Minsk to Mist

Having completed my big move to the UK, which involved transporting my cat from Minsk to London by car back in 2019 (that’s a completely separate story), I didn’t bother too much with a driving licence. After all, for the first year in the UK, I could use my Belarusian licence, and it did come in handy. In summer 2020, when the pandemic restrictions were loosened up a bit, I rented a car and did a road trip around England, which was awesome! Then, if you live in London, you don’t really need a car most of the time: Tube, buses, Uber… You don’t really bother with it.

Fast forward to 2024, when my partner and I started thinking about moving outside of London, it was time for me to do something: I could not live outside of London without a car. But to start with, I needed a driving licence.

One of the downsides of moving to the UK from a not-so-civilised country is that you constantly have to prove yourself. You have to prove you are trustworthy, you have to prove you are competent and that you know your stuff. You have to prove you have the right to be among first-world people. And you have to prove that you can drive, even though you used to drive in your own country for 10 years and managed to drive your cat from Minsk to London (ca. 2,000 km) and then return your car back to Belarus in one piece.

The process itself is pretty straightforward, so I won’t be going into much detail describing it. The DVLA will always have the most up-to-date guidance anyway. In this article, I will solely focus on my personal experience and recommendations.

An important disclaimer: I am NOT getting any rewards, etc. from the service providers mentioned in this article. These are the apps and services I found very helpful in my journey to a UK driving licence, and I am more than happy to recommend them as a satisfied customer without getting a commission. (Although, if any of those service providers want to thank me, I can’t say ‘no’ to an Amazon gift card…)

Theory test

The theory test is comprised of two parts – multiple-choice questions and a hazard perception test. The first one doesn’t pose a challenge for most people. You buy a few books, read them, realise that 80% of the content is just common sense and learn things like speed limits, traffic signs (there are some that were news to me), etc. The hazard perception test is a completely different story.

The idea of the test is that you are shown a few CGI videos depicting a road and its surroundings as if you were a driver. You need to respond to a hazard that starts developing by clicking a mouse. A click in that scenario represents an action you would be required to do as if you were actually driving, such as stopping, slowing down or swerving. A hazard can be anything, such as another vehicle joining the road from a concealed entrance, a child running into the road in front of you or a bevy of swans taking a nice stroll in the middle of the road. Sounds easy, right?

Well, just like many other people, I failed mine the first time, despite having done practice tests from the DVLA almost impeccably a thousand times. In fact, I found that doing so was actually the reason my test was such a disaster! The videos you get in practice apps and the ones you get in your test are completely different. And if you practise too many times with the same set of videos over and over again, you just get too used to them and get blinded by the hazards you have learned almost by heart.

For my second attempt, I got a paid app called Driving Test Success, and these were £4.99 well spent. Although the app’s content is very similar to the one you get from the DVLA, it has questions that are worded a bit differently, and you get to practice your hazard perception test in a different manner, too. It enables you to learn the material and to gain the test passing skill without learning the questions by heart, which means you are more attentive and not restricted by the practice materials during the test itself. Additionally, the app will give you a refund on the test fee if you fail it, subject to you having completed all practice materials. Happy to say that I didn’t need a refund.

Practical test

So, this one is a bit trickier. Training for a practical test and passing it wasn’t a breather, but that wasn’t even the most complicated part. The biggest challenge was actually booking a test!

The DVLA has already announced measures it is taking to reduce the waiting times for driving tests, and it’s about time! When I was booking mine, it was a complete mayhem. You would have to be up on a Monday at about 5:50 to be at your computer no later than 5:58, log into the test booking system and wait impatiently for the slots to drop. Two minutes later, all slots would be gone. And the slot you have managed to book, if any, would be about 6 months away. Yep, not cool. Especially if you fail your first one. I honestly hope the DVLA’s new plan works out.

Needless to say, I failed my first attempt. The only thing I was upset about is that I would need to wait for another 6 months for my next one. I didn’t in the end but more on that later. There’s yet a funny story to be told about my first attempt and why it was unsuccessful.

My first try was on a gloomy weekday afternoon in February, when both the traffic and the moods were low. I answered both safety questions of the examiner, did the parallel parking like a pro and drove on along the oh-so-familiar roads that my driving instructor showed me around a million times. There was a hospital nearby, and multiple emergency cars started a drill, so I had to pull over and stop a lot. The examiner got annoyed at me one time that I didn’t stop soon enough. That’s when I though I failed and that the pressure was off. (Spoiler: no, it was only a minor fault).

At the end of my test, I elegantly parked in front of another learner’s car and waited for my instructor to approach so that the examiner would tell us the outcome. It turned out that I failed at the very last minute of the test! Apparently, what I considered to be an elegant parking manoeuvre of an experienced driver meant ‘you were pulling over too close to a parked vehicle and too quickly for my comfort, so you are getting a major fault for clearance’ to the examiner. Damn! (My instructor couldn’t get over it for months)

You can imagine that I got the same examiner my second time around, it was a peak morning hour of a weekday, and just 10 minutes before the test, I got an extreme urge to use the facilities (which were absent at the testing centre, so I had to run to the nearest coffee shop. I’m probably banned from it for good now). That was a perfect storm. I managed. A few days later, I had my lovely driving license in my mailbox. Felt pretty damn good.

On my way to a UK driving license, I made a few right choices and a few mistakes. Here’s what I recommend if you are yet to embark on that journey:

• Regardless of how good a driver you were in your native country, DO take a few practice lessons with an instructor. (I booked mine via AA) Remember, it’s not about how good you are at driving, it’s about how good you are at PASSING your driving test. An experienced driver knows those are two different things.

• Until you pass your theory test, there is no need to rush and start your driving lessons, unless you haven’t driven for a very long time and feel you need months and months of practice. You can’t book a practical test unless you have passed the theory one, and while I do wish DVLA and any aspiring drivers all the best, I don’t have confidence yet as to whether your driving test can be booked less than in a few months’ time.

• When you do manage to book a test, look for an instructor who works with that area and the test routes for your specific testing centre. This is VERY important, especially in London. Yes, there are no ‘official’ routes, and those you can find online change all the time and aren’t very reliable. This is exactly why you need an instructor who knows the practices of your particular testing centre. That’s your best shot at familiarising yourself with what you are going to get at the test.

• When your driving test is 6 months away, it can be disheartening. Especially if you are in a position when, say, you want to move outside of London and you do need a car and a license badly. If you find yourself in a situation like that, I can totally recommend an app called TestShift , which tracks any cancellations for your testing centre(s) and moves your appointment up whenever there’s a chance. I managed to move mine from August to April. And was happy that I could just pay £15.99 for a legit app instead of giving away hundreds of pounds to questionable characters who hijack test appointments and then resell them at ridiculous prices.

• If you are going to take your test in London – brace yourself! Heavy traffic, temperamental drivers and spiral roundabouts with a million exits each (not literally!) can be a challenge even for someone who was born and raised in a big city. Don’t let it discourage you. Just think about how cool it’s going to be when you succeed and can tell people ‘oh yeah, I passed my driving test in London. Good luck trying to intimidate me!’

Speaking of roundabouts – how crazy is this sexy one in Swindon? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OGvj7GZSIo

What is your experience with driving tests, either in the UK or abroad (or both)? What would you recommend to future UK drivers? Share your thoughts in the comment section!