Driving on roads you’re unfamiliar with is a skill even the most experienced of drivers struggle with. While it’s impossible to predict the exact route your examiner is going to ask you to take, your driving instructor should have a good idea based on their previous students. Have a discussion with them on the most common routes around the centre and become comfortable driving on them - you can then practice these routes not only in your lessons, but also if you pick up insurance for learner drivers. While you’re bound to have nerves while taking your driving test, practicing similar routes to the one you’ll take on the day will only help settle butterflies.

While sat navs are a great help, it takes time to become accustomed to being guided by one. A great way to get used to them is to choose a different destination to drive to each week. The key to using a sat nav is making sure you’re always thinking one step ahead. This gives you time to get into the correct lane and focus on your observations - a critical skill which often is the difference between many people passing or failing their test.

Like many skills, the key to conquering manoeuvres is practice, practice, practice. While practicing in the car you’ll be taking the test in is preferable, simply becoming confident with the different stages involved in each manoeuvre is crucial. Don’t feel embarrassed if you have to ask your instructor to spend a whole lesson on this alone because it’ll be worth it in the long run. Once you're confident you have a good feel for a car and its dimensions, you’re well on your way to having a potentially tricky aspect of the driving test nailed down.

Jeff Tuck, founder of the multi-award-winning driving school Drive Bug, ensures his students focus on these three key skills before taking their test:
Observations at junctions
“This is the most common reason for people failing their test and more often that not it’s because learner drivers are approaching the junction too fast. Gradually slowing down gives you an extra couple of seconds to assess the situation and make the right decision.”
Steering control
“Not being in full control of the steering wheel is also a common fault. The mistake I see learner drivers making all too often is crossing the central white line when at a junction or roundabout. I encourage my students to visualise a garden fence being there which encourages them to position their car in the correct position for the lane they’ll go on to enter.”
Checking mirrors
“It’s a really simple skill to get right but especially when drivers get more confident they become lazy checking their mirrors. The key is making sure you get into a good habit of doing this. If you begin a drive consciously thinking about checking your mirrors then this routine will often last for the remainder of your drive.”