What to Expect on the Day of Your Learner’s Licence Exam

This article is yet another in the driving series that I've been writing lately. Now I'll deal with actually writing the learner's licence test, whereas before I mostly covered what to do in order to apply for it.

You need to make sure that you have the following with you before you leave home to get to the venue in order to write the exam:

• A pencil.

• A pen.

• An eraser.

• A watch.

• Your appointment receipt (you got it when you made the appointment).

• Your ID.

• Some money (find out how much it is in your country).

• Some extra money just in case the price isn't the same (you only pay if you pass).

A few extra things to do:

• Get enough sleep.

• Try and eat a little in the morning, it will save you having stomach cramps or pangs while writing, which is seriously distracting.

• Go to the toilet before you leave the house.

You are usually expected to arrive 15 minutes or so before the exam starts. You'll most likely wait in the foyer until an official calls all of you in (there will be others). Prepare to deal with some difficult people inside. When lining up to go in to the exam room, try not to get in the line first. Drop your pen or something so that someone else goes in front of you, as the first one in line gets picked on, and you need follow his or her lead.

Inside the examination room, you'll either be told to sit in a specific place or you can sit anywhere, it depends on how big a control freak the guy in charge is. There might be one or two invigilators in the room, one of whom will go through what you should and shouldn't do. You may ask questions afterwards if you don't understand something, but only once he's finished his little story.

On your desk, at least in South Africa, you'll have a big book with all your questions, a booklet with pictures in them, and your pieces of paper that you had to fill in all your info on when you booked your appointment. Somewhere on those sheets there will be your multiple choice sheet.

• Don't waste time.

• Don't cheat. Even if you don't copy somebody's answers, like if you write the entire test without opening any of the books, with all the answers committed to memory, they will be suspicious. They will warn you about this before, and they are serious.

• You usually have an hour. Complete the test in 40 to 50 minutes, last several minutes to check your work and fill in left out answers.

• Don't guess. In situations where you don't know the answer, use common sense.

• If you know the answer, fill it in, and leave it, if you don't, mark it with a dot and come back later.

• You must initially not spend more than 1 minute on a question. In S.A. you have about 64 questions in an hour.

• Make sure that you mark the correct code for your test. It will either be a light motor vehicle, a truck, or a motorbike. If you are writing for two different licences, I feel sorry for you, because you'll have to do more questions in an hour with no extra time, as far as I know.

• Questions often have combination questions, which are written below the initial question A), B) and C) options, and are in Roman numeral format (i, ii, iii) Do not attempt to answer the question until you know whether it is a straight forward one, or a combination, which may have two or three right answers.

• In general, in combination questions, if one of the options is for example, C) because you are ordered by a traffic officer, chances are good that C) will be one of the right answers if not the single right answer.

• Circle the right answers in pen when it's time to use the template up front when they mark.

• At least in S.A., you need to score 23,22,6 in the three respective sections at least. If you get lower in any one of them, you fail (even if you pass the other two).

After you finish the test and it's been marked, you will sit back down and relax while they fill out some forms. After that, they'll call you up to sign a form and stick your thumb print down on it. This is your temporary or learner's licence, and it is valid for eighteen months. You'll also have to give the man the money (I paid R30).

As I've heard many a time before, don't wait until your learner's licence has nearly expired before you attempt the driver's test. Make sure you can go at least two or three times in the eighteen months provided.

Note: It has been brought to my attention that traffic departments and drivers licence testing centres in some provinces in South Africa and indeed possibly other places utilise an electronic, touch screen version of the learner's licence exam. This article doesn't cover this sort of exam. If I am able to find out more information about it, I may well write a follow up to this article.

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