same reason — it buys you a number instead of an opinion.
Who it is for
Three people who should book one
Anyone with a test in a few weeks. You still have lessons left to spend on whatever the sheet finds.
Anyone who has failed once. Bring the examiner’s report. A mock tells you whether the faults it named are actually gone or just less frequent.
Anyone learning privately. If you have been taught by a parent or a friend, this is the cheapest way to find out what a professional standard looks like — and you do not need to be a pupil of ours to book one.
Answers
Common questions
What is a mock driving test?
A full rehearsal of the practical test. You drive a real DVSA route from your own test centre for about 40 minutes while a senior instructor marks you on a DVSA sheet — driving faults, serious faults, the lot — and then goes through it with you.
How much does a mock test cost?
£100, the same as the two-hour assessment. It is a fixed price and it includes the debrief afterwards, which is the part that actually changes your driving.
When should I take one?
About two to three weeks before your test, with enough lessons left to act on the result. Taking one the day before tells you something you no longer have time to fix.
Who marks it?
A senior instructor. Two of the 14-strong team are former DVSA driving examiners, which is where the marking standard on this comes from.
Do I need to be on a course?
No. Mock tests are available on their own, including to people learning with another school or with a family member. Bring your provisional licence.
Find out where you actually stand.
Tell us your test centre and your date, and we will put a mock in far enough ahead of it to be useful.