What is the driving test report?

What is the driving test report?

It would be nice to think that everybody performed perfectly in their driving test and there was no need for any driving test report. Alternatively, perhaps the Driving Instructor could be expected to remember all forty minutes of your driving, and how you did on every single aspect of the test, without muddling you up with his/her other six candidates for the day.

Sound a little far-fetched?

That’s why they have the driving test report.

Throughout the test the examiner will be making marks on the report, which is standard form DL25 and is usually on a clip-board in front of them, and at the end of the test they give part of the report to you and talk you through any errors that you’ve made and why they passed or failed you.

What goes on the report?

The report has four pages. DL25A is the top copy, on which the examiner writes, this is carbon copied on DL25B, which has a back page for the examiner’s notes. These pages are retained by the test centre. Another carbon copy is DL25C which is given to you at the end of your test, and on the reverse of this are explanatory notes and details of the appeals procedure. The fourth page is DL25D which explains each section of the report and what the examiner was looking for, and is also given to you at the end of the test.

At the top of the report the examiner records the date, your name and licence number, their own name and reference number, the Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) number of your instructor, and some details about the car. The main part of the report is made up of boxes. Each item that you are being tested on has a box, for example “use of speed”, “following distance”, and some are further broken down within the box, so the “signals” box has “necessary”, “correctly” and “timed” sections. In each box there are spaces for the instructor to mark faults or errors. These are minor, S (serious) and D (dangerous) faults. Whether a fault is minor, serious or dangerous has a lot to do with road conditions and other road users. For example, if you fail to indicate at a junction once, that might be recorded as a minor fault. If your failing to indicate meant that another road user was put in danger, then that would probably constitute a serious fault. If the examiner or another road user was forced to take evasive action to avoid danger, for example the examiner needed to use the dual controls to stop the car at a zebra crossing to prevent you running over a pedestrian, then that would be a dangerous fault. At the end of the test, if you have any serious or dangerous faults, then you will have failed. If you have sixteen or more minor faults, then you will also have failed. If you have fifteen or fewer minor faults then you will probably have passed the test.

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