Although there can never be a 100% guarantee that you will pass the first time, [no matter what some driving schools may claim] if you follow the guidelines in this article your chances of 1st time success will sky rocket.
Why do so many fail?
They are quite simply, not fully prepared. It's certainly understandable that some students are impatient to get that license as quickly as possible and what tends to happen is this. They commence lessons and learn the basic skills. Sort of know the road rules, can sort of park, can sort of do the maneuvers required for the test, and so they go ahead and book their assessment. Although a few get lucky, most fail.
Make no mistake, driving tests are not designed to be too easy. The degree of difficulty for the driving assessment is planned in such a way to ensure that if you have successfully passed your examination, the assessors can then be reasonably confident that you may then venture out on to the roads without being a danger either to yourself or some other poor unsuspecting person.
How to prepare yourself for the test
Learn the road rules thoroughly, not just enough to pass your learners permit. When you have obtained your permit, learn them again.
Find yourself a teacher, preferably a driving instructor but if not a parent or friend. If you choose a parent make certain they understand all the rules as these change over time and they will almost certainly have been updated since they passed their test.
Once you have learnt the basics and can maintain control of your car when driving in traffic, turning corners, reversing, performing U turns, parking etc then get yourself a free book from any licensing centre on "how to pass your driving assessment".
This book is invaluable as it sets out very clearly, which skills are required, what the test is all about, what level of competency is expected, which maneuvers you will be asked to perform and also has lots of practice and test exercises included.
Practice, practice and practice!
Over time you will notice that your parent/friend is gradually evolving from a state of terror to nervousness to a condition of near calmness when you drive.
Because it is sometimes difficult for a student to judge their own competency they can often feel unjustifiably convinced they are ready.
So, once you have practiced enough and genuinely feel confident about all aspects of your driving and no longer require any prompting from your parent, then its time for the most important part.
If your parent is able to comfortably look away while you are driving and by this I mean, gaze around at people, talk on the phone, look down and read etc, then and only then are you truly ready to book your test.
Once you have decided on a licensing centre and booked your assessment it is imperative that you drive around to learn the area so there are no nasty surprises. This is an excellent time to enlist the aid of a professional driving instructor [presuming you haven't been using one] as most instructors intimately know the test routes and possible difficulties you may encounter.
Providing you follow these guidelines the chances of passing your test first time are extremely high.
