Observer on Test - A Review

The most recent change to the driving test has seen the introduction of “observer on test.” Instructors and accompanying drivers have been allowed to sit in on a test but previously the test candidate had to make the request to the examiner before the commencement of the test. Since April 2010, the bias has been changed and the examiner now asks the test candidate if they would like their instructor or accompanying driver to sit in and observe the test. The idea was to have a third party who could view the test and give feedback to the candidate if they were unsuccessful. The instructor would recognise weaknesses in the test candidate’s driving and hopefully resolve them before retaking the test.

I had previously sat in and observed just three driving tests over the fifteen years since I became a driving instructor and all three were unsuccessful. Initially a useful experience as a new instructor but I never saw the advantage beyond that and didn’t accompany any more tests until the change in emphasis placed the choice with the pupil this year.

I remember one pupil, Sonia, who was feeling particularly nervous, and wanted me in the back of the car. Of course I wasn’t allowed to be involved in the test and watching the pupil fail to see a pedestrian stepping onto a zebra crossing was painful. Her next test finished up with the same result as she failed to give way to a cyclist on a roundabout.

The only other pupil I observed was Martha and she suggested I contributed to her failure by distracting her when she looked through the rear of the car during an unsuccessful parallel park manoeuvre. After that, I never wanted to sit in at the risk of putting the test candidate off.

And since the change this year - two more tests with me in the back! The first one was with Tina who didn’t anticipate a green light changing, so was a little late stopping and finished up in the cyclist stop/waiting area. (To me, not a serious problem, at least she stopped safely). Her second serious fault was pulling in behind a bus displaying hazard warning lights. She hadn’t reaslised it was parked. Actually it moved away as Tina stopped but that was more luck than judgement, so the examiner gave a serious fault (though as it turned out, no problems to other road users. Serious fault or minor?

The second test was at least successful, but I watched as my test candidate, Andrew, pulled out of a side road with a car approaching from the right. I felt he shouldn’t have gone and unfortunately he saw me grimace via the rear view mirror and thought he’d made a serious mistake. Luckily it didn’t affect the result – but it could have done.

Now I tell this latter story to my test candidates but still give them the choice of me observing. They have all declined so far and basically we are back to where we started. I can also see problems where I disagree with the examiner’s interpretation of a fault, especially if they are novices and I have had that many more years experience.

Perhaps with the arrival of the “independent drive” I should observe a test to check out the format and see if the change is likely to improve newly qualified drivers. I’ve been encouraging independent driving for years with my pupils, so it’s nothing new to me.