For the first time in my 10 year time as a driving instructor I had a provisional licence candidate who took a test at a centre in London and was failed by the the same examiner 3 times! I sat in on 2 of the practical assessments, and unfortunately I agreed with the serious faults that were marked on the DL25 report sheet. What I did not agree with was the attitude and professional conduct of the examiner.
On the 3rd driving test, the learner opted to go alone, so I can not comment on what happened in the car, but the report sheet showed 1 major fault for being too close to a parked vehicle. My client was obviously upset and asked to speak to the manager to find out why the same examiner assessed them 3 times and also complain on how they had been treated, including a claim that they were told to hurry up because the learner was a bit too slow!
Meeting the test centre manager revealed that all driving test examiner bookings are done automatically by a computer at the DSA headquaters and are supposed to be totally random. The manager did obviously say that all examiners are impartial, but if any test candidate was not happy with an examiner they were allocated, the only thing they could do would be to request that the manager accompany them to make sure the test was conducted to the proper professional standard.
My client did book another manual driving test at the same centre, and did get another examiner this time and decided to go with a family relation rather than the test centre manager who was ready for the ride. This time the result was positive (I believe not because of a different examiner, but just the drive met the standard required), no serious or dangerous driver errors, but there were a few things that the examiner had to debrief on.
The most important lesson to learn is not to give up, no matter how many times you do not succeed, keep working hard, giving your best, and you will get that full UK driving licence!
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