Top 10 reasons for failing the driving test
Find out the 10 most common reasons for failing the car driving test in Great Britain.
- From:
- Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
- Published
- 19 April 2021
- Last updated
-
214SeptemberAugust20242025 — See all updates
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
Documents
Details
This guide explains the top 10 reasons for failing the car driving test in Great Britain.
You can use this guide with your driving instructor and supervising driver to practise these skills.
Updates to this page
Published 19 April 2021
Last updated 214 SeptemberAugust 2024
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Update history
2025-08-14 09:30
Updated with the top 10 reasons people failed the car driving test between April 2024 and March 2025. Changed the positions of ‘Not responding correctly to road markings’ and ‘Not responding correctly to traffic signs’.
2024-09-02 09:30
Updated with the top 10 reasons people failed the car driving test between April 2023 and March 2024. Not driving at a safe and reasonable speed has been added to the list, and not keeping control of the vehicle during reverse parking has been removed from the list. The order of some of the other reasons has also changed.
Details
This guide explains the top 10 reasons for failing the car driving test in Great Britain.
You can use this guide with your driving instructor and supervising driver to practise these skills.
Updates to this page
Sign up for emails or print this page
Update history
2025-08-14 09:30
Updated with the top 10 reasons people failed the car driving test between April 2024 and March 2025. Changed the positions of ‘Not responding correctly to road markings’ and ‘Not responding correctly to traffic signs’.
2024-09-02 09:30
Updated with the top 10 reasons people failed the car driving test between April 2023 and March 2024. Not driving at a safe and reasonable speed has been added to the list, and not keeping control of the vehicle during reverse parking has been removed from the list. The order of some of the other reasons has also changed.