Upon arrival to the United Kingdom, one of my first goals was to obtain a provisional license and learn to drive. Given the vast transportation network, driving in the UK opens up mobility and convenience to see more of the country.
After waiting a bus for more than an hour in total daily, ending up wasting all of my day, I developed a strong desire to own a vehicle and drive.
In this guide, I’ll go through the step-by-step process for legally driving in the UK. I’ll also share tips to prepare for driving lessons, pass your test, and safely navigate the roads as a newly licensed driver.
Table of Contents
Obtaining Your Provisional License
The first milestone to driving in the UK is obtaining your UK provisional license, which allows you to take lessons and practice driving, and also acts as an important ID when you enter a pub and purchase alcohol.
The provisional license costs £34 and is valid for 10 years (which makes it really worthy to get it even if you are not planning to drive at all!).
The process of registering for a provisional license in the UK is simple and can be done online. To be eligible for the provisional license, you need to be aged over 15 years and 9 months, able to read a number plate from 20 metres away, and have been given permission to live in the UK for at least 185 days.
To begin with the application, you need to have your identity document (such as passport) and addresses for the past 3 years ready. It is okay to live outside the UK in the past 3 years for this application but they need this for record purpose. You may also need your national insurance number during the process.
After submission, you will generally receive your provisional license within a week or so. Then you can finally start your driving lessons, apply for your theory test and get ready for driving in the UK!
Preparing for Your Theory Test
Next, you will need to complete your driving theory test in order to be eligible for a driving practical test. You can either do it before or during your driving lessons, and the test result is valid for 2 years only.
The pass rate of the theory test has fluctuated over time, with 62% in 2007/08 dropping to 44.2% in 2022/23. Despite the numbers being shockingly low, this is not a difficult test at all as long as you spend some time to prepare.
To begin with, apply for your theory test online at a cost of £23 and pick the exam centre closest to you. You can also choose a date that suits you. You will need your provisional driving license number to register for this.
Revising for the Driving Theory Test
Then, you need three books for your revision:
- The Official Highway Code (Officially £4.99)
- Know Your Traffic Signs (Free to be downloaded on the government site)
- The Official DVSA Guide to Driving – The Essential Skills (Officially £18.99)
To reduce the cost on these essential books, you can buy a second-hand copy or ask if anyone else who has taken their exams have a spare copy for you. I paid absolutely zero pounds for my revision!
Though the amount of content for revision may seem enormous at first, the Official Highway Code and the Official DVSA Guide to Driving have highly similar contents and repeat itself in many topics, which means it isn’t as scary as it seem!
For an average person, it takes about 2 weeks to a month to complete the revision before the theory test, and this highly depends on how much time you allocate. I crammed all these in half a week but managed to get 94%.
After you think you are ready to test yourself, complete mock questions online, which I personally recommend this site that I use. I found that a lot of questions reappeared in the real exam, so I definitely encourage all of you to complete the entire question bank at least twice before you start your exam!
Format of the Driving Theory Exam
The theory exam consists of two parts: the multiple choice test and the hazard perception test.
The multiple choice test is an on-screen computer test with 50 questions over a maximum of 57 minutes, you are required to get 43 out of 50 questions (86%) right to pass. This is a high cutoff point, but is essential to ensure that you become a safe driver. Complete the mock exam questions and you will be able to do this easily.
The second part is actually what most people fail, which you will need 44 out of 75 marks to pass. The hazard perception test is a test that displays 14 videos from the viewpoint of a driver, mimicking what you can observe when driving in the UK. There is at least 1 developing hazard in each video, and there is 1 video that contains 2 developing hazards.
A developing hazard is defined as something that would cause you to action, like changing speed or direction. Just to give an example, a kid that is playing a football on the pavement is a developing hazard once the ball rolls out to the road, as the kid may come after for the football and cause you to slow down or stop.
Once you identify a potential hazard is forming, you need to click the screen. Clicking anywhere is fine.
There is a 5 second window for you to score points when the hazard is developing. You get 5 points by clicking the screen when it first becomes a developing hazard, then this decreases to 4 points after 1 second, and decrease 1 point per second till it becomes 0 after 5 seconds.
To avoid candidates clicking non-stop in a spamming way without thinking, you will score 0 automatically for that video if you click more than a set number of times, which most people believe it to be 10.
So, to make sure that you are scoring the most points, press once when you think something isn’t right (e.g., a car far away is trying to join the main road which you belong to). Then, every 2 seconds, press once. Stop pressing when you think the hazard is fully developed and the driver has already actioned. Do not press more than 8 times per video just to play safe as you score 0 automatically from spamming.
The 14 videos are played continuously without stopping so it is quite intensive, but after you finish the multiple choice question and just before you start the hazard perception test, you will be allowed to rest for a while.
If you want to practise for hazard perception test, you can go to this site which I personally used, to understand how to grasp the 5-second window better.
After the Theory Test
You can submit the multiple choice question early, and therefore the total exam time is variable. Once you walk out the exam room, the result will be printed automatically after a few minutes and you will know your results right away.
If you score over 86% in the multiple choice test AND above 44/75 in the hazard perception test, you will receive a theory certificate that is valid for up to 2 years. You will need to retake the whole exam again if you cannot get your full driving license by then.
If you fail unfortunately, you can retake the test after three days by paying £23 again. Make sure you prep yourself by reading the three reference textbooks I listed above, and do all the mock questions.
Wish you all the best in your theory exam! Investing the time to properly study before attempting your theory test will set you up for first-time success, and prepare you well for driving in the UK.
Taking Your Driving Lessons
One of the greatest barrier to driving in the UK is to get a driving instructor.
Due to COVID backlog, most driving instructors in the UK have a long waiting list. Many of them rejected me right away when I enquired as their waiting lists were more than a 6-month wait. This will depend on where you are learning, the availability of driving instructor, and the demand to learn.
Finding the Right Driving Instructor
As driving lessons are quite expensive to get, and qualities of driving instructors vary, it is important to enquire driving schools and personal driving instructors, compare the lesson packages, pricing, availability and instructor expertise. You will also need to choose between automatic and manual transmission, as most instructors will only teach one of them.
Automatic is known to be easier for beginners but the lessons are typically more expensive. Manual is harder and requires a few more lessons just to learn how to control the gear, but lessons are typically cheaper. I chose automatic because I learnt driving just for the sake of convenience, but some people I know believe that automatic cars are just toy cars.
I check for their reviews using Google Reviews when I do my search. Large driving schools like AA, DriveJohnson and Red tend to be cheaper but you don’t really get to choose your own driving instructor, and they did not respond to my enquiry when I emailed them. So, I picked a personal driving instructor instead.
It was quite a frustrating process for me, as among the several driving instructor I contacted, about half ignored me, 1 asked me to provide details like home address and phone number then ignored me, and 1 that I eventually paid to secure a place at the waiting list only replied to my email once in a while, and took over 2 weeks just to secure a position for me.
It is important to be patient during this process, and changing your driving instructor in the middle is not unheard of as some of them are just not good at teaching, which you won’t know until you have lessons with them.
There are some of the key features of a bad driving instructor:
- Only do 1-hour lesson
- Cancel your lesson without prior notice
- Won’t let you borrow their car to the exam by keep saying that you are not ready
- Only teaching you the basic skills without covering the entire driving curriculum required to pass
This is not an exhaustive list and is summarised from people’s experience, but you might want to consider finding another driving instructor when you notice these features.
Learning to Drive
Typically, you will do your lessons weekly for 2 hours. There are intensive courses available that claims to prepare you within a very short amount of time, they are more expensive and do not guarantee success, and build a weak foundation to your driving skills, therefore I would recommend against them.
Most people need at least 40 hours of driving lessons to be test-ready, but this value varies greatly from people to people, and this depends on previous experience with cycling and individual practice time. Some people may be confident after 20 hours of lessons, and some may need 60 hours or more to gain confidence.
During the initial lessons, the driving instructor will usually first confirm that your provisional driving license is valid. Then, you will get more familiar with essentials like pedals, gears, mirrors and manoeuvrability.
Once you become more confident, your instructor will advance the lesson to junctions, roundabouts, parking and turns. You will gradually develop the ability to observe and detect hazards.
You will be guided to drive across various road types, like multi-lane carriageways, country roads and terrains. In particular, you will be guided to drive across the common exam routes in the city and get familiar with all the things that you need to be careful of.
Before the exam, you can arrange a mock test with your instructor to identify weakness to improve further before your practical exam.
Passing Your Driving Practical Test
Once your instructor believes that you are test-ready, you can take your driving practical test!
Usually, you will book a test well before time because the exam slots are taken up really quickly currently, depending on which city you belong to. You can change the test date if you are not ready by then as long as you give a full three working days’ notice. The cost of a practical test is £62, and slightly more expensive if you take it at the weekends.
To attend the test, you will need to bring your provisional license, your theory test certificate, and most importantly a car. Most people will borrow the car of their driving instructors. You can also bring in your own car, but you have to make sure it meets the requirements or else you will not be allowed to undergo the exam.
A driving practical test usually lasts 40 minutes. It can be further divided into 5 steps:
- Eyesight test
- “Show me, tell me”
- General driving ability
- Reversing your vehicle
- Independent driving
For more information about the practical test, you can check it here.
In general, mistakes are divided into major and minor faults. Major faults cause immediate failure, and minor faults allow passing with up to 15.
Upon passing, you’ll receive your plastic card license within 3 weeks, which is valid for 3-5 years depending on age.
If you fail, don’t worry! Most people don’t pass on their first attempt, take refresher lessons with your instructor to consolidate your foundation and re-try the exam.
Summary to Driving in the UK
Congratulations, after a vigorous process of finding a reliable instructor and taking two exams, you can now legally drive unsupervised with your full license! However, while driving in the UK, keep in mind that you still have to strictly adhere to major rules, like wearing seat belts and limit the use of mobile phones.
It is weird to drive alone with your instructor initially, so avoid motorways initially and stick to more familiar urban areas first until experience grows. Be aware of speed limits, pedestrian crossings and school zones as a new driver, and remain patient and forgiving to other road users.
Driving in the UK is not easy, as it has a lot of roundabouts, and weather can become annoying at times.
Set an example by driving safely, legally and politely at all times. The learning process continues beyond your test.
Driving independently in the UK is a game changer for newcomers embracing the local lifestyle. Approach the licensing journey step-by-step, give yourself time to practice properly, and keep safety first to reap the rewards of motoring around your new home country! Let me know if any tips were helpful for your own UK driving experience.
Comment below and let me know your journey of learning to drive in the UK!
