Regulation 40B Content of the testsF1

England, Wales and Scotland

(F2ZA1)

The safe road use test shall—

(a)

be conducted as an approved form of examination and test a candidate’s knowledge of the matters in Schedule 7 Part 2, other than the excepted matters;

(b)

have a duration of 30 minutes or, in the circumstances specified in paragraph (6), 60 minutes.

(1)

The standard test of driving theory shall—

(a)

be conducted as an approved form of examination F3... testing a F4candidate’s knowledge and understanding of the matters specified in regulation 40C(4) in respect of a vehicle of the relevant class; and

(b)

have a duration of 57 minutes or, in the circumstances specified in paragraph (6), 114 minutes.

(F51A)

The abridged standard test of driving theory shall—

(a)

be conducted as an approved form of examination with the questions testing a candidate’s knowledge and understanding of the matters specified in Part 2 of Schedule 7; and

(b)

have a duration of 40 minutes or, in the circumstances specified in paragraph (6), 80 minutes.

(2)

The large vehicle test of driving theory shall—

(a)

be conducted as an approved form of examination consisting of 100 questions, the questions being in either multiple choice or multiple response form and testing the candidate on the matters specified in regulation 40C(5) in respect of a vehicle of the relevant class and the CPC subjects applicable to that class; and

(b)

have a duration of 115 minutes or, in the circumstances specified in paragraph (6), 230 minutes.

(3)

The standard test of hazard perception shall—

(a)

be conducted by means of the exhibition of film clips that take the perspective of the driver of a motor vehicle and show, at some point during each film clip, one or more hazards to traffic occurring on or near the road; and

(b)

require the candidate (using electronic equipment provided for the purpose and capable of recording the exact moment of each response) to indicate during each film clip the moment he observes a hazard to traffic on the road.

(4)

The large vehicle test of hazard perception shall comply with the requirements set out in paragraph (3) for the standard test of hazard perception and shall be in a form considered appropriate by the Secretary of State for testing the candidate’s competence in hazard perception in relation to vehicles in categories C and D.

(5)

The practical test and the unitary test shall each be conducted so that—

(a)

F6... the person taking the test drives, wherever possible, both on roads outside built-up areas and on urban roads,

F7(b)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(c)

the time during which that person is required to drive on roads is—

(i)

in the case of a test taken before 1st September 2008 for a licence authorising the driving of a class of vehicle included in category C, C1, D or D1, not less than 50 minutes;

(ii)

in the case of a test taken on or after 1st September 2008 for a licence authorising the driving of a class of vehicle included in category C, C1, D or D1, not less than 60 minutes;

(iii)

in the case of a test for a licence authorising the driving of a class of vehicle included in category B+E, C1+E, C+E, D1+E or D+E, not less than 50 minutes; and

(iv)

in the case of any other test, not less than 30 minutes.

(F85A)

The manoeuvres test may be conducted on a special testing ground or on roads.

(F95B)

The large vehicle off road manoeuvres test may be conducted on a special testing ground or on roads.

(6)

The circumstances referred to in F10paragraphs (ZA1), (1), (1A) and (2) are that the candidate requires the assistance of a suitably qualified person at the test by virtue of having reading difficulties.

(7)

For the purposes of this regulation—

“an approved form of examination” means a form of examination which is conducted in writing or by means of data recorded on equipment operating in response to instructions given by the candidate; and
“film clip” means a sequence of visual images displayed electronically.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: Regs. 40A-40C inserted (7.7.2008) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/1435), regs. 1(1), 14 (with reg. 22)
F2: Reg. 40B(ZA1) inserted (1.5.2010) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/1203), regs. 1(2), 20(a)
F3: Words in reg. 40B(1)(a) omitted (28.9.2009) by virtue of The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/2362), regs. 1, 2
F4: Words in reg. 40B(1)(a) substituted (1.5.2010) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/1203), regs. 1(2), 20(b)
F5: Reg. 40B(1A) inserted (1.5.2010) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/1203), regs. 1(2), 20(c)
F6: Words in reg. 40B(5)(a) omitted (30.3.2009) by virtue of The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/788), regs. 1(2), 20(a)(i) (with reg. 33)
F7: Reg. 40B(5)(b) omitted (30.3.2009) by virtue of The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/788), regs. 1(2), 20(a)(ii) (with reg. 33)
F8: Reg. 40B(5A) inserted (30.3.2009) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/788), regs. 1(2), 20(b) (with reg. 33)
F9: Reg. 40B(5B) inserted (15.11.2021 at 1.00 a.m.) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1154), regs. 1(2), 18
F10: Words in reg. 40B(6) substituted (1.5.2010) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/1203), regs. 1(2), 20(d)

Notes on the whole SI

Textual amendments

F1: 1988 c. 52. Relevant amendments are referred to where appropriate below. Amending statutes and instruments are referred to in the footnotes to these Regulations in the following manner: “the 1989 Act" means the Road Traffic (Driver Licensing and Information Systems) Act 1989 (c. 22); “the 1990 Regulations" means the Driving Licences (Community Driving Licence) Regulations 1990 (S.I. 1990/144), “the 1991 Act" means the Road Traffic Act 1991 (c. 40), “the 1996 Regulations" means the Driving Licences (Community Driving Licence) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/1974) and “the 1998 Regulations" means the Driving Licences (Community Driving Licence) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/1420).
F2: Subsection (6) was amended by the 1990 Regulations.
F3: Subsection (1A) was inserted by the 1996 Regulations, subsections (2A) and (5A) were inserted by the 1989 Act, section 6; subsection (3) was amended by the 1991 Act, Schedule 4, paragraph 63; subsection (4) was amended by the 1989 Act, Schedule 3, paragraph 8 and by the 1996 Regulations; subsection (7) was amended and subsections (9) and (10) were substituted by the 1989 Act, Schedule 3, paragraph 8 and subsections (7), (9) and (10) were amended by the 1996 Regulations. Subsection (4)(b) is to be read with the Department of Transport (Fees) Order 1988 (S.I. 1988/643), as amended by S.I. 1991/811, 1993/1601, 1995/1684 and 1996/1929, the relevant entries being items 5, 5A and 6 in Schedule 1, Table III.
F4: Section 89A was inserted by the 1989 Act, section 4(4).
F5: Subsection (2) was amended by the 1996 Regulations.
F6: Subsections (4) and (5) were amended by the 1989 Act, section 5(7) and (8).
F7: Subsections (1) and (3) were amended by the 1989 Act, section 6(2) and Schedule 6 and by the 1996 and 1998 Regulations, subsection (1A) was inserted by the 1998 Regulations; subsections (3A) and (3B) were inserted by the 1989 Act, section 6(2) and subsection (3A) was amended by the 1996 and 1998 Regulations; subsection (4) was amended by the 1996 and 1998 Regulations; subsection (4) was amended by the 1998 Regulations.
F8: Subsections (2) and (4) were amended by the 1989 Act, Schedule 3, paragraph 11. Subsection (2) was amended by the 1990 Regulations.
F9: Subsection (1) was amended by Schedule 3, paragraph 12, of the 1989 Act; subsection (1A) was inserted by section 2(2) of that Act.
F10: Section 99A was inserted by the 1996 Regulations; subsection (4) was amended by the 1998 Regulations.
F11: Subsection (2) was amended by the 1989 Act, Schedule 3, paragraph 14 and by the 1990, 1996 and 1998 Regulations; subsection (4) was amended by the 1996 Regulations.
F12: See the definitions of “prescribed" and “regulations".
F13: Sections 114, 115, 116 and 117 to 122 (Part IV of the Act) were substituted by the 1989 Act, section 2(1) and Schedule 2, Section 114(1) was amended by the 1996 Regulations.
F14: Subsection (3) was amended by the 1991 Act, Schedule 4, paragraph 64 and the 1996 Regulations.
F15: Section 115A was inserted by the 1996 Regulations.
F16: Subsection (2A) was inserted by the 1991 Act, Schedule 4, paragraph 65.
F17: See the definition of “prescribed".
F18: Amended by the 1990 Regulations.
F19: Amended by the 1991 Act, Schedule 4, paragraph 68.
F20: Inserted by the 1989 Act, Schedule 3, paragraph 23.
F21: See the definition of “prescribed".
F22: See section 105(4) of the Road Traffic Act 1988.