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Are driving tests fixed?

Are driving tests fixed? Do driving test centres have a quota? Is it bad to take a driving test late in the week if the test pass quota has been reached? These are the questions that driving instructors are frequently asked. Driving tests certainly are not fixed.

If it came to the public’s attention that that the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) are deliberately failing test candidates in a bid to raise revenue, the repercussions would be severe for sure. With over 2000 driving examiners conducting driving tests around the UK, this type of scam couldn’t remain secret for long.

The driving tests are fixed myth often arises from disgruntled test candidates who have failed a driving test firmly believing that their driving skills are of exceptionally high standard and that they drove impeccably throughout their practical test.

This would therefor suggest that either the examiner has no idea what they are doing or that driving tests are fixed.



Are Driving Tests Fixed?

Are Driving Tests Fixed?

We’re not suggested that each and every driving examiner is fair when it comes to conducting tests and correctly assessing a drivers ability. Some are far too strict and can seem like they have failed a learner even before getting in the car.

The vast majority do treat every candidate fairly however and a test failure will be the result of the candidate simply not driving up to standard.

Due to the stress that is put on the candidate during a test and that the 30 or 40 minutes that it takes to complete one, seemingly over in a fraction of this time often can make the entire ordeal a little hazy for the candidate upon completion. Each and every examiner is however monitored for their pass rates.


Varying Test Pass Rates

Each driving test centre has their unique pass rates which is largely dependent on where the centre is located. A test centre in a rural quiet area is likely to have higher pass rates than that of a centre located in a busy city. Quieter rural areas have a tendency to have less complicated road and traffic systems, and of course less traffic on the roads.

Examiners are required to remain within 10% of that test centres pass rates. If they fail or pass too many candidates and fall outside of this 10% threshold, their abilities may be called in to question. Whether you call this a form of quota or a safeguard for the public depends on which way you look at it.





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Comments: 6
  1. John Hagan
    at

    My daughter recently took her test. The examiner congratulated her on passing. Went to give her her certificate then told her that she had failed. How can this happen?

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  2. at

    Hello John,
    I’ve no idea – never heard of that happening before. Didn’t she tell the examiner that she was told that she passed?

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  3. Ryan Hill
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    I had a test that was a brilliant drive. Very smooth with no issues at all. However, while passing another car on a narrow (ish) street, the examiner suddenly hit the breaks on the dual controls and tried to tell me my mirror was going to hit another mirror on his side. I was in shock because my mirror was a least 1 foot away from the parked cars mirror and there was absolutely no way my mirror was going to collide because when he hit the breaks I was 1 foot away with my wheels turned right so it would have been impossible to hit mirrors.. It was obvious he done it to fail me and there is NOTHING I can do about it. I’m assuming he was playing statistics and that was the only way he could fail me because I only got 6 minors throughout the whole test.
    There’s one of two reason why I think he done it. The first is he had already decided to fail me before I started my test or I had accidentally offended him when we were talking. I was asking about his working hours but afterwards I think he may have got the impression I was suggesting he doesn’t do many hours a day.
    Whatever his reason, I am 100% certain he was a corrupt examiner who failed me for the wrong reasons.
    I will be writing to his boss to make the accusation and I will be requesting to view his pass/fail statistics using a freedom of information application so that I can look for any patterns.
    In my honest opinion, I don’t believe that human beings should be doing this job. It’s too easy to manipulate and cheat and I don’t trust my government at the best of times so why should I trust them to have a safe driving test system. Our driving abilities should only be tested by computers because at least we know it’s an honest appraisal and it’s not going to react to human emotions like current examiners do.

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  4. at

    It’s always a difficult one this –
    Though examiners are regulated within a set of rules, there’s margins within those rules that allow for fails and passes based on the examiners opinion – I’ve seen this first hand. So where you failed with this examiner, might have not been an issue with another. This is a perfect example of why I believe internal and external cameras should be permitted during the practical driving test.

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  5. I Drive Better Than Most People
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    Has anyone ever considered that maybe driving examiners don’t have quotas, because the ones that don’t meet it just get fired? If you have a guy that passes everyone (whether fairly or not), he’s going to get the boot because he doesn’t follow the statistics for driving tests. How likely is it that they fire someone who passes too many, versus someone who fails too many, considering that the pass rates are ~45% for men and ~38% for women? (stats are give or take 4%, just look up pass rates in articles, Google it)

    They are obviously going to keep examiners that fail more than they pass as they want to maintain their pass rates.

    Also, consider this: if driving exams were truly fair and judged based on the driver’s abilities, why are there so many bad drivers on the road? How did they get their licenses? Yes, some people fail because they are not ready to drive. I am not talking about those people, I am talking about the people who do have their licenses that should not be on the road – and a driving examination system that lets them on the road while the rest suffer because of statistical probability. It’s really a subtle dystopia that we’ve created for ourselves.

    Admittedly, I failed twice – once because I was asked to drive through the most unsafe, uncommon road conditions (i.e. being told to turn into a lane with construction in it – the correct manoeuvre was to straddle the lane, but I was told to turn into it), the second for speeding (the instructor looked at my speedometer right after I turned into a 30 km/h side road from a 80km/h highway – not enough time to slow down without dangerously braking).

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  6. Ken Casey
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    So basically if you live in an area where lots of people are particularly crap drivers and therefore the fail rate is high your likelihood of passing legitimately is lowered. Instructors know they have to keep within 10% of that rate and will know how many passes / fails they have. Sounds fair. Not.

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