- Book some driving lessons with a professional in the month or so before your test. This can help you to improve on any problem areas you may have that your parents didn’t notice. If possible, it is also a good idea to schedule in a lesson in the few hours before your test to get you warmed up and ready to drive.
- Try and stay calm. Nerves affect us all differently, and for many of us they might cause us to hesitate too much or even take too many risks, which could lead to you losing points on your test! Take some time out on the night before and/or day of your test to relax and prepare yourself. Going into the test with a positive mindset can do wonders!
- Try to remember that your assessor is just a regular person (who happens to know a lot about driving). All they really care about is yours, and other people’s, safety and wellbeing. If you can show that you are in control of yourself and the car and can follow road rules, the chances of you failing are low.
- Pay attention to the little things such as observation, your speed and your position on the road. Try to make it obvious that you are looking around and assessing the situation (while keeping your eyes on the road!!). A tip that my instructor gave me was to try and sit 5km below the speed limit during the test. This gives you a little bit of room if you accidentally speed up more than you wanted to.
- Get to know the car you will be taking the test in. If you are using yours/your family’s car then this should be no problem because you will already have plenty of experience in it! If you are needing to borrow a car or are using an instructors car, try and get some practice in it beforehand. Also, make sure you are able to locate everything on the dashboard such as demisters, hazard lights, different windscreen wiper settings etc.
