How important is local knowledge when taking your test?
Have you taken your test in an area you don’t know? How was it?
Just wondering about this, as I don’t know the town where my test centre is very well.
Sometimes I found it difficult to know when to straddle lanes when makeing a right turn rather than sticking to the right turn lane, especially when you cant see the junction ahead when trying to make this decision.
Is there any general advice on this subject from the trainers that are good enough to share their advice with us on these forums?
I found it better to take it out of area. You concentrate on your surroundings more.
It could work the other way round for some… in that if you don’t have to concentrate on your surroundings and signs so much then you can take in the training better. Also might help for independent drive section.
I don’t think it matters as long as you have trained in that area, just to give you an insight into the types of roads you may encounter.
In the dim and distant past I did my class three in Leeds and my class one in Hull, both used the centre of town and although being familiar with Hull I don’t think it helped me, except I could understand the language in East Yorkshire Luv.
Just did my c+e in Peterborough, a city I had never visited before. Had a couple of days route familiarisation and passed ok. Would recommend getting to know the routes though. Especially roundabouts. Sme of them need to be approached in lanes that you wouldn’t be used to, or even splitting lanes that you wouldn’t necessarily know about unless you knew the roundabout.
As long as the instructor shows you the ‘nasty bits’ in an area then trainees will be fine where ever they test
The thinking from the DSA is that the very next day you could be driving in areas totally unknown to you and must be able to do so safely - that is why they have stopped publishing test routes
To my thinking this makes sense as a competant driver should be able to drive safely anywhere (within reason)
Makes no difference imo. At the time I lived in Derby and took my C1 at Watnall in Nottingham. Class 2 in Manchester using Bredbury test routes then did Class 1 with same company but tested at Atherton test centre and had no training on those routes.
There’s no definitive answer. I’ve seen people take a test in their home area and fail on daft stuff like speed limits. I’ve had people come 200 miles for training and pass with no problem.
Any good trainer knows the potential “trip up points” in the test area and will make sure they have been covered during training.
The secret lies in the quality of training, training vehicle, facilities and being in a quieter area helps without question. eg in our area we have no gyroscopic roundabouts or unusual road markings directing into a lane that you wouldn’t expect.
I consider the choice should be made on recommendation whether or not you’re comfortable to be away from home training for a few days.
Stock advice: always visit the trainer, look at the vehicles and facilites, meet the instructors and satisfy yourself as to the quality of the set up. Only book without visiting if you have rock solid recommendation. Avoid brokers like the plague. If you don’t know if your proposed trainer is a broker, post the name on here and you’ll find out very quickly.
I pretty much agree with what Peter says above. We use 2 different test centres and to be honest it doesnt matter which one we train in as regards the chances of passing. We do however spend every day of the course going round the key spots of each route. It would be extremely unusual that we would use a different test centre for a retest as the candidate would not be comfortable with the thought of not knowing the area.
As I have said many times on here your driving ability accounts for about 50% of what is needed. The rest comes from mental strength and self belief and feeling prepared and ready. Preparing for a LGV test is a bit like an athelete preparing for the Olympics only in less time. All the training and physical and mental preparation is geared for one big effort on the day. Part of leaving no stone unturned is making the candidate feel ready for anything the examiner throws at him.
In short I don’t believe it matters where you take the test so long as if its not local you are happy to stay away from home for a few days.
The techniques needed to pass are the same where ever you take the test. The secret is finding someone that can pass those techniques on to you in the few days we have available.
I took my first ‘C’ test in Purfleet, got trained well enough failed on the gear exercise (don’t ask was heavy handed with the Iveco straight into reverse…pulled off and that’s a fail! ) don’t think they do that anymore on the test now, pointless exercise!
I then did my retest in Cardiff when my mum moved from Essex to The Valleys. I agree with everyone’s posting on here.
The instructor will always show you the tough/tricky parts and you will be taking notice of what they say anyway and I like the others found being in a completely new place made me concentrate on the surroundings a lot more! Felt a lot happier as well for it, made learning more interesting not sure I could say “exciting though”!
As Pete said
I’ve seen people take a test in their home area and fail on daft stuff like speed limits. I’ve had people come 200 miles for training and pass with no problem.
and to that fact the “local” who was training alongside me failed on speeding in 30 and being discourtoeus to others or forcing through in the local villages rather than giving way etc
Hi Deefer
I took my test at Atherton mate and I hate the place now roundabouts and buss lanes every where you look even though I had 12 hrs before my test it was not enough because I did not know the area
I had a bad instructor at the time because I was funded and had no say who was picked from the tenders list I didnt get on with him at all . no patiance always shouting he messed about with test dates ect ect But i now have a new instructor who I feel a lot better about now so am re taking my class 1 at Atherton in January and feel a lot better knowing that this time I will get the time I need ON one roundabout that has cost me 2 fails … I think if i had taken the test at kirkham i may have stood a better chance as i know that area …but im now determined to pass at Atherton and drive away them negative thoughts about the place .
Best of luck what ever you do mate
I’ve just passed my test (CatC) at Atherton. Did my training on all the test routes apart from… yep you guessed it the one we didn’t train on the one my examiner used. Took me straight out of Atherton and up to Goldborne and Hindley. I did know the roads vaguely and to me that helped me focus more on speed awareness and positioning.
) don’t think they do that anymore on the test now, pointless exercise! 
even though I had 12 hrs before my test it was not enough because I did not know the area
