hi francis,i came across your channel last weekend as i was looking for some good instructor to revise to for my upcoming test and those vids really helped me out as i passed my test on first attempt today, great connection and clear instructions from you thanks!
What you said about thinking you failed and letting it effect you is so true, I had my first test on the 23rd of Jan, and after a dodgy parallel park I thought I had failed, but I could feel myself letting it distract me so I just remembered that you said this in a previous video and just carried on like nothing happened, and to my surprise I ended up passing. Great advice for anyone reading this who has their test coming up.
That’s actually a class tip to bring a bottle of water you can sip before you do your blindspot checks and move off. I recommend using rescue remedy before your test as well. It’s so weird how it works but it genuinely does help to calm your nerves. Amazing how the brain works and reacts to the simplest of things.
hi francis, i commented on the southend video saying id let you know if i pass today. I PASSED TODAY WITH 2 MINORS!!!! WOOOOOOO! thanks to you and the tips u share. i did the exact same route u did on the video lol so made it very easy for me
@@DrivingSchoolTV its seriously helped me a lot. when i realised i was going the same direction u were then it put me right at ease. i got the two minors for control and for re adjusting a forward bay park
Passed my driving test today at Mitcham 🙌. I thought i flunked it when doing the first roundabout but thankfully i didn't dwell upon it and manged to pass my test. Your videos helped a lot. Thanks a bunch 👌
I passed in Uxbridge back in September. I’ve lived here almost 10 years so it didn’t seem so bad but all of the difficult things you mention in this video are practiced a lot in driving lessons around here
Just passed my test in Uxbridge this afternoon. Seeing this vid in the morning had me a bit worried, but if you have practiced well in the area, it will be fine 🙏🏿
looking forward to the borehamwood video, they have some hard routes that go straight onto the a1 out of the test centre, then city centre, then national speed limit country roads, with loads of roundabouts everywhere. At least the waiting room is nice
I thought I failed my test in the first 4 mins-stopped in a bike box, stalled at a roundabout - and forgot the handbrake was up. I wanted to quit and walk home lol, but I kept going. I didn’t even do an emergency stop or parking manoeuvres … somehow passed first time with 1 minor! Moral of the story: just keep going.
took me 2 tries at uxbridge , failed the first one on a roundabout 😂. roundabouts are tricky here and the national speed limit on the country roads are no joke!
current learner at Uxbridge here. I've only learned 15 hours so not quite familiar with the routes, but the area in general is quite busy the entire day, and it does stress me out a bit when dealing with traffic. I've found the roads ok during lessons, but it might be that I haven't driven in the areas shown on this video.
I learn at Uxbridge. Done a few test routes. Generally, the worst part of one of the Uxbridge routes, it has to be Denham Roundabout. Huge clutter of mess, so much traffic (will be bad for my early morning test), and the road markings are quite lacking in my opinion. I find other areas, such as Denham and Uxbridge ok. I hope i pass in March!
i passed my test about 5 months ago (learnt for 1 month and passed with 0 minors 😎) but i still watch alllll these videos, they feel a lot less stressful to watch after i’ve passed lol
It took me four goes to pass at Uxbridge. Had to do national speed limit in 3 of those 4 test but it was worth it! I'm nto too scared of fast roads because of it.
Yo Francis love the videos. You gonna be checking out the eastbourne test centre at some point? I recently passed my test there and would love to see your opinions on that one.
I did the extended driving test last Thursday over at Farnborough, Hampshire. It was a really nice location,. Having driven all the standard routes in practice. The extended route is very different going much farther out. But I feel it was a reasonable test and any mistakes were my doing.
@DrivingSchoolTV I passed. Now it's just a case of trying to get insurance that is not in the £7k to £13k market for a £4k Dacia. What is bugging me is that no one is willing to offer me a black box to allow cheaper insurance. They said it's because I'm too old.
I passed my test a few weeks ago in slough. Unfortunately, I work in Uxbridge, never driven in Uxbridge before, I did not expect it to be so hard and confusing. That first roundabout, I nearly stopped in the middle of it and wanted to get out of the car and walk. Still confused about it😂
The lights with the yellow box immediately preceding the stop line - let's say hypothetically you're driving a bit slower, the lights change after you enter the box, the road ahead was clear but now you are at a red light and in the box. There's traffic behind you. What should you do?
Replying to myself as I am a sad act and have done a bit of research to answer this question. The answer is to stop inside the box, at the red light. TSRGD is quite specific in both when this road marking may be used and the circumstances where it is not allowed to enter it. The marking itself is legitimate as although I would argue it is not at a junction between two roads (the "junction" being an entrance to the RM premises) it probably complies with Schedule 9 Part 7 Para. 11 (6)(b) due to the size of the road. Apparently box junctions are not required to be supported by a traffic order.... However, if someone were to find themselves stopped at the lights, in the box, not because of traffic but because of a red light, I think based on the wording of the legislation it would be acceptable. The wording is as follows: "a person must not cause a vehicle to enter the box junction so that the vehicle has to stop within the box junction due to the presence of oncoming vehicles or other stationary vehicles beyond the box junction". So, since the reason for needing to stop was NOT due to the presence of oncoming vehicles or other stationary vehicles, but due to the light, it is perfectly legal to stop inside the box. I believe that you could even enter the box deliberately if the light is red, provided you are the first vehicle there.
I think this one is a total learner trap and I’d love to speak to an instructor who’s seen it in action or an examiner before I give advice! When I do I’ll probably stick it on Instagram
I drive round here all the time (though I did my test in Isleworth) and to be honest i never knew that the test route was this hard I guess im used to it since I grew up around the area
Thanks for this Francis! How do you know what the driving routes are at each centre? Are they posted anywhere for students to practice, or is the advice to just roam around the streets nearby the centre? :)
He mentioned this in a previous one, but basically no they aren't available to the public, they're meant to be secret. Some instructors know the general routes just from how many tests they observe
As a general guide a test can go anywhere except motorways up to about 15 minutes away from the test centre. If you’re practicing in your own car start at the centre and pick a destination about 15 mins away, drive there, pick a different route back, rinse and repeat!
@DrivingSchoolTV hi Francis. Nice vid as always but I do have one small bug bear that i’d like to mention. I do feel like the difficulty rating is a bit confusing to someone that may be new to your videos. For me it’s fine because i’m a regular viewer, but usually, the higher the number, the more difficult it is whereas in your case, the lower the number, the harder it is. I hope i’m making sense to u and apologies if i haven’t but yh, since the series is already up and running, there’s no point switching it, though i do think a disclaimer to a new viewer would be helpful
I hear you! I did think about making difficulty the other way round but I quite liked the idea of finding the unicorn perfect 10 driving test centre, like Southend almost was! I did explain it a few times but I get it probably needs mentioning every vid so thank you 👌
@DrivingSchoolTV completely agree and thanks for getting back to me. I really appreciate it. Btw, I love how u slag off Goodmayes. I live in Dagenham and I did my test in Brentwood as I’d done a few of my lessons there but I have a friend who did his test at goodmayes and he said that a lot of his test was in traffic and that’s a reason why many do their tests there. Interesting to say the least right😂. Anyway keep up with the series bro 🤝
Hi Francis, I am a young but fairly experienced driver from Ecuador and I am planning on taking my driving test here in the UK. I've seen some of your videos and would love to participate in one of your videos if there is a chance. I live in Manchester but would be very happy to go anywhere to learn with and from you. I don't know i this is the correct way of asking for a lesson but I thought I would just put it out. Many thanks, Sebastian.
I failed 4 times in bury st Edmund’s after that tried Norwich (peach man) and passed first time both has nationals speed limits industrial housing estates And good enough facilities Bury just got a refurb
hey if I haven't driven in 22 years since passing driving test is there driving lessons for people like me haven't driven in long time how many lesson would roughly needed. I passed in manual btw. thank you
Can just ring any instructor and explain. I drove a manual for 5 years then the next car I happened to get was automatic and I'd driven them ever since but I needed to drive a manual for a delivery job so I rang an instructor and explained. Only took me 3 lessons. Mainly because I wasn't used to hill assist in a manual so I kept thinking I was going to stall but that said I'd still been continuously driving. I suppose the benefit you have is that you don't have to pass a test so it's mainly your personal comfort but it should come back fairly quickly. Another benefit is satnavs. I'm only 34 but they weren't getting used on test when I did mine so that's another thing I picked up on which was handy as I also needed that for the job at the time
Is the mistake signalling before looking left and also signalling too late before coming off the DC? Its so fast it looks like you did it all at the same time!
coz the toilets are gross and it just feels a bit icky to have left a gross toilet if women have to share it. you couldnt really see how gross on camera tbf 🤷♂️
It ain’t that hard this test centre I pass my car and motorcycle category there ain’t hard. , however the roundabout towards denham and central London can result for some people test fail
@DrivingSchoolTV Awesome :) Busy & tricky leaving/returning to test centre + obstacles along the route; blind exits on mini roundabouts, width restrictions ect. Pass rate was around 39% a couple of years ago, may have gone up a bit since
Uxbridge test centre pass rate is 39.1% as of 2024
@@zainahmed-yp4qi yesss thank you!!! That is SO LOW! I’m not surprised though 😮💨
hi francis,i came across your channel last weekend as i was looking for some good instructor to revise to for my upcoming test and those vids really helped me out as i passed my test on first attempt today, great connection and clear instructions from you thanks!
That’s amazing congraaaats and thanks for watching!! 🥳🤩👌
What you said about thinking you failed and letting it effect you is so true, I had my first test on the 23rd of Jan, and after a dodgy parallel park I thought I had failed, but I could feel myself letting it distract me so I just remembered that you said this in a previous video and just carried on like nothing happened, and to my surprise I ended up passing. Great advice for anyone reading this who has their test coming up.
@Nath4n07 Love this! Congrats!!!🥳
@@DrivingSchoolTVthanks ! Your videos really helped me , keep it up ❤👍
I had the exact same situation. The key thing is to just keep going, safely!
That’s actually a class tip to bring a bottle of water you can sip before you do your blindspot checks and move off. I recommend using rescue remedy before your test as well. It’s so weird how it works but it genuinely does help to calm your nerves. Amazing how the brain works and reacts to the simplest of things.
Highly recommend rescue remedy too!
hi francis, i commented on the southend video saying id let you know if i pass today. I PASSED TODAY WITH 2 MINORS!!!! WOOOOOOO! thanks to you and the tips u share. i did the exact same route u did on the video lol so made it very easy for me
Ahhhh yesssssss congrats!!! How lucky is that and what a test route 🤩
@@DrivingSchoolTV its seriously helped me a lot. when i realised i was going the same direction u were then it put me right at ease. i got the two minors for control and for re adjusting a forward bay park
I’ve passed today with three minors and you are the king for all the help. You helped me nail it first time 🔥🔥
Passed my test today after 25 lessons. Thanks so much for all the helpful videos!
Passed my driving test today at Mitcham 🙌. I thought i flunked it when doing the first roundabout but thankfully i didn't dwell upon it and manged to pass my test. Your videos helped a lot. Thanks a bunch 👌
AMAZING!! Congrats!!!
I passed in Uxbridge back in September. I’ve lived here almost 10 years so it didn’t seem so bad but all of the difficult things you mention in this video are practiced a lot in driving lessons around here
Just passed my test in Uxbridge this afternoon. Seeing this vid in the morning had me a bit worried, but if you have practiced well in the area, it will be fine 🙏🏿
THIS! Practice the stuff you'll have to come across and it's ok. Congrats!!
I've got my test in a few weeks and your videos have helped me so much. Thank you Francis
Good luuuuck!!
When you coming to Nottingham. Chilwell in particular has a pass rate of 40% and some weird roundabouts/roads would love to see a review of it!
Wow this test route looks hellish! Thanks for another great video. 😊
Omg it was!
That's a scary one, I can't wait for Swindon, the magic roundabout!!
looking forward to the borehamwood video, they have some hard routes that go straight onto the a1 out of the test centre, then city centre, then national speed limit country roads, with loads of roundabouts everywhere.
At least the waiting room is nice
Looking forward to that southall vid 😄👍
😂😂😂👀
I thought I failed my test in the first 4 mins-stopped in a bike box, stalled at a roundabout - and forgot the handbrake was up. I wanted to quit and walk home lol, but I kept going. I didn’t even do an emergency stop or parking manoeuvres … somehow passed first time with 1 minor! Moral of the story: just keep going.
took me 2 tries at uxbridge , failed the first one on a roundabout 😂. roundabouts are tricky here and the national speed limit on the country roads are no joke!
Try Salisbury - I think it has the smallest car park of a test centre ever and it’s got a nasty gradient up to it
current learner at Uxbridge here. I've only learned 15 hours so not quite familiar with the routes, but the area in general is quite busy the entire day, and it does stress me out a bit when dealing with traffic. I've found the roads ok during lessons, but it might be that I haven't driven in the areas shown on this video.
I learn at Uxbridge. Done a few test routes. Generally, the worst part of one of the Uxbridge routes, it has to be Denham Roundabout. Huge clutter of mess, so much traffic (will be bad for my early morning test), and the road markings are quite lacking in my opinion.
I find other areas, such as Denham and Uxbridge ok. I hope i pass in March!
i passed my test about 5 months ago (learnt for 1 month and passed with 0 minors 😎) but i still watch alllll these videos, they feel a lot less stressful to watch after i’ve passed lol
You should come to Northampton next. I’m sure you’d be surprised at the difficulty of ours!!!
It took me four goes to pass at Uxbridge. Had to do national speed limit in 3 of those 4 test but it was worth it! I'm nto too scared of fast roads because of it.
Wow lol congrats on actually passing here!!
Go to Birmingham soon, specifically Kingstanding 👍
Mine is in wednesbury soon, that has a low pass rate.
Test Day tomorrow in Crewe!
Yo Francis love the videos. You gonna be checking out the eastbourne test centre at some point? I recently passed my test there and would love to see your opinions on that one.
I'll check it out! Not super soon but I’ll get there!
I did the extended driving test last Thursday over at Farnborough, Hampshire. It was a really nice location,. Having driven all the standard routes in practice. The extended route is very different going much farther out. But I feel it was a reasonable test and any mistakes were my doing.
Awesome! How did it go? 🤞
@DrivingSchoolTV I passed. Now it's just a case of trying to get insurance that is not in the £7k to £13k market for a £4k Dacia.
What is bugging me is that no one is willing to offer me a black box to allow cheaper insurance. They said it's because I'm too old.
I passed my test a few weeks ago in slough. Unfortunately, I work in Uxbridge, never driven in Uxbridge before, I did not expect it to be so hard and confusing. That first roundabout, I nearly stopped in the middle of it and wanted to get out of the car and walk. Still confused about it😂
Please do Luton next on the Luton Airport test Route.
Are you going to try Blackpool. Just a warning it’s changed a few times. Just to let you know, we have a dart board in the waiting room lol
The lights with the yellow box immediately preceding the stop line - let's say hypothetically you're driving a bit slower, the lights change after you enter the box, the road ahead was clear but now you are at a red light and in the box. There's traffic behind you. What should you do?
Replying to myself as I am a sad act and have done a bit of research to answer this question. The answer is to stop inside the box, at the red light.
TSRGD is quite specific in both when this road marking may be used and the circumstances where it is not allowed to enter it. The marking itself is legitimate as although I would argue it is not at a junction between two roads (the "junction" being an entrance to the RM premises) it probably complies with Schedule 9 Part 7 Para. 11 (6)(b) due to the size of the road. Apparently box junctions are not required to be supported by a traffic order....
However, if someone were to find themselves stopped at the lights, in the box, not because of traffic but because of a red light, I think based on the wording of the legislation it would be acceptable. The wording is as follows: "a person must not cause a vehicle to enter the box junction so that the vehicle has to stop within the box junction due to the presence of oncoming vehicles or other stationary vehicles beyond the box junction". So, since the reason for needing to stop was NOT due to the presence of oncoming vehicles or other stationary vehicles, but due to the light, it is perfectly legal to stop inside the box. I believe that you could even enter the box deliberately if the light is red, provided you are the first vehicle there.
I think this one is a total learner trap and I’d love to speak to an instructor who’s seen it in action or an examiner before I give advice! When I do I’ll probably stick it on Instagram
I drive round here all the time (though I did my test in Isleworth) and to be honest i never knew that the test route was this hard I guess im used to it since I grew up around the area
Hey Francis, I failed my Uxbridge driving test on the roundabout at 4:43 .pretty unfortunate but it is what it is
What happened? Was it the satnav confusion?? Did the examiner jump in and explain what was going on?
Thanks for this Francis! How do you know what the driving routes are at each centre? Are they posted anywhere for students to practice, or is the advice to just roam around the streets nearby the centre? :)
He mentioned this in a previous one, but basically no they aren't available to the public, they're meant to be secret. Some instructors know the general routes just from how many tests they observe
As a general guide a test can go anywhere except motorways up to about 15 minutes away from the test centre. If you’re practicing in your own car start at the centre and pick a destination about 15 mins away, drive there, pick a different route back, rinse and repeat!
@@DrivingSchoolTV thank you!!
ooo you took the easy route, there's one with tons of pot holes and it's national speed limt / 40 and super narrow
@DrivingSchoolTV hi Francis. Nice vid as always but I do have one small bug bear that i’d like to mention. I do feel like the difficulty rating is a bit confusing to someone that may be new to your videos. For me it’s fine because i’m a regular viewer, but usually, the higher the number, the more difficult it is whereas in your case, the lower the number, the harder it is. I hope i’m making sense to u and apologies if i haven’t but yh, since the series is already up and running, there’s no point switching it, though i do think a disclaimer to a new viewer would be helpful
I hear you! I did think about making difficulty the other way round but I quite liked the idea of finding the unicorn perfect 10 driving test centre, like Southend almost was! I did explain it a few times but I get it probably needs mentioning every vid so thank you 👌
@DrivingSchoolTV completely agree and thanks for getting back to me. I really appreciate it. Btw, I love how u slag off Goodmayes. I live in Dagenham and I did my test in Brentwood as I’d done a few of my lessons there but I have a friend who did his test at goodmayes and he said that a lot of his test was in traffic and that’s a reason why many do their tests there. Interesting to say the least right😂. Anyway keep up with the series bro 🤝
Could you do Southampton?
Hello mate can you do Belvedere please I have a test drive next week 😢
I've done Belvedere twice!
ua-cam.com/video/Hcyqhp8tsBU/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/miZWjizbyUg/v-deo.html
Hey Francis come to Burton-upon-Trent..
When are you dropping the Chelmsford video?
Hi Francis,
I am a young but fairly experienced driver from Ecuador and I am planning on taking my driving test here in the UK.
I've seen some of your videos and would love to participate in one of your videos if there is a chance.
I live in Manchester but would be very happy to go anywhere to learn with and from you.
I don't know i this is the correct way of asking for a lesson but I thought I would just put it out.
Many thanks,
Sebastian.
Heyyy send me a Dm on Instagram so we can chat!
@@DrivingSchoolTV Thank Youu!! Will do
I failed 4 times in bury st Edmund’s after that tried Norwich (peach man) and passed first time both has nationals speed limits industrial housing estates
And good enough facilities Bury just got a refurb
I have my test booked here for March. Couldn’t get a test in slough
surprised you didn't get Aman to feature on this drive
Hey Francis , what is the navigation app you are using in this video?
It’s the TomTom app
@ thanks Francis! Appreciate it! 🙂
Do southall next
Does it have a driving test centre
Southall is normally chaotic🤣
do Swindon test centre in Wiltshire
hey if I haven't driven in 22 years since passing driving test is there driving lessons for people like me haven't driven in long time how many lesson would roughly needed. I passed in manual btw. thank you
Yes definitely! Call up any instructor and ask for some refresher lessons
Can just ring any instructor and explain. I drove a manual for 5 years then the next car I happened to get was automatic and I'd driven them ever since but I needed to drive a manual for a delivery job so I rang an instructor and explained. Only took me 3 lessons. Mainly because I wasn't used to hill assist in a manual so I kept thinking I was going to stall but that said I'd still been continuously driving. I suppose the benefit you have is that you don't have to pass a test so it's mainly your personal comfort but it should come back fairly quickly. Another benefit is satnavs. I'm only 34 but they weren't getting used on test when I did mine so that's another thing I picked up on which was handy as I also needed that for the job at the time
Watford when?
Is the mistake signalling before looking left and also signalling too late before coming off the DC? Its so fast it looks like you did it all at the same time!
Got it! You should usually signal around the 200 yards marker
Don’t know why but I was not a fan of the music being on the whole video
Thanks for the feedback! I tried something new 😊
@ I love the videos normally but I feel like it just kept distracting me. Always good to keep trying new things though, Francis.
1:46 why is that not ok...?
coz the toilets are gross and it just feels a bit icky to have left a gross toilet if women have to share it. you couldnt really see how gross on camera tbf 🤷♂️
Come to Newport wales some crazy drivers
I love wales id come just for the accent !
@ haha you’d love the Newport accent doesn’t sound Welsh at all 😂
It ain’t that hard this test centre I pass my car and motorcycle category there ain’t hard. , however the roundabout towards denham and central London can result for some people test fail
uxbridge toilets are rank lool - looks the same as it was two weeks ago when i done my exam
🤢
Surely Barnet is more brutal 😂
I've not been but I'll be sure to compare barnet to here when I go!
@DrivingSchoolTV Awesome :) Busy & tricky leaving/returning to test centre + obstacles along the route; blind exits on mini roundabouts, width restrictions ect. Pass rate was around 39% a couple of years ago, may have gone up a bit since
First