{"id":23937,"date":"2020-04-10T15:01:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T14:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=23937"},"modified":"2023-06-17T00:08:45","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T23:08:45","slug":"itv-secrets-of-the-driving-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=23937","title":{"rendered":"ITV: Secrets Of The Driving Test"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Old post warning.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is a new series on ITV, where cameras were allowed \u2018unprecedented access\u2019 to the driving test and test centres, and each week (if it sticks to the same format), follows three candidates with a bit of background information about them, and footage of their performance during their tests. You can still watch it on ITV\u2019s catch-up service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going from the first episode \u2013 and the \u2018next time\u2019 bit at the end (which I haven\u2019t watched, yet) \u2013 it\u2019s clear that their choice of which candidates to show is diversity-driven. And I mean \u2018diversity\u2019 in the broadest possible sense, with knobs on. I suppose just showing good drivers who pass easily would be boring, so you can maybe see why they did it this way. Obviously, there\u2019s a lot of editing going on to get three tests condensed into a 30-minute slot, so it focuses on mistakes rather than the good bits, which fairly obviously makes it more watchable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The narration is a bit annoying in my opinion, both in terms of the actual voiceover \u2013 it\u2019s a bit grating – but also in what he is saying and how he says it (that grates, too). The funniest part, though, is seeing other instructors’ reactions to it. Not content with complaining about their own pupils\u2019 results, now they can do it by proxy and whinge about other pupils\u2019 results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing that was shown in the programme contradicts what I have experienced with my own test candidates. I always tell (or teach, or coach) mine that driving onto a footpath is bad and that they shouldn’t do it. And to assume a fail if they do. Because purposely<\/strong> driving onto a footpath and thinking it\u2019s OK is not good by any stretch of the imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doing it for an instant, by accident \u2013 and who hasn\u2019t<\/strong> clipped a kerb at some point (even when they\u2019re super-perfect ADIs who hold court on social media)? – is in a grey area. Clip a kerb that\u2019s half a meter high, and tear off the front of the car \u2013 fine. Fail, with knobs on. But brush a normal one (or clip a dropped kerb) at low speed? The examiner\u2019s decision based on the rest of the drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1st programme, one pupil had effectively passed minutes before returning to the test centre. Then he stalled repeatedly for trying to move off at a roundabout in 3rd gear. He\u2019d just taken a wrong turn \u2013 which isn\u2019t a fail in itself \u2013 but he knew he\u2019d gone wrong and became stressed by it, resulting in the stalls. If he\u2019d have realised after the 1st or 2nd stall he was in 3rd he\u2019d probably have passed. As soon as the examiner had to tell him he was in the wrong gear \u2013 that’s ETA (V) on the test sheet \u2013 he\u2019d failed. So close, but definitely a fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second candidate had also passed minutes before the end. But then she sat waiting to turn right at a junction when it was clear that all the traffic ahead of her had stopped. I can\u2019t recall from the programme if a filter light came on (I don\u2019t think they showed that), but we have a similar junction in Nottingham, and more than one candidate has failed for sitting back. Definitely a fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It reminds me of a pupil I had about 12 years ago, As he drove back into the test centre, he had two driver faults on his sheet. The examiner asked him to drive forward into a bay (and back then it didn\u2019t matter how you did it, or how many bays you used). So he braked late and hit the barrier. Only slightly, but he hit it. Fail. Driving into a bay is one thing, driving into a wall at the back of it is something else. Fair enough, the examiner could<\/strong> have passed him (and I\u2019d have accepted that), but he didn\u2019t (and I accepted that). Because it isn\u2019t my call. It\u2019s the examiner\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what can happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to tests, I do my job, and I let the examiners do theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edit:<\/strong> Episode 2 \u2013 yep! ITV\u2019s primary objective when conceiving this series was definitely \u2018diversity\u2019 among anyone<\/strong> appearing on screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The examiners are still definitely doing their jobs properly, though, and come across professionally. Mind you, the older woman from Cardiff\u2019s test would more likely have been abandoned – or at least diverted back to the test centre early – around here. The candidates are clearly (mostly) hand-picked. Rich and Yolana were the only token candidates who were test ready, with Rich \u2013 as the older driver \u2013 making probably the most typical mistake people who can \u2018already drive\u2019 make when they go on test. The clips of his lessons showed him to be a decent driver overall. You could see Yolana was going to pass from the short clips of her lessons \u2013 she was good. Mind you, she\u2019d have got a bollocking from me if she was mine after I\u2019d watched the dashcam footage later, for choosing a bay next to a kerb to park in when the whole bloody row was free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve got a pupil at the moment who is in his late 40s, and who has years\u2019 of experience driving in another country. He can genuinely drive, but getting him to understand the importance of blind spot checks, then getting him to actually check them, has been a nightmare. He failed his first test for it, and that was after around 25 hours of lessons. I\u2019d got him to check properly on lessons, but he was only doing it as an artificial exercise and was not taking it seriously. So he fell back to driving like he has for the last 30-odd years in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ITV\u2019s apparent desire to get mistakes on screen does show, though, that not taking proper training is not a good idea for the majority of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old post warning.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a new series on ITV, where cameras were allowed \u2018unprecedented access\u2019 to the driving test and test centres, and each week (if it sticks to the same format), follows three candidates with a bit of background information about them, and footage of their performance during their tests. You can still watch it on ITV\u2019s catch-up service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going from the first episode \u2013 and the \u2018next time\u2019 bit at the end (which I haven\u2019t watched, yet) \u2013 it\u2019s clear that their choice of which candidates to show is diversity-driven. And I mean \u2018diversity\u2019 in the broadest possible sense, with knobs on. I suppose just showing good drivers who pass easily would be boring, so you can maybe see why they did it this way. Obviously, there\u2019s a lot of editing going on to get three tests condensed into a 30-minute slot, so it focuses on mistakes rather than the good bits, which fairly obviously makes it more watchable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The narration is a bit annoying in my opinion, both in terms of the actual voiceover \u2013 it\u2019s a bit grating – but also in what he is saying and how he says it (that grates, too). The funniest part, though, is seeing other instructors’ reactions to it. Not content with complaining about their own pupils\u2019 results, now they can do it by proxy and whinge about other pupils\u2019 results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing that was shown in the programme contradicts what I have experienced with my own test candidates. I always tell (or teach, or coach) mine that driving onto a footpath is bad and that they shouldn’t do it. And to assume a fail if they do. Because purposely<\/strong> driving onto a footpath and thinking it\u2019s OK is not good by any stretch of the imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doing it for an instant, by accident \u2013 and who hasn\u2019t<\/strong> clipped a kerb at some point (even when they\u2019re super-perfect ADIs who hold court on social media)? – is in a grey area. Clip a kerb that\u2019s half a meter high, and tear off the front of the car \u2013 fine. Fail, with knobs on. But brush a normal one (or clip a dropped kerb) at low speed? The examiner\u2019s decision based on the rest of the drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1st programme, one pupil had effectively passed minutes before returning to the test centre. Then he stalled repeatedly for trying to move off at a roundabout in 3rd gear. He\u2019d just taken a wrong turn \u2013 which isn\u2019t a fail in itself \u2013 but he knew he\u2019d gone wrong and became stressed by it, resulting in the stalls. If he\u2019d have realised after the 1st or 2nd stall he was in 3rd he\u2019d probably have passed. As soon as the examiner had to tell him he was in the wrong gear \u2013 that’s ETA (V) on the test sheet \u2013 he\u2019d failed. So close, but definitely a fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second candidate had also passed minutes before the end. But then she sat waiting to turn right at a junction when it was clear that all the traffic ahead of her had stopped. I can\u2019t recall from the programme if a filter light came on (I don\u2019t think they showed that), but we have a similar junction in Nottingham, and more than one candidate has failed for sitting back. Definitely a fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It reminds me of a pupil I had about 12 years ago, As he drove back into the test centre, he had two driver faults on his sheet. The examiner asked him to drive forward into a bay (and back then it didn\u2019t matter how you did it, or how many bays you used). So he braked late and hit the barrier. Only slightly, but he hit it. Fail. Driving into a bay is one thing, driving into a wall at the back of it is something else. Fair enough, the examiner could<\/strong> have passed him (and I\u2019d have accepted that), but he didn\u2019t (and I accepted that). Because it isn\u2019t my call. It\u2019s the examiner\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what can happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to tests, I do my job, and I let the examiners do theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edit:<\/strong> Episode 2 \u2013 yep! ITV\u2019s primary objective when conceiving this series was definitely \u2018diversity\u2019 among anyone<\/strong> appearing on screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The examiners are still definitely doing their jobs properly, though, and come across professionally. Mind you, the older woman from Cardiff\u2019s test would more likely have been abandoned – or at least diverted back to the test centre early – around here. The candidates are clearly (mostly) hand-picked. Rich and Yolana were the only token candidates who were test ready, with Rich \u2013 as the older driver \u2013 making probably the most typical mistake people who can \u2018already drive\u2019 make when they go on test. The clips of his lessons showed him to be a decent driver overall. You could see Yolana was going to pass from the short clips of her lessons \u2013 she was good. Mind you, she\u2019d have got a bollocking from me if she was mine after I\u2019d watched the dashcam footage later, for choosing a bay next to a kerb to park in when the whole bloody row was free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve got a pupil at the moment who is in his late 40s, and who has years\u2019 of experience driving in another country. He can genuinely drive, but getting him to understand the importance of blind spot checks, then getting him to actually check them, has been a nightmare. He failed his first test for it, and that was after around 25 hours of lessons. I\u2019d got him to check properly on lessons, but he was only doing it as an artificial exercise and was not taking it seriously. So he fell back to driving like he has for the last 30-odd years in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ITV\u2019s apparent desire to get mistakes on screen does show, though, that not taking proper training is not a good idea for the majority of people.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n