Passing a driving test can be a stressful business, not to mention an expensive one.
Nowadays it comes in three parts – in addition to the multiple choice theory test and the traditional practical test, there's also the computer-based hazard perception test, in which the learner has to click on a video screen to show when hazards are approaching.
Driving Test Success can help a great deal with the first two parts of the process (theory and hazard perception).
The new 2008/09 edition comes with the updated set of questions for the year (bear in mind that they only come into effect on 1 September, but realistically there's not much variation from year to year).
It comes with reams of guides to good driving, and there's the full set of questions, so if you do enough practice tests you should come across most, if not all, of the questions you'll see in the real thing.
There's even a money-back guarantee if you fail the theory test (but the conditions for this are pernickety – you have to print off various things before sitting the test, so read the small print tucked away on the reverse of the DVD liner).
The hazard test is where this software really comes into its own – the actual test is annoyingly vague about where and when you should click and how it's scored, so getting practice in for this is vital, and there's plenty here, in simulated versions of the real thing.
The practical element is not so well done – while there's information on general driving, safe driving and the 'show me, tell me' part of the test (questions such as "how do you check whether the power steering is working?") the only video guidance that pertains directly to the driving test itself is a film following someone taking a mock test. This is useful but nowhere near as comprehensive as the rest of the package.
The video and audio content in the rest of the package is good, though, and much of it can be downloaded to portable devices to learn on the move. In all, it's worth the £10 just to get the practice on the hazard test, but we can't fault the thoroughness of Driving Test Success.
