To start with, you should be able to drive like a driver! That is what the test is for - to see that you are no longer a learner, and if you make 'learner driver' mistakes, you will not impress your examiner!. So if you still need help from your co-driver, or you make them feel uncomfortable, or they make you feel uncomfortable (because they are hanging on for dear life and afraid to say anything), or you are relying on the skills of other road users to keep safe, the chances are you're not yet ready.

To be a good driver, first you should have effective control of the car, for it won't matter how well you understand what you need to do, without control you won't be able to do it! By 'effective' we don't mean perfect, but that you should be able to make the car do whatever is necessary to deal with any situation relatively smoothly and the use of the controls should be 'coming naturally' to you, in other words, you shouldn't have to think about how to use them, just when. Common weaknesses are poor clutch control and late braking. Without good clutch control you will be unable to emerge safely from junctions with restricted views or manoeuvre successfully, and if you brake too late you will run out of time to do what's necessary as you approach whatever you're braking for, and late braking is a fault in itself!

But you're still not a driver just because you feel in control. Good control is just the beginning. Only 20% of the possible faults on the test are about control, the rest, such as observation, planning, anticipation, positioning, communication and simply obeying the rules, are about what you do with the control you've got! To pass the test you need to have control of three things: the car, yourself and any situation you might find yourself in.

You also need to know that you can do all the manoeuvres to an acceptable standard even though you will only be asked to carry out one of four possible. Manoeuvreing faults are still high up the list of reasons for failure, commonly due to a lack of observation.

Naturally, you will need the advice, if not the consent, of your co-driver. If they are a professional, you must trust that they know what they're talking about. No decent driving instructor will put their pupils foward for test unless they think they are ready, it would seriously harm their pass rate and reputation. If you feel you don't trust their judgement, then you should perhaps seek a second opinion or change altogether!

If your co-driver is not a professional, then there can be many factors that will influence their judgement. Many will simply not know what 'test standard' is and hope that you'll be OK, or be over or under generous in their opinion of your abilities, or be of a generation when the test was not so difficult. The obvious solution is to seek the opinion of a professional. Most will be more than happy to give an honest assessment even if that is all you want or can afford. Alternatively, choose a driving test centre and make use of our test routes. They have been selected to give you a good idea of the test area and written so that you can set up a realistic 'mock test', with more guidance for co-drivers included within the test route pages.