I was out on a lesson tonight with a pupil who’d passed his Theory Test yesterday. I suggested that he book his Practical Test, because with the waiting time what it is we’re already looking at early November.
He isn’t too far off test standard, so I suggested that we could look at any date from the beginning of October. He was a bit unsure because it is “only 4 weeks away” – but then he had a thought and asked “when are they changing the test?”
I explained again what the change was, and assured him he had nothing to worry about. I then told him part of where we were going to drive to on today’s lesson, and said I would let him do it without any directions from me.
He did it perfectly. All the mirror checks and signals were there – and, if anything, he did it better than he had done any time before. And I’ve found the same thing with various pupils over the last couple of months – not one of those who I have felt ready to try it have had even the slightest problem.
So, moving from the real world into its dark underbelly, I noticed a comment on one of the forums:
The most common [complaint by pupils] by far is when they are so focussed on the route that the most basic of routines (MSPSL etc) seem to disappear as if they were never learned.
Well, teach them properly and they won’t! It’s a fault of the pupil (and their trainer), not Independent Driving if they can’t do it – and it’s exactly what Independent Driving is designed to test, and therefore what the ADI is supposed to teach.