Is the test designed to be stressful?

daveharnett

Reading the test threads put me to thinking. By design, the test is unnecessarily stressful. The testers seem to be universally uncommunicative in the car, which lots of people find quite off-putting. Add to that the whole business of the marking sheet, which is unbelievably distracting.

Just to give a comparison, after passing I took a test for ignition with an IAM instructor, which was psychologically miles easier. The tester was friendly and communicative, and afterward he talked me through (and graded) my whole 30 minute drive with needing to take or refer to notes.

I'm starting to think that the test is intended to stress drivers. I'd like to hear testers' opinions on this. I can see the point - people will have to cope with driving in stressful conditions in the real world from time to time too.

erwinvr101

i passed the test first time and the tester was nice and kind. a friend of mine who failed his test with the same tester told me that he was very rude. so i'm thinking maybe it just depends on the tester's mood.

Alanstrainor

I do think the current driving test leaves a lot to be desired. I think there should be a break down/talk through of where you went wrong after the test and there are other things too. But as for the examinor being "uncommunicative" during the test, all i would want them to say during the test is give me instructions on where to go and what to do next. I do not want to have a conversation with this person. And i would expect them to be professional when doing the test and no chat to the driver. Doing so is only a distraction and imo would make it far to easy to make a mistake.

DriveSkill

I dont think the test is deliberately designed to be stressful, I guess by definition any test is going to cause a certain about of stress in the candidate. In the case of the driving test it is sort of amplified as you are in a confined space and you know that pretty much everything you do is being watched and graded accordingly.

I dont think the examiners should engage in too much 'small talk' during the test, they certainly should be polite and courteous but most people would prefer them not to be chatting all the way through - its a cause of distraction and the driver should really just focus on their driving, listen to the instructions and not be doing anything else.

I agree that the current working practices of not discussing the test result in any detail is one of the major flaws in the system but I dont think that contributes to additional stress - maybe more frustration and annoyance if you do fail.

BTW most ADIs will tell you they felt some stress while doing Part 2 and Part 3 of their exams so its not just the learner drivers who have to go through it

murrayp4

I don't mind the fact the testers are uncommunicative. As long as you're prepared for that and realise you're in an exam situation and chatting with your examiner is inappropriate.
What I would say is if the RSA is serious about increasing road safety it is a nonsense that mistakes are not explained to the candidate. How is a learner to remedy a mistake when he/she genuinely doesn't know what the mistake is and will not be told what it is??

Victoria.

Yep the whole silent tester thing is really off putting to me.
My tester was nice but still it was just awkward.

I think they need to change the system of giving the person their results too. I mean when I passed I got 2 grade 2s or something like that and the tester went into great detail about each situation and and how to handle it better down to what street it was on even saying stuff like 'remember the red car and the white van....'.

Surely it would be beneficial to do this for the people who don't pass too. Maybe they do it to avoid conflict so candidates wont have the chance to argue with the tester if they're annoyed or upset that they didn't pass?

Glad I only had to do it once. There was a guy in the waiting room with me preparing for his 8th test. Poor guy was actually shaking so if they could minimise the stress for people like him he would have a much better chance because I know I would find it difficult to drive in the state he was in.

me_right_one

I think it depends on your ability to compartmentalise. If you can easily compartmentalise, you wont give a fiddlers about the silent tester. In fact, his silence makes it easier. If you cant compartmentalise, then you just cant take your mind off the glaring awkwardness of the situation. Obviously its easier for men to compartmentalise than women, so maybe that has something to do with why male pass first time more than females.

Mint Sauce

wouldn't say stressfull, but very nerve racking. my first test i was a bag of nerves, the tester was very direct and to the point with his instructions and any time i asked for clarification with instructions, no conversation before or after the test, just in and out.

2nd test, had a different fella, seemed approachable from the start, i had a moment during the test where i stalled, asked for moment to compose my self, and tester was fine with it.

had a full conversation with the guy back in the office when he was filling out my paper work for the licencing office, almost the kind you have down the pub

probably really depends on the personality, weahter or not there haveing a good day, etc, as for the marking, i didn't even notice what they were doing, too busy focusing on the road and my driving

i found my second time a lot easier, maybe becuase i knew what to expect, and just got on with the driving for the 20-30 minutes, forgeting who was beside me and what they were doing