So you've been having lessons and your instructor has said those dreaded words "you're not ready for a test". All those plans and dreams you have had suddenly vanish and you feel deflated. Now you're driving instructor is the worse person on the planet and you start to think of ways you can magically make yourself ready or you go against the advice given to you and you try to find a way to use someone else's car to do the test. We see comments on local groups all the time like "my instructors gone missing and my test is in 2 weeks" or "my instructor isn't available for my test day". What ever the excuse, its usually that some "horrible" driving instructor has told them that they are just not ready.
So why do we have to tell students that they are not ready?
Its quite simple really, we are trained professionals who have an obligation to safeguard a number of people.
Firstly, we have an obligation to safeguard our students from harm. We would not be doing our job properly if we knowingly allowed you to attempt to take a driving test if you are not ready to be on the road by yourself. We don't want you to get involved in an accident and injure yourself, or worse, kill yourself.
Secondly, we have an obligation to safeguard the public. We cannot be the one who knowingly contributed to allowing someone the opportunity to be on the road by themselves if they are a danger to the public.
Thirdly, we have to safeguard the DVSA examiners.
Fourthly, we have to safeguard our source of income and reputation. If we allowed someone to use our car when they are not ready to be unsupervised, then we could end up losing our car to an accident and our income stream.
Lastly, the DVSA encourage us not to allow someone to take a test if they are not ready by using the results our students achieve at test, to assess us as Driving Instructors. If we take students to test that are not ready, we stand to lose our licence to teach. Our career is not worth being lost just because a student "just wants to give it a go and see what happens".
If we tell you that you are not ready, it is because you are not ready. There is no other reason behind it. Its not just an excuse to get more money out of you, it is because you are simply not ready.
We always give every student a chance to show they are ready and this is usually by having a mock test, which you MUST pass.
We are highly trained professionals who know best. Can you really put a price on your safety on the road?