What does this mean?  

From October about 8-10 minutes of every driving test will be allocated to driving independently: i.e. driving without direction from the Examiner.  

Why?  

The thinking behind Independent Driving is to encourage the test candidate to think for themselves rather than just reacting to instructions given by the Examiner.   The tendancy at present is for candidates to react automatically upon the Examiner's direction by going into 'MSM mode'  the instant the
Examiner opens his/her mouth.

The introduction of Independent Driving will encourage the candidate to:                                        
                                                 Look for direction and traffic signs
                                    Plan ahead by looking further ahead for junctions                                     
                                          Think about when to go into 'MSM mode'    
How will this affect the test? 

The Independent Driving phase will take one of 3 forms.  

The Candidate may be asked to follow a series of signs to a destination. i.e. "for the next few moments keep on following the signs to the town center." The candidate then needs to look for the signs, which will be clearly visible on approach to the junction, then follow the signs until told otherwise.  

The candidate may be given a series of 3 directions to follow i.e. take the 2nd left - left at the roundabout - then 1st right. This method will be used where signs are not suitable. The directions will be backed up by a diagram shown by the examiner.  

The 3rd method can be a combination of the previous 2 methods i.e. following signs then a series of 3 directions.  

What if the candidate goes off route or forgets an instruction?  

Same as normal rules for taking a wrong turn, if it's done safely it would not be marked.    






Anything else about to change?  

Oh yes!  

One other important note. From October 2010, to help allow time for the Independent Driving phase, there will only be one manoeuvre on the car test.   At present examiners ask for any two manoeuvres from reverse into a side road, reverse park and turn in the road. From October it will be one manoeuvre.