Gr8 2 Drive School of Motoring
Theory Test
From the 1st October 2014 the theory test costs £23 and can be booked online here, by phone (0300 2001122), or by post (Download a pdf form from the "other ways to apply" tab on the booking page). The theory test is not taken at the same place as your practical driving test. A list of test centres is given here. Your driving licence number and credit/debit card details are required to book your test. You can change your test date by giving 3 clear working days’ notice without loss of your fee.
When taking your test you need to your photocard driving licence. If you don’t bring your licence you will not be allowed to take the test and you will lose your fee. If you have an older licence you must bring the signed licence itself and your valid passport.
The theory test is made up of two parts: 50 multiple choice questions and a hazard perception test. Both parts must be taken together and both parts must be passed to receive a pass. If you fail one part you have to take both parts again.
The multiple choice questions are relevant to the category of vehicle for which you are trying to get a licence. In other words you won’t be asked questions only relevant to motorcycles if you are taking a Category B car test.
The Hazard perception test is the same for all categories of vehicles but the pass rate varies.
Multiple choice Questions
Instructions will be given as to how to do the test before you start. The questions are given on a touch screen and you can navigate back / forward and flag up questions you want to revisit. Some questions require more than one answer.
You can choose to do a practice test first if you want.
The 50 questions are chosen randomly from a large bank of questions which are based on the Highway Code. You may be given a case study. This will consist of 5 questions about a given road situation. Time allowed is 57 minutes. The pass mark for car drivers is 43 out of 50.
If you click on this link you can practice a couple of official theory tests.
Hazard Perception Test
After the multiple choice questions, you can have a break of up to 3 minutes.
Before the Hazard perception Test starts you will be shown a short video clip explain how the test works. In the test you will be given a series of clips showing every day scenes on the road. Your job is to identify one or more developing hazards in the clips. So what is a developing hazard? This is a situation where you will need to take some action such as changing road position or speed. So take for example a car parked on the other side of the road. While it is there doing nothing it is not a hazard (you can click if you like but you won’t gain or lose marks). However if a car approaches from the other direction you now have a developing hazard so to click now will give you high marks as you recognize that this could lead to a situation where you have to take action. The approaching car may move out round the stationary vehicle causing you to move over or stop. Don’t click repeatedly otherwise you will be deemed to be cheating and get 0 points.
You cannot go back over the clips. For a car test there are 14 clips with 15 developing hazards. The maximum score for each developing hazard is 5 and the pass mark is 44 out of 75.
When you pass the test you will be issued with a certificate with a number on it. Keep this. You will need it to book your practical test. Your certificate lasts for 2 years. If you haven’t passed your test by then you will need to redo both parts again.