Hiya Jennie, I’ve only just managed to get online, I had been wondering all week how your training was going. After reading your posts I am absolutly gutted for you. That is one of the worst feelings to be made to feel like that, You have had some pretty sound advice from everybody else. Good to see your staying positive, I’m sure next time your come back with a pass. Keep your chin up.
Kate x
Hey Jennie, so sorry to hear your sad news. I messed up my reversing too but you’ll get em next time
Rich
Hi Jennie
Sorry for you that things didn’t go quite right. The instructor should have realised that you were not totally comfortable about the reversing and dealt with the issue more thoroughly.
Peter Smythe:
The art of good instruction is to be able to offer sound, clear, concise guidance which will be understood and accepted by the majority of candidates. The skill comes with being able to offer alternatives when the original instruction isn’t making sense.
A textbook description of what to expect from a trainer. All trainers know what is needed to pass the test but not all can put it across in a variety of ways to accommodate different people’s learning styles.
I don’t know exactly where you live but we are having a C+E reversing day next Monday (5th Dec) in Essex and you are very welcome to come along and join in for the experience. Although we use a drawbar trailer it would still be useful for you.
There are also several video clips on youtube showing the reverse that might help.
Anyway good luck for next time
Regards
John
Flair Training
It looks like this thread has turned into a bit of a witch hunt on who is to blame for jennies fail.
Looking back at this post and previous posts the facts are:
It appears that jennie had this instructor for her cat c which she passed and gave him praise. So has he suddenly become a bad instructor?
The other guy on jennies course passed his test
Would other instructors on here like it if they had a trainee they were trying to teach and that trainee then getting totally confused because they are listening to too many opinions from different places? Is it not a case of too many chefs ruining the broth
As stated on here jennie is not the first person to fail the reverse and will not be last.
Putting the blame at the instructor (which I do not think jennie is doing) is a little harsh.
On another day jennie could of nailed the reverse and then gone on and passed her test with very few minor faults.
Hi Jennie,
Just got on computer to read how your test went, im gutted for you, as previously stated many have failed on the reverse Jennie myself included,you are not the first and most certainly won’t be the last either, I went and had an extra day before my test and my instructor took me to an industrial estate to reverse around kerbs and into parking bays ect it really made all the difference when doing the reverse in the test area as i just couldn’t get my head around it. Some people can do it no problem everybody is different but it boosted my confidence enough to get through the test. Only yesterday i was on the phone with him and he asked if my reverse had improved, sadly it hasn’t but with each reverse it is getting easier i guess it is like everything the more you do it the better you will get. (or so everyone tells me)
Go book for your re-sit Jennie, keep your chin up and when you hear thoses magic words your first attempt will be a distant memory.
Best of luck to you and go get that pass certificate ! 
burnie1:
It appears that jennie had this instructor for her cat c which she passed and gave him praise. So has he suddenly become a bad instructor?
I have worked with an instructor who was great on cat C and most of cat CE but was a ‘one trick pony’ when it came to the CE reverse which was ok for those trainees who could do it his way but for others it was a battle !!
burnie1:
It looks like this thread has turned into a bit of a witch hunt on who is to blame for jennies fail.Looking back at this post and previous posts the facts are:
It appears that jennie had this instructor for her cat c which she passed and gave him praise. So has he suddenly become a bad instructor?
The other guy on jennies course passed his test
Would other instructors on here like it if they had a trainee they were trying to teach and that trainee then getting totally confused because they are listening to too many opinions from different places? Is it not a case of too many chefs ruining the broth
As stated on here jennie is not the first person to fail the reverse and will not be last.
Putting the blame at the instructor (which I do not think jennie is doing) is a little harsh.On another day jennie could of nailed the reverse and then gone on and passed her test with very few minor faults.
Hi Bernie1
U are right the reason I asked for him was he was fine for my cat c training but I didn’t have any problems understanding him saying position truck here to get round this obstruction and as for reverse the concept is same as car just a bigger veh so hence I just had to follow where he said to position to get the ridgid into the box.
I never not got anything on my cat c training so hence he did not have to do too much explaining to get me through , now as you know reversing an artic is a totally different ball game and if you struggle with concept the unit and trailer will not respond so explanation and patience is req to get a trainee to get the feeling of how the unit and trailer responds , I did not get that feeling straight away and made lots of mistakes so hence his patience was tried and I believe this was the side of him I had not experienced in my cat c training , I have no problem with a harsh trainer but when you are being made to feel stupid because you don’t understand something that is not harsh it’s rude !
If it was just me that had been feeling this way I would not have mentioned it but the other trainee I was with had the reverse but made repeated mistakes on his driving and by the end of the week as I have said he was so nervous about making the instructor mad at him he would make mistakes that prob not have done when he took the test he rang me after and told me how the examiner had put him at ease and relaxed him and he nailed is hrs drive.
I believe this was because he knew the examiner would not be huffing and puffing at his mistakes so if he had a minor that would bring disapproval from the trainer the examiner did not show this so he was able to carry on the drive without thinking about the mistake he made and just carry on and able to concentrate for the rest of the drive , hence his pass he wasn’t a bad driver but he had that feeling by fri because of the instructor , he had a good rev on the day and a good drive so passed his test , if I had passed my test on fri my feelings would have still been the same , this post is long all ready and to go into what was said and how said over this weeks training is too much to write down.
I needed some instruction on my reversing this week and if I was just repeating turn the wheel turn the wheel and not explaining which way or how much you would be confused I’m sure !
It’s not a female thing either as I was told by my instructor last week which really ■■■■■■ me off as there a men on here who have struggled with rev I can parallel park a car and rigid almost anywhere my space awareness is the same as any man , so what I’m saying is I got rigid training pretty quickly and my weeks training was teaching me the routes and tricky turns that the examiners take u on to test your skills my instructor did not have to do much actual instruction just the basics and I picked it up,when it came to trailer training he needed to instruct and teach me hence I saw the other side of him I did not see in cat c training.
I did not listen to other opinions until wed when I spoke to Peter over the phone , suddenly I understood and started to get the reverse the next day maybe this was coincidence we will never know but I applied peters tips and the feeling of where the trailer was going and how to correct when went wrong started to sink in !
I hope u understand what I’m saying and would be happy to talk with u to explain but that’s up to u
Best regards
Jennie x
On a good note I will be having some reversing training with Peter smyth on tues he has very kindly offered this for free too (I have posted before about what a gent this man is and can’t believe he has been so kind not just to me in this case but has offered other people on here help )
So hopefully can have some practice so will be able to pass my next test when I take it thank q Peter very much
Jennie x
Hi Jennie,
Sorry to read of your bad luck. Better Luck next time !
Not wanting to sound sexist , but I ll relate a question I was asked by my instructor when I took my Class 1 30 years ago. He asked me what the connection was between a woman and a semi-trailer . I said I didnt know.
He told me the answer AFTER my first attempt at reversing .
" The connection between a woman and a semi-trailer is : To master the behaviour and keep control
of the semi-trailer at all times , or it will turn the OPPOSITE way , just like a woman ! "
Don `t Give Up Hope , Jennie.
Cheers, cattle wagon man .
cattle wagon man:
The connection between a woman and a semi-trailer is : To master the behaviour and keep control of the semi-trailer at all times , or it will turn the OPPOSITE way , just like a woman !
Hi cattle wagon man,
A semi trailer WILL go where where you want it to go, whereas a woman…
Oops, I’ve just run out of ink. 
Burnie, I have to disagree.
It is sad, when a trainee is calling another instructor to get advice on how to reverse, the instructor is explaining over the phone to her and it sinks in easier than the intructor who is teaching her.
As said training in a Rigid is different to an Arctic.
Jen, at least you have 15+ training under your belt now … you will smash it 2nd time now you will get training from a proper instructor.
Disco
Jennie:
On a good note I will be having some reversing training with Peter smyth on tues he has very kindly offered this for free too (I have posted before about what a gent this man is and can’t believe he has been so kind not just to me in this case but has offered other people on here help )
So hopefully can have some practice so will be able to pass my next test when I take it thank q Peter very much
Jennie x
Excellent. He will help you get it sussed Jen.
He truly is a great trainer and is willing to help anyway he can.
Roll on Tuesday. You’ll also get to play on the new reversing area. Don’t know if it’s easier (it may be) but certainly no harder.
Coffee on, biscuits to be arranged - - bring it on!! Pete 
Jennie if it’s any consolation, like you I had no problems with the rigid just a big car like you say it came natural. I never had any problems driving the large vehicles. The first time I reversed an artic was the first time I had reversed any trailer full stop.
This was for an assesment drive, instructor said “you can drive it no probs but you can’t reverse”, and this has stuck with me to this day. I really struggled on my class 1 reverse they taught it trial and error, truth be told after doing the same reverse 100 times I got it into the box on my test. The only problem and it still bugs me to this day - I DON’T KNOW HOW.
I don’t like trial and error I like to know “why” and I can’t bring myself to trail and error it on the job. Some of the difficult drops I’ve taken a class 2 into are tough, then you stand in awe seen some smart @rse class 1 driver has shoehorned his class 1 in.
Anyway I have done a few simple trunks in class 1 but am now turning down agency work for multidrop store deliveries because I have no confidence in my class 1 reverse. My plan for just now is to get plenty experience on the class 2 and then do some sort of refresher reversing when I feel ready.
As a qualified ADI looking back on my class 1 lessons there was just not enough time to be taught the reverse and everything else if you were struggling to understand the artic reverse. It became about passing the test and even though it pains me to say it as an instructor, needs must and it became about the DSA exercise and this is were the problem lies.
I think lollies HGV instructor had the right idea using the real world to practice reversing, but few instructors have the confidence to risk it outside the safe confines of the “reverse area”. I will have to seek out such an instructor to teach me before I will take on class 1 work and I have the license, its the responsible thing to do.
Jennie:
It’s not a female thing either as I was told by my instructor last week which really ■■■■■■ me off as there a men on here who have struggled with rev I can parallel park a car and rigid almost anywhere my space awareness is the same as any man , so what I’m saying is I got rigid training pretty quickly and my weeks training was teaching me the routes and tricky turns that the examiners take u on to test your skills my instructor did not have to do much actual instruction just the basics and I picked it up,when it came to trailer training he needed to instruct and teach me hence I saw the other side of him I did not see in cat c training.
I am a male and i struggled too with the reverse at the start as can be seen by reading my diary in older posts.
To be honest your instructor sounds like a right prat, huffing and puffing and shaking his head at you for not quite getting something, that takes the ■■■■. If i was you i’d go into there office and demand free retest or extra training. actually maybe not as they sound rubbish!
Take Pete’s offer up on extra reversing as i think he said he had an artic there too. Industry needs more good people in it like Peter that’s for sure, there are a lot of cowboy trainers out there.
Better luck next time Jennie, it’s the most difficult driving test in the UK so if it takes a couple of attempts to pass it then there’s no shame in that.
Take Pete’s offer up on extra reversing as i think he said he had an artic there too.
Just to keep the record straight, we only operate drawbars now. Added an artic for a year but hardly anyone booked it. So it’s gone! But I recommend that, having passed on a drawbar, candidates should have a couple of hours on an artic to get confidence. Pete
Bad luck.
Don’t give up though and go else where for your training. He sounds a right ■■■, and sounds like the bloke from the you tube video
Unlucky Jennie,you’ll " nail it " next time.
Just got on after a few mad days
Sorry to here that you failed sounds like a similar prob I had with my instructor he didnt like it as I was female & that because at the time I had found the resources for it to be paid for ( as was on the sick at the time )
Every time I may a suggestion he totally dismissed it & he did put me down in front of the other trainees so consequently I will be going elsewhere next time although I have found out that he has left the place
I went there as I had done my Cat C with np did want a certain trainer but was told no as it was "Him " who did the CE & yep I did fail on the reverse ( is on here somewhere but was a long time ago )
Please dont give up & good luck on tues with Peter ( yep I agree he is 1 of the good guys on here have spoke with him myself )
Just remember the PDA training day you were doing fine on the reverse there