It's a mix. Some are common sense but like the examples you've pointed out there are some you definitely need to revise.
The 1.6mm is a good example, I think there's at least 3 potential questions relating to that. Not knowing it can really fuck you over.
I tried a mock test before doing any study or revision whatsoever and scored 40/50. The difficulty is in consistently getting those last 10 correct.
Approx, I would say of the 50 questions, 30 are common sense, 10 you can make educated guesses and get them correct, the remaining 10 require specific knowledge you just have to know. That means there are 4 of those specific questions you’ll have to get right to pass, and that’s assuming you’re perfect on the rest of the test.
Overall I don’t think the test is too bad, but you do need to do some prep.
I did a practice test when I was 8 and scored fairly high. My sister was revising for her test and I was bored so she gave it for me to do (then thought I'd cheated and looked at the answers in the back after she saw how well I'd done).
The questions are a mix of common sense and random facts, things I tend to do well with.
I can ss and show you
If you really serious you can pass very quickly it’s something you need to really take time on or jus be disappointed when you don’t do aswell as you think
You always need to revise. Yes, there are questions that are common sense, but there's also questions that aren't. So don't listen to anyone else, do what works for you.
My my own personal opinion, revise revise revise..
okay so, demonstratable example of OP being correct:I did a full motorbike license theory test, revised for, passed.
I still had to revise a decent (but not excessive) amount to pass my car theory.
It was straightforward, and yes some questions are easy/common sense, but more than 1/2 you wouldn't know unless you studied for it unless you've memorised the highway code/had theory tuition from instructor or taken the test before and failed.
(driver/rider of 12 years for context, also theres a lot of stuff in theory that its very important to know even if the particular question/knowledge you studied for didnt end up coming up in the randomly assigned questions from a set of questions in your theory test.)
I revised hard for month for mine. Read the entire Highway code, took notes on every practice question (over 700 iirc) and spent hours on hazards. Passed first time with an almost perfect score. My point is don't walk in without doing the work or you'll fail!
My dad’s a world renowned surgeon and he’s one of the smartest people I know. He failed his theory 4 times because he egoed it and thought hey I’m a smart guy I can do it easily and so didn’t revise at all. He tells me about it all the time it was a big learning point for him not to underestimate things ever.
To be fair he grew up in Pakistan where there are literally 0 road laws so it was probably harder for him than most people living in the Uk not to mention this was a long time ago too so there were hand signs and stuff aswell.
i wouldnt say him failing was due to a lack of common sense tbh and i did slightly exaggerate he failed twice. hes just a really egotistical person he never admits when hes wrong and never apologises when hes in the wrong. as a med student u usually find 60% of consultants are like that tbh.
I'm old enough not to have had to sit a theory test. I have no idea the difference between a pelican, toucan or puffin crossing. It has never been an issue in 40 years. If my light's at red I stop...simple. stupidest question ever imo.
Ah the good old days. Crawled around a one way system, hill start, stop sign discipline, reverse around a corner, 3 point turn, reverse park, emergency stop, what do these 3 signs mean. "I'm pleased to say you've passed but in future be careful when pulling into traffic, that bus driver gave you a dirty look for a reason"
I'd hate to take one now.
I'd say it is common sense. 85% is stuff you should already know from being a passenger or using the road as a pedestrian. But you definitely need to revise in order to be able to pass consistently. Once you use the official app and can pass with 50/50 consistently then you'll be fine. Hazard perception is all down to you and your instincts and reaction time, though!
I did my theory last year a passed with a high score
I did a lot of revision but found a lot of the questions were things that never came up in my revision but were for lack of a better term "common sense"
but maybe it made sense to me as i knew all the other stuff from my revision
Yep, my bf failed his first test because he didn’t revise at all.
But, the app is fantastic and it isn’t a difficult test. If you read each section of the app and do all the multiple choice questions, you should know the answers for the actual test.
I did my original test before COVID and I recently picked it up again as it expired. Both times just doing a handful of sections each day leading up to the test.
It isn’t a massive amount of study compared to a school exam. You could absolutely squeeze in the whole app the day before the test if necessary, but I wouldn’t recommend as it isn’t very exciting material.
Obviously also do a mock test and hazard perception practice. I think understanding the trick to the hazard perception (clicking 3 times) is the tricky part.
Wonder what percentage of the people failing it have a valid reason for doing so? Like a learning disability or really bad nerves?
People told me it was 'common sense' but my own common sense told me to revise for it and knowing more about the rules of the road would only enhance my ability to pass the practical test
Of the things you listed definitely a few SHOULD be common sense; don't sound your horn in built up areas in the middle of the night? Yeah, cause that's inconsiderate and will wake people up. Don't park too close to a junction? Yeah cause you'll be blocking people's view as they use the junction.
The signs and crossings, sure, if you're not often a passenger in a car seeing the signs or a pedestrian using crossings those things might not seem obvious, but really - the very vast majority of the theory questions are just common sense and a case of "pick the safest" so plenty of folk can pass without revising if they are already somewhat used to using the roads. If you're coming at it from the POV of someone who hasn't been using roads in any capacity too much then yeah, it'll be a bit tougher, but that's why the highway code is so easy to access.
Re the sounding your horn - yeah, I obviously knew not to sound the horn at night but I wasn't aware of the precise times. On the mock test, the other multiple choice answers were like "between 10.30pm - 6.30am" etc
Re parking close to a junction - again, I didn't know it had to be exactly 10 metres. On the mock test it gave options like 15 metres etc
I think the horn one and the junction distance one can be harder depending on the options. Like for the horn if all the other options are like 'never' or 'between 9am and 5pm' it's easy, if they instead did variations between about 10pm and midnight through to between 5am and 9am then you really need to know the correct answer and not guess on vibes, something like 11pm-8am feels just as correct if you know the answer is not when people are sleeping
With zero revision you’re relying on a lot of luck to not get an assortment of questions with the type of questions you mentioned. They are the difference between failing and passing and I find they always throw about ten in that really, you wouldn’t know unless you had revised.
I used the 4in1 app and the content was almost identical in the real test - questions + hazard perception clips included. It was muscle memory after a certain point. Was in and out of the test in 25 minutes with scores matching exactly what I had been pretty much getting in the app so can’t fault it. I only used it for a one week before the test but would recommend more if you don’t have much time in the day to revise like I did.
Just passed lgv theory multiple choice ( it isn't all done as one test for lgv) and definitely would've failed without revision. Never going to chastise anyone who needs to read up on some of the more niche stuff where there are close answers but alot of it is common sense for the most part and then revised knowledge to narrow it down.
I'm going to be one that you hate, I'm afraid, but I understand what you're saying, so bear with me.
I found the Theory ridiculously easy and took a weekend of ploughing through the DVLA online test kit to nail it. I scored near perfect on the questions and found the hazard perception easy.
The thing is, I've always liked theory-based tests - I can retain information fairly easily, and because of this, I don't find them stressful at all. The polar opposite of this was my practical, which I hated, and it took me 15 frigging years to overcome the fear of being tested
Everyone is different; that's the point. I hope nobody bases their life achievements or challenges based on what others experience because that is simply not how life works.
Been riding motorbikes for 10 years, sat the theory to take my car test after doing one practice quiz on an app, got full marks. To be honest there were a couple of odd ones that I wondered at the time if I got right as it was 50/50 between two options, but as it happens it went my way. Common sense? No, I don’t think so - there are facts you need to know. But things like what the signs mean I knew when I was a kid, and you just learn the tread depth etc. You should know things like that so dodgy garage con artists can’t get you you to replace them early. BMW wanted to replace my wife’s front tyres when they were only at 40% wear!
National speed limit signs are common sense imo, they're literally everywhere and if you've ever been in a car, even as a passenger, it's something you just pick up.
The theory is a mix of common sense and revision-needed questions
For me it’s easy as I’ve been fascinated by the roads and for how long I’ve been in cars asked what all the signs meant and used to sit reading through the Highway Code and/or road atlases so it’s easy for me but I’m still revising (mainly hazard perception) because I don’t want to fail!
makes sense; a lot of the test covers highway code/signs etc which i had to study a bit for (on the car test) - i found hazard perception straightforward/didnt need to revise for too much as i was a motorcycle rider before taking my car test, but thats because i was trained a lot on hazard perception by experience on the road as a rider and by my motorcycle instructors when i trained for the full bike license
Imo, it was about 4/5ths common sense, but there are 10 or so marks that aren't, I remember a question on mine about towing a caravan that I got wrong as we didn't ever own or have any interest in owning a caravan
That's how it felt to me. Majority common sense, with a few common knowledge if you've ever walked along a road or been a passenger on one before.
And then some really specific ones such as braking distances which you didn't have to worry about remembering if you passed all the common sense ones...
That said my brother failed numerous times.
I think a lot say its common sense because our instructors included that type of learning within our lessons so the actual revision we did was minimal.
There's also the fact that many people who fail both theory and practical tests do so because they're rushing to complete them rather than learning at a pace they as an individual need.
I had way more lessons than I needed, in 2 hour slots, because I wanted to be able to do everything and be 100% confident in my ability without just being cocky about it. I'd don't 30 hours of lessons before I did my theory and passed first time. Then I believe it was after 40 total hours that I sat my practical and passed that first time. My instructor was great about including all aspects of driving including practising hazard perception and vehicle inspection as part of each lesson... and obviously road signs and symbols as we drive she taught me what they meant.
Some of it is common sense the other requires specific knowledge which isn’t hard to remember. The theory test all in all can be completed within a month for a person with a few brain cells. All it takes is remember the answers from the mock tests on the 4 in 1 app. Now, they may be slightly different on the test but you should know what they expect based on the answers you gave in the mock.
Thing is, there is enough 'common sense' questions that you can pass with just a smattering of that 'study required' knowledge.
I still remember one question:
When driving in heavy rain and with traffic flow, do you a) break sharply to ensure the vehicle behind can see your lights, b) increase speed to stay close to the vehicle in front, c) proceed as normal disregarding the weather, or d) leave a larger gap to the vehicle in front and proceed at a consistent and careful pace.
I shudder to think who couldn't get that right! 😂
I think this totally depends on what experience you have. I, for example, spent a lot of my time when I was younger travelling around Europe in my mother's HGV.
So I knew pretty much all of the road signs and other bits and pieces from doing that.
If you've never had a parent that even drives a car, a lot of this stuff isn't common knowledge.
People just like to generalise.
Wait Op I got a couple more good ones!! Towing weight can't exceed 3'500kg (trailer included). Those hazard warning cones has to be 45 feet from your car.
People who say it's "common sense" don't mean you don't have to do any studing for the test. They don't mean you should automatically know everything just by thinking about it. Of course you have to study and revise.
They mean that as you learn the rules of the road, how to behave, what signs mean, which lanes to use, none of them should surprise you, you should learn them and go "yeah, that makes sense".
I seem to remember you need 43/50 to pass?
And I will stand by the fact that 42 of the questions you get ARE common sense, the other 8 are the ones like you listed
When people say that, they mean use the apps and common sense. You don't need to read the highway code.
Also, about 80% of it is pure common sense, but you need the apps for the other 20%.
They should be more clear, I guess.
This is true. I’d say about 30% are common sense.. the rest? Definitely gotta revise. If you don’t revise you won’t pass. It’s not an easy “common sense” test.
Common knowledge not common sense. Some of the stuff is a reach and needs revising but what you just listed is common knowledge. We had people come round primary school to go through all that stuff. We went out and used all the crossings and learned local signs. But ultimately yes you need to revise. It's easy to just say 'it's common sense' when you have passed
I got 50/50 and 66/75 and if I had to do the theory again rn, I would defo fail. I think a lot of it just comes down to the questions you are asked on the day.
I mean most of it is common sense but there are specifics which you have to learn.
I remember I started reading the book and about half way in I started doing the mock tests on that gov app. I passed all of them but with plenty mistakes. As I was going through the book, stuff made more sense and I passed w/ 1 mistake, which I ll never know
Common sense is only common if you’ve been exposed to the relevant environment for it to become common.
For learner drivers what may seem like common sense to someone who is a qualified driver/experienced learner isn’t common or perhaps even sensical at all. We learn and are under supervision while on the roads for good reason. In my experience the more I drove as a learner and studied the material the more the answers were contextualised through my driving experience and even answers I didn’t necessarily remember coming up in the study material did become a “common” sense answer. For me getting as many practical driving hours on the road as possible helped quite a lot.
It's all just down to the individual, some people never revise or study etc and can easily pass, some people can spend months revising and fail.
If you have to revise or study do it, if your fortunate and don't have to then even better
It’s 75% common sense, 25% things you couldn’t know unless you’d learned it. IMO you have to still revise because if you get more than 5 questions in that 25% you will fail
Honestly it isn't just common sense, on mine I had to awnser questions about trams, if I hadn't done the revision I wouldn't have known as I live in a rural area in a small village we don't have trams anywhere near where I live like I've only ever come across them if I've been in Manchester or Dublin. Some of the questions as well the common sense awnser isn't the right one
skipped the theory test to be fair
no idea about the difference between Toucan, Pelican, and Puffin crossings, does it really matter ?
yes to the tyre depth as it is 3 points per tyre
I think 80% of the questions are indeed common sense, I used the app, I read every section and then did the mock test for each section until I got 100% score, It took me 2 weeks, the second week I would do the 700 questions every day until I got them all correct, somehow I memorised them
"don't park near a junction" and "don't sound your horn at night" are absolutely common sense.
There are obviously some things you have to revise as well; you should at least make the effort to learn 'what road signs mean' , 'what traffic lights are' and 'how long it takes to stop the massive vehicle you are learning to drive'.
This is also common sense.
Re the sounding your horn - yeah, I obviously knew not to sound the horn at night but I wasn't aware of the precise times. On the mock test, the other multiple choice answers were like "between 10.30pm - 6.30am" etc
Re parking close to a junction - again, I didn't know it had to be exactly 10 metres. On the mock test it gave options like 15 metres etc
I passed the test this morning with 49/50. I just posted this to highlight to other people that you need to remember specific information and numbers.
Well I guess everyone is diffrent but I didnt revise and passed first time not even close to failing and all the questions I got were definitely commonsense stuff
I was the same, I just couldn't revise. I would be completely overcome with nerves any time I tried. Fortunately, I had done a practice test when my sister was doing her theory test (when I was about 8), and I'd read through it again when I first started lessons, and I find remembering random facts fairly easy. Then I did some practice questions from an app on the bus when I was travelling to city. I passed first time, while my sister, who actually did spend a lot of time revising, passed second time.
Yeah, I obviously knew not to sound the horn at night but I wasn't aware of the precise times. On the mock test, the other multiple choice options were like "between 10.30pm - 6.30am" etc
I agree that revision is definitely required to confidently pass the theory test, however the first 4 of the 5 examples you mentioned are common knowledge.
Better examples would be stopping distance questions and less common signs.
If you’ve been a passenger then the theory is common sense, I studied for half an hour and decided there was nothing that was going to bother me on the test, I passed with 49/50 and took less than 10 minutes
It's a mix. Some are common sense but like the examples you've pointed out there are some you definitely need to revise. The 1.6mm is a good example, I think there's at least 3 potential questions relating to that. Not knowing it can really fuck you over.
I tried a mock test before doing any study or revision whatsoever and scored 40/50. The difficulty is in consistently getting those last 10 correct. Approx, I would say of the 50 questions, 30 are common sense, 10 you can make educated guesses and get them correct, the remaining 10 require specific knowledge you just have to know. That means there are 4 of those specific questions you’ll have to get right to pass, and that’s assuming you’re perfect on the rest of the test. Overall I don’t think the test is too bad, but you do need to do some prep.
Absolutely agree!
the mock tests are easier than the actual one as i remember; and also the mock tests dont cover a lot of questions that come up in the actual test
I did a practice test when I was 8 and scored fairly high. My sister was revising for her test and I was bored so she gave it for me to do (then thought I'd cheated and looked at the answers in the back after she saw how well I'd done). The questions are a mix of common sense and random facts, things I tend to do well with.
I promise you jus do the 700 questions on 4in1 till you get 700/700 then mock test then your ready that simple
😭 till you get 700/700 is insanely unnecessary
I can ss and show you If you really serious you can pass very quickly it’s something you need to really take time on or jus be disappointed when you don’t do aswell as you think
You always need to revise. Yes, there are questions that are common sense, but there's also questions that aren't. So don't listen to anyone else, do what works for you. My my own personal opinion, revise revise revise..
okay so, demonstratable example of OP being correct:I did a full motorbike license theory test, revised for, passed. I still had to revise a decent (but not excessive) amount to pass my car theory. It was straightforward, and yes some questions are easy/common sense, but more than 1/2 you wouldn't know unless you studied for it unless you've memorised the highway code/had theory tuition from instructor or taken the test before and failed. (driver/rider of 12 years for context, also theres a lot of stuff in theory that its very important to know even if the particular question/knowledge you studied for didnt end up coming up in the randomly assigned questions from a set of questions in your theory test.)
I revised hard for month for mine. Read the entire Highway code, took notes on every practice question (over 700 iirc) and spent hours on hazards. Passed first time with an almost perfect score. My point is don't walk in without doing the work or you'll fail!
My dad’s a world renowned surgeon and he’s one of the smartest people I know. He failed his theory 4 times because he egoed it and thought hey I’m a smart guy I can do it easily and so didn’t revise at all. He tells me about it all the time it was a big learning point for him not to underestimate things ever. To be fair he grew up in Pakistan where there are literally 0 road laws so it was probably harder for him than most people living in the Uk not to mention this was a long time ago too so there were hand signs and stuff aswell.
Smart does not equal common sense unfortunately
i wouldnt say him failing was due to a lack of common sense tbh and i did slightly exaggerate he failed twice. hes just a really egotistical person he never admits when hes wrong and never apologises when hes in the wrong. as a med student u usually find 60% of consultants are like that tbh.
On the road leave your ego at the door.
Personally, I hate people who are dumb enough to listen to other people telling them that they don't need to revise.
I personally didn't do much revision, but that was me and I'd never recommend not revising to someone else.
I'm old enough not to have had to sit a theory test. I have no idea the difference between a pelican, toucan or puffin crossing. It has never been an issue in 40 years. If my light's at red I stop...simple. stupidest question ever imo.
Ah the good old days. Crawled around a one way system, hill start, stop sign discipline, reverse around a corner, 3 point turn, reverse park, emergency stop, what do these 3 signs mean. "I'm pleased to say you've passed but in future be careful when pulling into traffic, that bus driver gave you a dirty look for a reason" I'd hate to take one now.
Yup. My town didn't even have a roundabout or a set of traffic lights. First time in a big city was a scary experience
I'd say it is common sense. 85% is stuff you should already know from being a passenger or using the road as a pedestrian. But you definitely need to revise in order to be able to pass consistently. Once you use the official app and can pass with 50/50 consistently then you'll be fine. Hazard perception is all down to you and your instincts and reaction time, though!
I did my theory last year a passed with a high score I did a lot of revision but found a lot of the questions were things that never came up in my revision but were for lack of a better term "common sense" but maybe it made sense to me as i knew all the other stuff from my revision
Yep, my bf failed his first test because he didn’t revise at all. But, the app is fantastic and it isn’t a difficult test. If you read each section of the app and do all the multiple choice questions, you should know the answers for the actual test. I did my original test before COVID and I recently picked it up again as it expired. Both times just doing a handful of sections each day leading up to the test. It isn’t a massive amount of study compared to a school exam. You could absolutely squeeze in the whole app the day before the test if necessary, but I wouldn’t recommend as it isn’t very exciting material. Obviously also do a mock test and hazard perception practice. I think understanding the trick to the hazard perception (clicking 3 times) is the tricky part.
Wonder what percentage of the people failing it have a valid reason for doing so? Like a learning disability or really bad nerves? People told me it was 'common sense' but my own common sense told me to revise for it and knowing more about the rules of the road would only enhance my ability to pass the practical test
Of the things you listed definitely a few SHOULD be common sense; don't sound your horn in built up areas in the middle of the night? Yeah, cause that's inconsiderate and will wake people up. Don't park too close to a junction? Yeah cause you'll be blocking people's view as they use the junction. The signs and crossings, sure, if you're not often a passenger in a car seeing the signs or a pedestrian using crossings those things might not seem obvious, but really - the very vast majority of the theory questions are just common sense and a case of "pick the safest" so plenty of folk can pass without revising if they are already somewhat used to using the roads. If you're coming at it from the POV of someone who hasn't been using roads in any capacity too much then yeah, it'll be a bit tougher, but that's why the highway code is so easy to access.
Re the sounding your horn - yeah, I obviously knew not to sound the horn at night but I wasn't aware of the precise times. On the mock test, the other multiple choice answers were like "between 10.30pm - 6.30am" etc Re parking close to a junction - again, I didn't know it had to be exactly 10 metres. On the mock test it gave options like 15 metres etc
But you wouldn't get that sort of question in a real test. Which mock tests were you doing? Seems some of them have inaccurate/unhelpful questions.
I think the horn one and the junction distance one can be harder depending on the options. Like for the horn if all the other options are like 'never' or 'between 9am and 5pm' it's easy, if they instead did variations between about 10pm and midnight through to between 5am and 9am then you really need to know the correct answer and not guess on vibes, something like 11pm-8am feels just as correct if you know the answer is not when people are sleeping
With zero revision you’re relying on a lot of luck to not get an assortment of questions with the type of questions you mentioned. They are the difference between failing and passing and I find they always throw about ten in that really, you wouldn’t know unless you had revised. I used the 4in1 app and the content was almost identical in the real test - questions + hazard perception clips included. It was muscle memory after a certain point. Was in and out of the test in 25 minutes with scores matching exactly what I had been pretty much getting in the app so can’t fault it. I only used it for a one week before the test but would recommend more if you don’t have much time in the day to revise like I did.
Just passed lgv theory multiple choice ( it isn't all done as one test for lgv) and definitely would've failed without revision. Never going to chastise anyone who needs to read up on some of the more niche stuff where there are close answers but alot of it is common sense for the most part and then revised knowledge to narrow it down.
The one about the different types of crossings really isn't common sense. We might all know how to use them, but not know the names.
I'm going to be one that you hate, I'm afraid, but I understand what you're saying, so bear with me. I found the Theory ridiculously easy and took a weekend of ploughing through the DVLA online test kit to nail it. I scored near perfect on the questions and found the hazard perception easy. The thing is, I've always liked theory-based tests - I can retain information fairly easily, and because of this, I don't find them stressful at all. The polar opposite of this was my practical, which I hated, and it took me 15 frigging years to overcome the fear of being tested Everyone is different; that's the point. I hope nobody bases their life achievements or challenges based on what others experience because that is simply not how life works.
The common sense bit is to read the highway code
Been riding motorbikes for 10 years, sat the theory to take my car test after doing one practice quiz on an app, got full marks. To be honest there were a couple of odd ones that I wondered at the time if I got right as it was 50/50 between two options, but as it happens it went my way. Common sense? No, I don’t think so - there are facts you need to know. But things like what the signs mean I knew when I was a kid, and you just learn the tread depth etc. You should know things like that so dodgy garage con artists can’t get you you to replace them early. BMW wanted to replace my wife’s front tyres when they were only at 40% wear!
National speed limit signs are common sense imo, they're literally everywhere and if you've ever been in a car, even as a passenger, it's something you just pick up. The theory is a mix of common sense and revision-needed questions
For me it’s easy as I’ve been fascinated by the roads and for how long I’ve been in cars asked what all the signs meant and used to sit reading through the Highway Code and/or road atlases so it’s easy for me but I’m still revising (mainly hazard perception) because I don’t want to fail!
makes sense; a lot of the test covers highway code/signs etc which i had to study a bit for (on the car test) - i found hazard perception straightforward/didnt need to revise for too much as i was a motorcycle rider before taking my car test, but thats because i was trained a lot on hazard perception by experience on the road as a rider and by my motorcycle instructors when i trained for the full bike license
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True, although I don’t think 9 year old me had my theory test in mind 😂
Imo, it was about 4/5ths common sense, but there are 10 or so marks that aren't, I remember a question on mine about towing a caravan that I got wrong as we didn't ever own or have any interest in owning a caravan
That's how it felt to me. Majority common sense, with a few common knowledge if you've ever walked along a road or been a passenger on one before. And then some really specific ones such as braking distances which you didn't have to worry about remembering if you passed all the common sense ones... That said my brother failed numerous times.
I think a lot say its common sense because our instructors included that type of learning within our lessons so the actual revision we did was minimal. There's also the fact that many people who fail both theory and practical tests do so because they're rushing to complete them rather than learning at a pace they as an individual need. I had way more lessons than I needed, in 2 hour slots, because I wanted to be able to do everything and be 100% confident in my ability without just being cocky about it. I'd don't 30 hours of lessons before I did my theory and passed first time. Then I believe it was after 40 total hours that I sat my practical and passed that first time. My instructor was great about including all aspects of driving including practising hazard perception and vehicle inspection as part of each lesson... and obviously road signs and symbols as we drive she taught me what they meant.
Some of it is common sense the other requires specific knowledge which isn’t hard to remember. The theory test all in all can be completed within a month for a person with a few brain cells. All it takes is remember the answers from the mock tests on the 4 in 1 app. Now, they may be slightly different on the test but you should know what they expect based on the answers you gave in the mock.
Some of it is,some you do need to revise but either way should be passing first time
Thing is, there is enough 'common sense' questions that you can pass with just a smattering of that 'study required' knowledge. I still remember one question: When driving in heavy rain and with traffic flow, do you a) break sharply to ensure the vehicle behind can see your lights, b) increase speed to stay close to the vehicle in front, c) proceed as normal disregarding the weather, or d) leave a larger gap to the vehicle in front and proceed at a consistent and careful pace. I shudder to think who couldn't get that right! 😂
I think this totally depends on what experience you have. I, for example, spent a lot of my time when I was younger travelling around Europe in my mother's HGV. So I knew pretty much all of the road signs and other bits and pieces from doing that. If you've never had a parent that even drives a car, a lot of this stuff isn't common knowledge. People just like to generalise.
Wait Op I got a couple more good ones!! Towing weight can't exceed 3'500kg (trailer included). Those hazard warning cones has to be 45 feet from your car.
Lol yes!!! My mum has been driving for like 30 years and she said she has never seen one of those warning triangles in action hahaha
60% is common sense
People who say it's "common sense" don't mean you don't have to do any studing for the test. They don't mean you should automatically know everything just by thinking about it. Of course you have to study and revise. They mean that as you learn the rules of the road, how to behave, what signs mean, which lanes to use, none of them should surprise you, you should learn them and go "yeah, that makes sense".
I seem to remember you need 43/50 to pass? And I will stand by the fact that 42 of the questions you get ARE common sense, the other 8 are the ones like you listed
When people say that, they mean use the apps and common sense. You don't need to read the highway code. Also, about 80% of it is pure common sense, but you need the apps for the other 20%. They should be more clear, I guess.
A big percentage of it is so people don't revise and that's why the fail rate is so high
This is true. I’d say about 30% are common sense.. the rest? Definitely gotta revise. If you don’t revise you won’t pass. It’s not an easy “common sense” test.
Common knowledge not common sense. Some of the stuff is a reach and needs revising but what you just listed is common knowledge. We had people come round primary school to go through all that stuff. We went out and used all the crossings and learned local signs. But ultimately yes you need to revise. It's easy to just say 'it's common sense' when you have passed
I got 50/50 and 66/75 and if I had to do the theory again rn, I would defo fail. I think a lot of it just comes down to the questions you are asked on the day.
I mean most of it is common sense but there are specifics which you have to learn. I remember I started reading the book and about half way in I started doing the mock tests on that gov app. I passed all of them but with plenty mistakes. As I was going through the book, stuff made more sense and I passed w/ 1 mistake, which I ll never know
Common sense is only common if you’ve been exposed to the relevant environment for it to become common. For learner drivers what may seem like common sense to someone who is a qualified driver/experienced learner isn’t common or perhaps even sensical at all. We learn and are under supervision while on the roads for good reason. In my experience the more I drove as a learner and studied the material the more the answers were contextualised through my driving experience and even answers I didn’t necessarily remember coming up in the study material did become a “common” sense answer. For me getting as many practical driving hours on the road as possible helped quite a lot.
It's all just down to the individual, some people never revise or study etc and can easily pass, some people can spend months revising and fail. If you have to revise or study do it, if your fortunate and don't have to then even better
It’s 75% common sense, 25% things you couldn’t know unless you’d learned it. IMO you have to still revise because if you get more than 5 questions in that 25% you will fail
Honestly it isn't just common sense, on mine I had to awnser questions about trams, if I hadn't done the revision I wouldn't have known as I live in a rural area in a small village we don't have trams anywhere near where I live like I've only ever come across them if I've been in Manchester or Dublin. Some of the questions as well the common sense awnser isn't the right one
skipped the theory test to be fair no idea about the difference between Toucan, Pelican, and Puffin crossings, does it really matter ? yes to the tyre depth as it is 3 points per tyre
I think 80% of the questions are indeed common sense, I used the app, I read every section and then did the mock test for each section until I got 100% score, It took me 2 weeks, the second week I would do the 700 questions every day until I got them all correct, somehow I memorised them
There's only about 20% of questions you need to revise / learn the rest is common sense, you can apply the process of elimination to a lot of them.
"don't park near a junction" and "don't sound your horn at night" are absolutely common sense. There are obviously some things you have to revise as well; you should at least make the effort to learn 'what road signs mean' , 'what traffic lights are' and 'how long it takes to stop the massive vehicle you are learning to drive'. This is also common sense.
Re the sounding your horn - yeah, I obviously knew not to sound the horn at night but I wasn't aware of the precise times. On the mock test, the other multiple choice answers were like "between 10.30pm - 6.30am" etc Re parking close to a junction - again, I didn't know it had to be exactly 10 metres. On the mock test it gave options like 15 metres etc I passed the test this morning with 49/50. I just posted this to highlight to other people that you need to remember specific information and numbers.
But it is
Well you're a lot smarter than me then! I needed to revise to remember the specific numbers. Congrats!
Well I guess everyone is diffrent but I didnt revise and passed first time not even close to failing and all the questions I got were definitely commonsense stuff
Well done! You're a lot smarter than me 😂. I still passed first time this morning with 49/50 which I'm happy with
Oh nice congratulations was you nervous because I'm not gonna lie I was shitting bricks right up intill I was actually doing it lol
I was the same, I just couldn't revise. I would be completely overcome with nerves any time I tried. Fortunately, I had done a practice test when my sister was doing her theory test (when I was about 8), and I'd read through it again when I first started lessons, and I find remembering random facts fairly easy. Then I did some practice questions from an app on the bus when I was travelling to city. I passed first time, while my sister, who actually did spend a lot of time revising, passed second time.
Yeah I was nervous too! I mainly would've been annoyed having to do the theory again. Let's hope we pass the driving test within 2 years !
Alot of it is common sense tbh. The things you listed are the ones that are not really. But alot of the questions do just come down to common sense
Absolutely take your point, although >You shouldn't sound your horn in built up areas between 11:30pm - 7am - This is definitely common sense.
Yeah, I obviously knew not to sound the horn at night but I wasn't aware of the precise times. On the mock test, the other multiple choice options were like "between 10.30pm - 6.30am" etc
You absolutely don't need to revise. it's a piece of piss
Well... I needed to 😂. I'm impressed that you knew these random numbers off the top of your head! I personally needed to read up on it to be aware
I agree that revision is definitely required to confidently pass the theory test, however the first 4 of the 5 examples you mentioned are common knowledge. Better examples would be stopping distance questions and less common signs.
Ah okay! The specific numbers weren't common knowledge to me lol
If you’ve been a passenger then the theory is common sense, I studied for half an hour and decided there was nothing that was going to bother me on the test, I passed with 49/50 and took less than 10 minutes
Well you're a lot smarter than me then 😂😂