Ep # 5 – Can I Bring My Parrot With Me On My Driving Test?

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Hi and welcome to another episode of Swan & Soto! Your learner driver podcast show. We have a fun show for you during this episode. We discuss headaches, and how women have more headaches than men! Probably because men give us more headaches in the first place!

Soto is pretending to be a foreign learner driver who needs to bring his parrot with him on the driving lesson. Sulay is our unsuspecting driving instructor. So stayed tuned.

Driving Test Pass Rates

The national pass rate for driving tests 47% (2019), Banbury’s pass rate is 54% pass rate. There are over 200+ driving test centres in the UK and the test centre with the lowest pass rate is the driving test centre – Erith in London (30%) which is very low! Have you ever had a driving test in Erith? Did you fail?

The driving test centre that has the highest pass rate is Montrose – Broomfield industrial estate in Scotland, and their pass rate is 74%! So, if you can’t pass your test in the Midlands head to Montrose! What we did discover was that the pass rate was higher in non-cities! Head north of England and Scotland.

Swan’s top 3 hardest places to learn to drive are:

1. Exeter – complex one-way systems, complex roundabouts
2. Oxford – bus lanes, cyclists, emergency vehicles and complex roundabouts
3. Coventry – complex city driving

Whether you are taking a test in a challenging place or not, make sure you get some practice in the local area to become familiar with any complex junctions and speed limits. You’ll never know the exact route you’ll take but it will help settle any nerves on the approach to your driving test.

For more information on your local driving test centres please visit here.

Driving Test Routes

We discuss driving test routes and whether the learner should focus on test routes when on driving lessons. In Somerset, there is a small town that had no roundabouts, no crossroads and no one-way traffic systems – so where you learn to drive does impact your local knowledge. What do you think? Do you believe local test routes is important as part of your learning to drive schedule? Leave a comment below we would love to hear your views.

If you are considering private practice with mum and dad, be sure to head to driving test routes where you can access driving test routes to help with your private practice.

How Pupils Fail Driving Tests

There are so many reasons why learner drivers fail their driving test. During the show, we share our stories on what our students did to fail their driving test. Including a student in Banbury – who decided to miss a pheasant by slamming on the car’s brakes and failed his driving test due to a car following behind.

Our Facebook fam informed us that they failed their driving test due to a monsoon hitting halfway through their driving test. The learner driver failed to put on the wipers in time. I failed my 4th driving test for the same thing!

With lots of other examples of how pupils failed their driving test. Have you ever failed a driving test? Please leave a comment to let us know what happened to you? Do you believe you had an unfair driving test fail? Let us know your story by either leaving a comment below or email us here.

Driving Test Pranks

Listen to our show to listen to Soto pretending to be a pupil called Nikos! Who needs his parrot with him on his driving lessons and of course, on his driving test. Listen to Sulay respond to Soto!

Can you take a parrot with you on a driving test? Some people learn with dogs in the car! But you NEVER know!

Learner Questions

Are you allowed to be barefoot on a driving test? No, said an examiner. But, the highway code says otherwise! What are your thoughts on driving barefoot? Or have you struggled to drive in specific shoes? Let us know below in the comments what your thoughts are on this!

Until next time

Swan & Soto!

Tagged as: parrot on driving test,  driving test pass rates,  driving test fails.