Will you come with me on my practical driving test?

This question, 'Will you come with me on test?' Is one that may require some thought on your part.

The choice is yours. Your instructor does not particularly mind one way or the other whether or not you take them with you or not. There are one or two points that you may wish to take into consideration before you make the decision.

Firstly let me make something quite clear:- You have the right to have your instructor along in the back seat on your driving test if you wish for them to be there.

There is a simple politeness protocol:- If you have decided that you would like your instructor to accompany you on test it is considered politeness to ask the examiner if your instructor may accompany you. The best time to ask them is while they are checking your documents. The examiners do not mind in the slightest.

There is a perfectly good reason for this protocol. It is your test and your choice. Not your instructors. The examiners are simply looking after your interests. By asking the examiner you are indicating your permission for the instructor to come.

So. Let us look at the question, "Should I take my instructor with me on my driving test?"

The points for:-

• If I fail, my instructor will see the fault and can then give me a better explanation on the way home.
  
  If you are unfortunate enough to fail your driving test then at the end the examiner will provide an oral debrief of the major faults. Your instructor can listen to this as well so they will not miss anything. It is true that if they were actually there in the car at the time of the fault they can provide you with a more detailed report on what went wrong. - The examiners debrief is usually accurate enough for your instructor to explain to you what went wrong anyway.



• I think that it will be to my benefit to have a 'friend' in the car as well as the examiner.
  
  This one is certainly a judgement that only you can make. If you take your instructor in the back then they will be sitting there willing you on. If you think that having them with you in this capacity is an advantage then go for it. Take them with you. - Pupils who have taken me on this basis in the past have decided afterwards that the first reason in the 'against' list is a far more powerful reason to leave me in the test centre.



• I want my instructor there to watch the examiner.
  
  There are rumours aplenty that examiners have quotas for passes and that they have to be watched. Colleges in particular are usually the source of the most amusing of these rumours but never the less, if you think that the examiner may be a problem then by all means take your instructor with you. - I have heard the ramblings of some amusing imaginations on this subject. I will not trouble you with them here but suffice it to say that if you really want us to watch a fellow professional at work then we will if it will make you feel better.

The points against:-

• I do not want two professionals watching me, one is quite intimidating enough.
  
  Fair enough. Do bear in mind though that they are watching you for different reasons. The examiner is watching you to see whether you nake a mistake that has to be marked on their sheet. Your instructor is their as support for you and is totally on your side and wishing you well.



• If I make a small mistake I will be thinking about what my instructor may be thinking.
  
  Don't bother. I can tell you what they will be thinking. Forget it, you cannot change the past, concentrate on what comes next. -

In summary:-

At first glance there are three points 'for' and only two 'against'. If only life were that simple. What you need to do now is to weigh up in your own mind which of these reasons are the most important to you.

My own experience matches that of other instructors that I have spoken to about this subject. Even after being made aware of the points above, most of my pupils do not want me in the car at test time under any circumstances. The occasional one who does take me along has said at the end that if they had failed they would definately not have taken me on their next test. The examiner is daunting enough. the examiner and their instructor as well is apparently just too much.