An email alert from the DSA has just arrived and it says that later this month, new learning materials will be available for those taking the theory test from January 2012.
This was originally announced in 2010 – it was mentioned in the December 2010 issue of Despatch, and first announced in late October 2010. A lot of people – including instructors – seem not to be aware of it even in late 2011.
In a nutshell, the DSA will no longer be publishing the question bank in an effort to stop people just learning the answers by rote. In a way, it is a throwback to when I did my test many years ago, where you learnt the Highway Code and applied it. Sadly, in just the same way that general secondary education has gone down the route of trying to make it easier for people to pass exams by making the test easier rather than improving the educational system (and then boasting about how good everyone is every Summer, after record A*** (or however many stars they use) grades), so the driving test went the same way over the last 30 years or so.
There are already bad noises coming from the usual agitators, but it is an excellent idea by the DSA.
These new learning materials – books, CDs, and DVDs – will contain example questions, but not the actual ones used on test.
EDIT: The most recent DSA news update says the change comes into force from 23 January 2012.