A driving instructor has given his insight into why so many people fail their driving test.
Taking your driving test is a nerve-wracking experience for many as they bring together everything they have learnt after weeks and months of lessons. Learning how to drive is an important life skill and it is common for people to need more than one attempt before they pass.
UK driving instructor Jason Horsfield believes the main reason people fail their driving test is because they’re “not doing the things in the right order.” He explained this further in a TikTok video posted in October 2024.
Jason said: “Now, every single day in the UK there’s over half of the people who take the driving test actually fail every single day. Why? Because you guys are giving your examiners something to fail you for so you are actually failing yourself.
“Right, I want you to watch the rest of this video. It’s going to give you massive tips on how to pass your test.
“So at the moment we’re running about 42-46% pass rate in the UK so more people fail than actually pass. Why? Because you’re not doing the things in the right order.”
He added that people “might know how to drive” but are “not driving in the right order.” The instructor recommended commentary driving because he thinks “the more you talk out loud” and “say what you see” the more you will “respond to what you see.”
Jason gave an example of what to say out loud when you are driving and coming up to a left turn: “Mirrors, signal, brake, gear.” He claims to help “about 25 people a day” pass their driving test through his educational TikTok videos which focus on driving structures and techniques.
The UK driving test lasts around 40 minutes and is made up of five parts: an eyesight test, ‘show me, tell me’ vehicle safety questions, general driving ability, reversing your vehicle and independent driving. The test is the same for both manual and automatic cars.
There are three types of faults you can make, as set out by the government website. These are dangerous faults, errors that involve actual danger, to you, the examiner, the public or property, a serious fault, something potentially dangerous and a driving fault, something that is “not potentially dangerous, but if you keep making the same fault, it could become a serious fault.”
Jason’s TikTok clip advocating for commentary driving and discussing why so many people fail their test has amassed 790,600 views, 18,100 likes and nearly 400 comments. One user said: “So true, commentary driving done on my test and helped so much and passed first time.”
Another added: “I remember when I passed back in April. I was commentating the whole time just to show the thought processes and make them feel more comfortable that I knew what I was doing. It helps a lot.”
A driving examiner in the comment section echoed this strategy: “As an examiner I love it when people do a commentary on their test. It lets me know their thought process and what they’re doing, great tip.”
