Not much of an update but I’ve been waiting for my licence to come back… after 13 days (today) I got a letter saying I passed the medical. My blood pressure was on the high side, and I take a medication for a mild medical issue, so perhaps they had to double check these things. Said I should receive my licence in the post soon. Here’s hoping!
Keep checking gov.uk/view-driving-licence
As soon as it shows provisional C, you can get on with theory tests. You will need your licence in your hand to take the tests but nothing to stop them being booked.
All the best, Pete 
Hi Peter,
Good news is on the website they have added C, C1, D and D1 (did the buses just in case). My photocard licence came today but on the back there are no additional categories added. Is that correct? It just shows AM, B and fkq. Nothing is marked on C. 
Hoping DVLA hasn’t screwed up…
Will get my theory booked ASAP!
EDIT: Rang DVLA just to check… confirmed I have the provisional but they don’t add it to the actual card until you pass. Makes sense otherwise you’d end up with 3 cards by the time you finish your C+E…
That’s all good then! All the best with your theory tests.
Pete
Thank you Pete! Multiple choice and hazard perception booked for the 16th of April and my case studies booked for the 20th.
Quick question about the timing of the tests… so in order to do the first two tests on the same day, I had to choose 8am start (multiple choice) and 9:15am start (hazard perception). That means I have 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete the multiple choice, in order to start the hazard perception on time, but they give you 1 hour 55 minutes…
My question is, are they strict on the timing, ie do I have to finish the first part within 1 hour and 15 minutes, or will they give me the full 1 hour 55 and allow me to start the second part “late”?
Cheers!
Test centres vary. Whilst there is often flexibility to start early, I’ve never come across anyone starting late and I would doubt if it’s an option. However, 75 minutes is enough to complete the multiple choice test if you don’t hang about!
If you’re worried about the timings, change the appointments. That really is the best advice.
Pete
Update!
Passed both the hazard perception and multiple choice tests (scored 90 and 91 respectively), happy days! Got the CPC case studies Saturday and I have booked my class 2 training and test with Peter’s training company for the 7th of May (test on 13th). Can’t wait! 
I changed the date for the hazard so I had more time for my questions but it wasn’t needed… all questions answered within 15 minutes, another 25 minutes to triple check them, in and out within 40 minutes.
CPC case studies theory passed today, that’s 3/3, excited to start in 2 weeks.
TommyT8:
CPC case studies theory passed today, that’s 3/3, excited to start in 2 weeks.
Well done and good luck on the practical part. I still remember passing mine vividly, it’s a fantastic feeling…
Good to see that your training company offers real world full sized tractor units to train in, my advice is bag one of those…personally I find the drag option to be a inappropriate for class 1 testing, as they are too different, - and much easier to drive/ reverse - than an artic …they should be a lesser driving class of their own, not for a trainee to discover their mistake the first day in an artic, and try and self teach, the roads are too busy with more idiots about these days for that to be effective
No offense intended to class 2 & trailer drivers out there…I’d better make a run for now I reckon !
Good to see that your training company offers real world full sized tractor units to train in, my advice is bag one of those…personally I find the drag option to be a inappropriate for class 1 testing, as they are too different, - and much easier to drive/ reverse - than an artic …they should be a lesser driving class of their own, not for a trainee to discover their mistake the first day in an artic, and try and self teach, the roads are too busy with more idiots about these days for that to be effective
All our customers are given the choice of full size artic OR w+d. And those who go for w+d are encouraged to take our Artic Conversion Course once they’ve passed their test.
That is our way of dealing with the issue outlined above.
All the best to the OP with his training and test.
Pete
Good news is I passed my Module 4 no problems, bad news is I failed my cat C driving test today with 2 serious faults and 8 minors. Everything was going great until about 20 minutes in and the examiner told me to go straight at a small roundabout. I didn’t notice the road markings and for some stupid reason my brain thought bearing right was straight on… d’oh. I knew I’d messed up at that point but tried to continue the best I could.The other serious fault was coming up to traffic lights at around 30mph which went amber and I put my foot down for fear of harsh braking…
Both totally my fault and I feel so stupid. I was beating myself up over it but whats done is done. Rebooked for in 2 weeks. Any advice welcome, fingers crossed.
TommyT8:
Everything was going great until about 20 minutes in and the examiner told me to go straight at a small roundabout. I didn’t notice the road markings and for some stupid reason my brain thought bearing right was straight on… d’oh. I knew I’d messed up at that point but tried to continue the best I could.The other serious fault was coming up to traffic lights at around 30mph which went amber and I put my foot down for fear of harsh braking.
I took a wrong but legal left turn on my Class 2 test and still passed, so I’m not sure why taking the wrong but legal exit on a roundabout caused you a major fault.
carlston49:
TommyT8:
Everything was going great until about 20 minutes in and the examiner told me to go straight at a small roundabout. I didn’t notice the road markings and for some stupid reason my brain thought bearing right was straight on… d’oh. I knew I’d messed up at that point but tried to continue the best I could.The other serious fault was coming up to traffic lights at around 30mph which went amber and I put my foot down for fear of harsh braking.I took a wrong but legal left turn on my Class 2 test and still passed, so I’m not sure why taking the wrong but legal exit on a roundabout caused you a major fault.
Sorry I wasn’t clear in my original post, I was positioned to the left or middle (didn’t even realise it was two lanes on the roundabout) and went right, which is why I failed.
Again, my mistake, not quite sure why I did it. The examiner was great at explaining what went wrong at the end of the test… just hope I can succeed on the next test.
Failed my retest within 2 minutes of starting. Unfortunately knocked a cone over reversing. I don’t think I steered enough, focused too much on not going over the line and lost sight of a cone. In retrospect it probably would have helped to do some practice beforehand after 2 and a half weeks of not being in the truck.
Not sure what to do now, feel like I’m useless. An hour each way travelling and a day off work to fail the test within a couple of minutes. Must be some kind of record.
Sorry to learn of your bad luck…but I question your training school to be honest, you were just not ready. Everything has to flow naturally during training or else the pressure of the test can just simply be too much for aNY person to handle. The advice of putting in you in for the test after two weeks out the cab was simply wrong in my book and also setting you up to fail. So don’t beat yourself up, worse,case scenario, just hire the biggest 7.5 tonner box van from a hire firm and run round the test route yourself the day before. Will boost your confidence no end and be much cheaper I bet.
Don’t give up, you will get there…and it is worth it.
rsg1234567:
Sorry to learn of your bad luck…but I question your training school to be honest, you were just not ready. Everything has to flow naturally during training or else the pressure of the test can just simply be too much for aNY person to handle. The advice of putting in you in for the test after two weeks out the cab was simply wrong in my book and also setting you up to fail. So don’t beat yourself up, worse,case scenario, just hire the biggest 7.5 tonner box van from a hire firm and run round the test route yourself the day before. Will boost your confidence no end and be much cheaper I bet.Don’t give up, you will get there…and it is worth it.
Having 2 and a half weeks out of the cab and no practice before the test definitely didn’t help I agree… I think it should be offered if you have a gap between training and the test. The worst thing is failing again has knocked my confidence… especially on the reverse, I nailed it the first time… just this time I forgot the setup of the cones and how much steer to put on. 
I can book a retest with an hour practice before, but it’s not until the beginning of July, so at least 4 weeks… perhaps locally I can book it sooner, but different roads/test routes. Just trying to decide what to do. Might sound stupid but I’m taking it pretty hard on myself for screwing up twice… perhaps because I’m £2k down at this point and not much closer to getting my licence.
Anyway thanks for your post and encouragement!
It’s about time I updated this thread, so I finally passed my Class 1!
After failing Class 2 twice I booked a few hours extra practice and passed with 1 minor mark on the 3rd attempt.
I just finished my training for Class 1 with Peter Smythe’s and had my test today… I was nervous but passed with just 1 minor fault again… and that was for taking a shunt on the reverse. Can’t recommend Peter Smythe’s highly enough, really professional setup and great staff all round… special thanks to Cliff once again and Kenny also!
It has taken 5 months from when I started the process with the medical but I finally made it… now to find a job and the hard part of really learning the real world day in day out. 
TommyT8:
It’s about time I updated this thread, so I finally passed my Class 1!After failing Class 2 twice I booked a few hours extra practice and passed with 1 minor mark on the 3rd attempt.
I just finished my training for Class 1 with Peter Smythe’s and had my test today… I was nervous but passed with just 1 minor fault again… and that was for taking a shunt on the reverse. Can’t recommend Peter Smythe’s highly enough, really professional setup and great staff all round… special thanks to Cliff once again and Kenny also!
It has taken 5 months from when I started the process with the medical but I finally made it… now to find a job and the hard part of really learning the real world day in day out.
Well done
Congratulations on the pass and thanks for the recommendation.
All the best for the future, Pete
Congratulations on the pass and thanks for the recommendation.
All the best for the future, Pete