It’s started! We’ve had snow, and people are already looking on the internet to see if their test is going ahead or not! This happens every year, though I suppose it’s understandable because it’s a new crop of young people who are involved each time.
It’s very simple:
- if there is snow or ice on the roads your test could easily be cancelled
- it is common for morning tests to be cancelled, but later ones to go ahead after the weather improves
- it can work the other way round if the weather deteriorates after a bright start
- the test centre’s decision is made as late as possible to avoid unnecessary cancellations
- if weather is very bad then longer term decisions can be made by the test centre
- you WILL NOT find out if your test is cancelled on the internet
- you WILL find out if you phone the test centre and ask
- I said the test centre, not DVSA head office – it could be -20°C where you are, and +15°C at head office
- the test centre phone number is usually on the email you received when you booked your test
- if you don’t have the test centre number, your instructor should have it
- you MUST turn up unless you have spoken with the test centre on the phone and they’ve told you your test is off
- you DO NOT have to pay for another test if DVSA calls it off
- you WILL have to pay if you just don’t turn up
Remember that just because you’ve been waiting for months for your test does not mean you will be given any special priority. Snow and ice is extremely dangerous and most learners have never driven in it. For that reason tests are routinely cancelled if roads are bad. Examiners are not going to take risks – and nor should anyone expect them to.
In Nottingham, the phone number for Beeston test centre is 0115 922 9458. The phone number for Colwick MPTC is 0115 961 1593. The phone number for Clifton test centre is the same as for Colwick. I do not know the number for Watnall as I haven’t used it yet.
Just for information, I wrote the above on Saturday – the day after it snowed. At Colwick, all tests were cancelled yesterday (Monday). So far, all the morning ones today (Tuesday) are cancelled. Mine was one of them. If anything, it was colder Tuesday than Monday (still -2°C at 10.00am),
The Colwick test centre car park is covered in snow and ice, and bay lines are not clearly visible. The driveway, which is on a slope, is also icy. The roads on the Colwick industrial estate are compacted sheet ice in the shadows where the sun doesn’t get on them. Almost all side roads on the surrounding residential areas are in a similar condition. There are random patches of ice at junctions where dolts who have not cleared snow off their cars have dropped it when they’ve braked hard. Even if any of this melts by late afternoon, it freezes up again overnight and takes until midday to start melting again.
Anyone who blames the DVSA for playing safe and cancelling tests in these conditions is an arsehole.