Failed C+E test...twice. What now?

First time failed the reverse - took 2 shunts and went over the line. I was horrible. 5 minors on the driving, 1 on the coupling. Booked 2 hours of reversing training, test 2 weeks later - nailed the reverse no shunts, 3 serious faults on the driving = failed…In retrospect I had failed about 10 mins into the independent driving part where I misread directions from a roundabout sign and entered a “No lorries” street

Can I go to a different school/city and do the test there? Say get a day of training (4 hours) and do the test with them?

The good news… you have passed the entire test, just not all at once. I think nerves are getting the better of you, and by the sounds of things, you are not well prepared enough. Relax, concentrate on the bit of road in front of you and don’t worry about what could happen 3 streets away.

Yes, you can take your test anywhere with any school. Number 1: changing trainers is expensive, so I would make sure it’s what you really need.

Number 2: it may be a case of you going to pieces on the test, how do you drive normally with your instructor? Or it may be a case of you having a crap instructor.

I don’t know your circumstances, but if as I suspect he has put you in for 2 tests before you’re ready, I would be looking for a new instructor pronto!

Or secret box number 3: you may be taking your test in a failure hotspot. Where are you doing it? Maybe we can tell you of a place locally to you which is easier.

Technically if you can drive to standard, then you should pass anywhere. But in reality, some places the odds are stacked against you

Dont give up…i failed my car test twice, for stupid mistakes years ago. Third time lucky.

So you failed on the reverse and then nailed the drive. And then nailed the drive and failed on the drive.

On my worst day watching me reverse an artic is comedy gold. For everyone but me. So there is no shame in that. The fact they you got it mastered second time shows you can do it. Some days the trailer does what I want - some days it has other ideas.

The driving was probably nerves. Get it booked in and get it passed. If it was easy it wouldn’t mean anything. Then you can go from making silly mistakes on test to making silly mistakes whilst getting paid.

I do stuff nearly every shift that would fail me a test. Be that taking too many shunts to get onto a bay, or even being in the wrong lane at a roundabout. It’s life. You only need to get lucky to pass for an hour. After that in the real world, it’s expected you will occasionally ■■■■ up. Just take it really slow next time - when they ask you to pull off taking some deep breaths and chill.

jbaz73:
The good news… you have passed the entire test, just not all at once. I think nerves are getting the better of you, and by the sounds of things, you are not well prepared enough. Relax, concentrate on the bit of road in front of you and don’t worry about what could happen 3 streets away.

True that. The first time before the test I was feeling like I was about to vomit - that’s how nervous I felt, I had never felt so nervous before. After I failed the reverse I was relaxed during the drive because I knew whatever happened wouldn’t have any more negative consequences (well, apart from crashing the truck)
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jbaz73:
Yes, you can take your test anywhere with any school. Number 1: changing trainers is expensive, so I would make sure it’s what you really need.

How expensive? They’re already charging me 325 per test here

jbaz73:
I don’t know your circumstances, but if as I suspect he has put you in for 2 tests before you’re ready, I would be looking for a new instructor pronto!

Yeah I wasn’t feeling ready at all but I asked him after the 4th (last) training day if he thinks I’ll pass and he said “I think you have a very good chance”. Throughout the training I got very little feedback on my driving, he was mostly looking bored out of his mind, playing with his phone etc. I had to ask multiple times for feedback and got mostly 2-3 word answers. That and I drove for a total of probably 7-8 hours, a lot of time wasted waiting at traffic lights, left turn junctions etc. I was feeling totally unprepared, tbh I was surprised I did that well on the driving the first time around

jbaz73:
Or secret box number 3: you may be taking your test in a failure hotspot. Where are you doing it? Maybe we can tell you of a place locally to you which is easier.

Birmingham area, driving between West Bromich and Walsall. Lots of parked cars on small two-way streets, road works with cones/portable traffic lights, busses and bus stops, a mix of small and large roundabouts, long (2-3 km ) descents. Last test was at 8:30 am. at the start of the week, tbh traffic wasn’t that bad. I think it’s doable but there are just so many things that can go wrong that are outside of my control + the pressure from the test itself.

Honestly I don’t want to give this “driving school” any more of my money. Last time I went in for my 2nd test, the instructor (not the one who led my training) pointed me to the test truck and muttered “get in adjust your seat and mumble mumble” so I thought “hm just like last time, get in and do a couple of practice reverses, got it”, he then disappeared back into the office. So I adjust my seat etc., start the reverse, he comes out and starts YELLING at me “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING who told you to do a ****** reverse you can’t do *****ing reversing unless I’m here”. Wow, ok, cause I did do it alone last time with no one around…So that had me riled up as well - this was happening 15 mins before the test.

Then the truck had an air leak which he managed to temprorarily fix by moving about one of the airlines, a minute later the engine went off while idling in neutral so they called in a guy to come take a look at it. It was a total charade- I’d never driven this particular truck before - yes it was the same model as mine, but the brakes felt differently, the kingpin I had to pull really hard which yelling guy tried to explain to me before the test but kept getting carried away talking about wanting to shoot down some birds that just happened to fly above; so I found out about the kingpin trick the hard way during the uncoupling part of the test when I tried to pull the tractor away and it turned out it failed to disengage so I had to get out and re-do it…

Anyways, thanks for the feedback/encouragement. I still have my C license and I was thinking doing agency work for 2-3-4 months just to get used to driving a large vehicle, perhaps it will boost my confidence for when I go for take 3? I’m still determined to do it but no way I’m giving a single penny to that company after my last experience with them. I could complain about the overall course length and quality but what can you do- it’s the same everywhere - 4 days.

Not sure which school you using but try Top Gear in halesowen. You train and do the test in the same truck. Test is at Wolverhampton and because they are close most of the driving is on the test routes anyway.

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ETS:

jbaz73:
The good news… you have passed the entire test, just not all at once. I think nerves are getting the better of you, and by the sounds of things, you are not well prepared enough. Relax, concentrate on the bit of road in front of you and don’t worry about what could happen 3 streets away.

True that. The first time before the test I was feeling like I was about to vomit - that’s how nervous I felt, I had never felt so nervous before. After I failed the reverse I was relaxed during the drive because I knew whatever happened wouldn’t have any more negative consequences (well, apart from crashing the truck)

jbaz73:
Yes, you can take your test anywhere with any school. Number 1: changing trainers is expensive, so I would make sure it’s what you really need.

How expensive? They’re already charging me 325 per test here

jbaz73:
I don’t know your circumstances, but if as I suspect he has put you in for 2 tests before you’re ready, I would be looking for a new instructor pronto!

Yeah I wasn’t feeling ready at all but I asked him after the 4th (last) training day if he thinks I’ll pass and he said “I think you have a very good chance”. Throughout the training I got very little feedback on my driving, he was mostly looking bored out of his mind, playing with his phone etc. I had to ask multiple times for feedback and got mostly 2-3 word answers. That and I drove for a total of probably 7-8 hours, a lot of time wasted waiting at traffic lights, left turn junctions etc. I was feeling totally unprepared, tbh I was surprised I did that well on the driving the first time around

jbaz73:
Or secret box number 3: you may be taking your test in a failure hotspot. Where are you doing it? Maybe we can tell you of a place locally to you which is easier.

Birmingham area, driving between West Bromich and Walsall. Lots of parked cars on small two-way streets, road works with cones/portable traffic lights, busses and bus stops, a mix of small and large roundabouts, long (2-3 km ) descents. Last test was at 8:30 am. at the start of the week, tbh traffic wasn’t that bad. I think it’s doable but there are just so many things that can go wrong that are outside of my control + the pressure from the test itself.

Honestly I don’t want to give this “driving school” any more of my money. Last time I went in for my 2nd test, the instructor (not the one who led my training) pointed me to the test truck and muttered “get in adjust your seat and mumble mumble” so I thought “hm just like last time, get in and do a couple of practice reverses, got it”, he then disappeared back into the office. So I adjust my seat etc., start the reverse, he comes out and starts YELLING at me “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING who told you to do a ****** reverse you can’t do *****ing reversing unless I’m here”. Wow, ok, cause I did do it alone last time with no one around…So that had me riled up as well - this was happening 15 mins before the test.

Then the truck had an air leak which he managed to temprorarily fix by moving about one of the airlines, a minute later the engine went off while idling in neutral so they called in a guy to come take a look at it. It was a total charade- I’d never driven this particular truck before - yes it was the same model as mine, but the brakes felt differently, the kingpin I had to pull really hard which yelling guy tried to explain to me before the test but kept getting carried away talking about wanting to shoot down some birds that just happened to fly above; so I found out about the kingpin trick the hard way during the uncoupling part of the test when I tried to pull the tractor away and it turned out it failed to disengage so I had to get out and re-do it…

Anyways, thanks for the feedback/encouragement. I still have my C license and I was thinking doing agency work for 2-3-4 months just to get used to driving a large vehicle, perhaps it will boost my confidence for when I go for take 3? I’m still determined to do it but no way I’m giving a single penny to that company after my last experience with them. I could complain about the overall course length and quality but what can you do- it’s the same everywhere - 4 days.
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I just got my class 2 last week after almost a year. I had the same experience with you regarding instructor. He used to shout and swear at me. I was 19 at the time and he told me I would find it very hard because I don’t have much driving “experience”. I think it plays on your mind even if you don’t think about it. It ruined my confidence. I did a course last week with a different company and the instructor was so patient and chilled and I went into this test much more relaxed and I felt confident about it. From the sounds of it you are having the same experience as me. I’d be willing to pay more for a better instructor if i was you. I wish you the best of luck though I’m hoping to do my class 1 as well after a few months of agency work.

I find some teachers (any subject/trade) I just don’t gel with. New teacher and it all falls into place.

You can obviously do it as jbaz astutely pointed out, just not on the same day. Go for a bit more training somewhere else, then third time lucky!

I can personally recommend Hughes driver training near to you, I did 1&2 with them. Tbh, where you’re training, you’re kneecapping yourself. Brum is very hard, have you thought about Pete? Nice small countryside town?

Get your ■■■ to peter smythe .
One of the best schools in the country .
I took my c and c+e there passed both first time and felt more then ready come test day . The instructors are excellent .
Nice little town too .
(They want you to pass first time and give you the tools to do it ) .

jbaz73:
I can personally recommend Hughes driver training near to you, I did 1&2 with them. Tbh, where you’re training, you’re kneecapping yourself. Brum is very hard, have you thought about Pete? Nice small countryside town?

Given I did my class 2 and 1 at Petes and work in Brum - both very much in the city centre and slightly further out I am a bit of an expert in this subject - and everyone giving this advice is spot on!

I’ve done central London - including a drop on Oxford street with no entrance at the back. I’ve done building sites in central Manchester. And I can assure everyone that Brum is one of the most horrible and difficult places to drive a truck. Even a rigid can be a nightmare.

Go to Pete’s school and get it done. You will find it easier. And by the sounds of it, you will have a much much nicer experience.