It’s usually a good idea to wait until your driving instructor says that you’re ready before booking a driving test. However, with some test centres having driving test waiting times of over 4 months, it’s now probably a better idea to book your driving test well in advance of you becoming test-ready.
If you do book a driving test in advance, then you’ll need to ensure that your schedule has the flexibility to accommodate the necessary lessons for you to reach test standard before your test date.
Additionally, you’ll need to also ensure that your driving instructor has the availability to accommodate the required amount of lessons that you’ll need. To have some sort of assurance on this, it’s recommended that you block book all driving lessons right up until your test date.
Block booking driving lessons is a popular option as it guarantees you a regular lesson slot, well into the future. When block booking driving lessons, you often need to pay for many of the lessons up front, if not all the lessons, though this can often be negotiated with your instructor.
So yes, it can be good idea to book a driving test even if you’re not ready, provided that you make the necessary provisions to ensure you have sufficient driving lessons before your test date. Ideally, this should also include private tuition from family or friends on top of professional driving lessons if possible.
How Do I know How Many Lessons I’ll Need?
Your driving instructor will know how many driving lessons you’ll need. Instructors are quite accurate at being able to assess a learner’s ability and how many lessons they will need.
The average novice learner driver requires around 45 hours of professional tuition, along with an additional 20 hours or so of private tuition. You may require more or you may require less, so discuss this with your instructor along with the ability to block book all the driving lessons up until the test date once you have it booked. Some instructors may offer to book the driving test on your behalf.
What if I’m Not Test Ready?
There is a risk that you’ll not progress at the rate that your instructor predicted and that you may not be ready for the test as the date gets close. If this happens, ask your instructor if they can fit in some additional lessons and concentrate on the areas that need most work.
If your instructor does not have availability, you can look for another instructor to assist with top-up lessons. It’s usually best to keep to the same instructor however, as using two different instructors may confuse your learning.
Ultimately you can cancel your driving test and reschedule it with the DVSA free of charge as long as you give them three working days notice. The issue with this, is that you may have to wait a considerable time for another test date.