Failed test four times due to nerves

Clodz6

Hi everyone,
Posting here for advice as I am at my wits end.

I'm due to sit my fifth driving test on Friday and am doing all the usual tricks; I know my questions inside and out, have told no one bar my instructor/boss and am getting a lesson the morning of my test.

During lessons, I'm grand, no real problems with my driving and last test I failed instructor was genuinely shocked that i didn't pass.

The nerves keep getting the better of me on the day though and no amount of rescue remedy helps!

I make stupid mistakes that I never make during lessons.

I NEED to pass this time and I know I'm capable, but at this stage I just can never passing the test.

Can anyone offer any help?

Posy

Have you tried Bach rescue remedy? I took it before my test and although I was still a bag of nerves, I think it helped.

MascotDec85

If you can get an appointment for your GP explain to them how your nerves affect your performance on the test and they should give you something to help.
You won’t be given anything that’ll make you drowsy so don’t worry about that.

Fingers crossed it goes well on Friday. If it doesn’t, PM me and I’ll advise you how to proceed from there.

Effects

Posy wrote: »

Have you tried Bach rescue remedy?

.

Clodz6 wrote: »

no amount of rescue remedy helps!

Effects

MascotDec85 wrote: »

If you can get an appointment for your GP explain to them how your nerves affect your performance on the test and they should give you something to help.

Like what?

micks_address

Its hard but if you can try and disconnect yourself from the fact it's a test and treat it as a driving lesson it could help. I was nervous doing mine back when and I remember having to pull out at a junction with no lights and a ton of traffic.. I was thinking will I just go but I waited till there was a decent break in traffic and it was fine. I also find when I'm nervous about something like an interview to imagine afterwards, visualize the rest of your day, after the test, lunch, work, boring routine. It's all much easier said than done. Also I'd suggest getting to the test centre early and go for a brisk walk and don't be sitting around waiting for the test to start. I always find my mind running away with itself if I've too much time to over think things.. best of luck with it.
Cheers
Mick

micks_address

Effects wrote: »

Like what?

I'd imagine something relaxing but not sure what is that wouldn't make you drowsy

micks_address

Also do you fail on the same things each time or does it vary? Are you doing the test in your own car or instructors?

MascotDec85

Effects wrote: »

Like what?

Normally a beta blocker or something like that but that’s for the GP to decide.

BuboBubo

Failed mine twice many years ago due to nerves. Only advice I have is next time you have a date for your test - tell nobody you're doing it. Not a soul. It stops the texts, calls etc from well meaning family and friends. I found not telling people when I was doing it the third time helped massively.

Look back at your test results, take note of the things you failed on. Do a few laps of the test route with your instructor, ask their advice on calming your nerves pre-test. If you're anxious and a nervous person in general and it's affecting your daily life talk to your GP.

linpoo

I second don't tell anybody about the test. Takes some of the pressure off.

I failed twice due to nerves and making stupid mistakes I wouldn't normally make due to nerves and I was 2nd guessing things I know are correct to do when driving.

For my 3rd test I said to myself i'm just going to drive like I normally do and I was more relaxed and passed with flying colours.

Remember, they are there to confirm you are a safe driver, they're not there to catch you out and find ways to fail you. Just show them the way you normally drive.

Posy

I didn't tell anyone about my test either, only my instructor knew.

Posy wrote: »

Have you tried Bach rescue remedy? I took it before my test and although I was still a bag of nerves, I think it helped.

Sorry, didn't notice that you said in the OP that you already use it!

All I can add is that if you make a mistake just carry on and don't dwell on it for the rest of the test... and good luck on Friday!

ayux4rj6zql2ph

OP, hard luck on the previous 4 occasions, best of luck for this Friday. As has been said, try and disconnect yourself from it being a test, i done so every time i had a driving test and passed, there seems to be an awful stigma with driving tests and nerves, maybe i am one of a rare breed that it never affected. Stay calm and keep a positive mental attitude, proceed as if the 4 previous occasions never existed. Testers in my experience are lovely people who have a job to do and aren't out to get a quota as some might lead you to believe.

Stark

In my case what I ended up doing was booking two tests soon after each other. That was the days when the waiting times for tests were over a year so if you failed, you had to wait a year to retry which didn't help with nerves. Not sure if that's still the case. But with the second test booked soon after the other, I was able to tell myself the first one was the "practice test for the second test" so not to worry about being examined. Did the trick, went through the whole test completely relaxed and passed with only two minor faults. I think if I wasn't in that mindset I would have panicked and failed as the guy next to me was jotting down notes throughout the test and I would have been thinking to myself each note was a fault he was marking down.

Bigus

Ask the instructor to send you out on a pre test with a stranger instructor in the morning before the test ?

deaglan1

Try reverse psychology. Instead of focusing on yourself and your nerves, you should change the whole scenario of the event to being one in which YOU ARE IN CONTROL & YOUR MISSION IS TO MAKE THE INSPECTOR FEEL AT EASE. S(he) really wants you to do well and your sole objective is to make this possible. Now, sitting into the car is not to do a test at all, it is an objective, demanding the highest standards from you, the controller, to help the inspector.

zepman

Alluding to the advice of disconnecting yourself from the fact that it's a test, try putting things in perspective. Don't make the driving test more important than it is. No matter how important the test seems, there are far more important things in your life. You're putting too much pressure on yourself by saying that you "NEED to pass this time". Just focus on driving well, not the results.

Additionally, I would do mock tests during every lesson with the instructor so that you get well-used to handling things like - no talking except when getting directions, the constant feeling that every action you take is being judged, noticing the examiner in your peripheral vision 'marking' something and wondering what grade it is, etc. The results of these mock tests should be of little concern (of course, your instructor would use those to identify and correct any problem areas there still might be in your driving). Their main purpose should be to "normalise" the test-like situation.

Isambard

you need much more practice , so that driving begins to become second nature to you. You can them concentrate on driving rather than concentrating on taking a test. I agree with Zepman, it's worrying about what your Examiner is thinking rather than concentrating on your driving that is the problem. If you can drive well on a lesson, you can do the same in the test. Believe in yourself

micks_address

Isambard wrote: »

you need much more practice , so that driving begins to become second nature to you. You can them concentrate on driving rather than concentrating on taking a test. I agree with Zepman, it's worrying about what your Examiner is thinking rather than concentrating on your driving that is the problem. If you can drive well on a lesson, you can do the same in the test. Believe in yourself

Easier said than done... Testing of any sort adds stress... I was driving for years and then did one of those advanced driver courses and tests afterwards and I was doing completely dumb things just cause I knew the guy next to me was watching for mistakes

Pretzill

Hi OP I don't think rescue remedy or anything medicated will help. You just have to look like you're in control. Tell the tester you're nervous and not good in a test situation. Then take each direction in your stride. It's only twenty minutes (half hour Max) driving around an area you are familiar with. Best of luck!

MascotDec85

How did your test go last week?

StillThinking

For anybody else looking for answers, my husband failed 3 times, he was so nervous his foot was shaking and couldn't hold it on the clutch. He spoke to the doctor's and they gave him beta blockers, they stop the physical symptoms of nervousness or anxiety.
He's an excellent driver but is not good with tests of any sort.
Beta blockers worked a charm, he even told another friend about them who had failed once but passed the second with the aid of the beta blockers.