Everything You Need to Know with BSM

When you start learning to drive, getting your licence can seem like it’s an awful long way away, but for some people, test day can’t come soon enough. If either of these sound like you, it could be that you don’t trust in your own driving abilities or you’re worried that nerves will get the better of you in front of the examiner on the big day.

On the other hand, it could be that you just can’t wait to take your driving test and you’re itching for the first chance you can get to try. Now, you could be dead wrong in both cases and whilst you should listen to your instincts, you should also look for evidence about whether your confidence, or lack of it, is well-founded or not.

So, to help you gain some clarity on the subject, we look at a few signs that point towards you not being quite ready enough to take and pass your driving test. By reading to the end, you’ll have a better idea about whether you should delay things a little or press ahead and take that practical test!

Getting nervous before your driving test is totally normal, as getting your licence is a pretty big deal in anyone’s life. It’s only human to feel butterflies in your stomach at such an important moment and it’s pretty rare to feel none at all. That said, there is a big difference between test day nerves and general nervousness when you’re behind the wheel.

It’s true that most people don’t feel 100% confident driving until they’ve been driving for a while, but you do need to believe that you’ve got the ability to drive well on your test. If you’re suffering with extreme nerves every time you drive, you probably need some more time to get used to being out on the road.

If you’ve already taken a number of driving lessons, you might have developed a degree of confidence in a lot of the main driving skills you need to be a competent driver. However, there may also be some other things, like parallel parking or navigating box junctions, that you’re not so good at.

The thing is, your driving test isn’t like a test you take at school, where only particular parts will come up, as you’ll need to show competency at all the main elements of driving skill. So, while you might ace most of the test, you could fall down at a key moment on something you needed to practice more. So, the question you need to ask yourself before booking your test is “are there still things I need to work on?”

Everyone learns at different speeds, so there’s nothing set in stone as to how many lessons you should take before attempting your practical test. A general rule of thumb though is that you should take at least 45 hours of driving lessons to be fully ready for your test, so if you’re way under this figure, there’s a chance you might be more confident than you should be.

It’s perfectly natural to want to get your licence as soon as you can, but good things take time and driving safely involves learning a range of quite complex skills. Ordinarily, it takes time to fully grasp everything and for it to become second nature and while being confident is good, you don’t want to be over-confident.

The purpose of this page is not to stop you booking your driving test, as the perfect time will vary from person to person. However, it’s important to know whether you’re being realistic and the good news is that your BSM instructor will always be honest and tell you exactly where you stand.

Your instructor wants you to pass as much as you do, so listen to what they have to say, be aware of what we’ve spoken about here and you’ll have a great chance of passing first time around!