What is the Driver’s
Record?
The Driving
Standards Agency (now the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency)
developed the Driver’s Record as a useful way of keeping track of
which areas of the driving syllabus you’ve covered in your lessons
and practised privately. It is to ensure that you fully cover the
syllabus and get as much and as broad experience as possible, to help
you pass your test and to make sure that you are a safer driver. The
record is shared with your Driving Instructor so that you are both
able to keep track of your experience and competence in all the
essential areas of driving.
How does it work?
There are several
parts to the Driving Record, and each has a different purpose.
Overview – The
first page of the Driver’s Record is an overview of your whole
learning to drive experience. There is an area for practical car
driving, where you can tick boxes to show that you’ve experienced a
range of different road types and conditions, both in lessons and in
private practice; there’s a section on the Theory Test, showing the
different topics covered in the multi-choice test, so that you can
tick to show when you are confident that you have studied each one,
and the skills you need for the Hazard Perception test. There is
then a space for you to write down the date of your Theory Test pass.
There is also a section about the Pass Plus course.
Driver’s Record –
The next section is for you to use with your Instructor. There is a
heading for each broad area of the driving syllabus, and boxes for
the Instructor to initial and date when each of these areas was: (1)
first introduced, (2) instructed fully, (3) when you could do it with
prompting what to do, (4) when you could do it with few prompts, and
(5) when you could do it fully independently (and consistently over
several lessons). Once you have a signature in the “Independent”
box for each area of the syllabus, you are probably nearly ready for
your test.
Instructor Record –
This record has the same syllabus areas as the Driver’s Record, in
some cases split into sub-headings, in table form. The instructor
uses a column for each lesson, and indicates by with the numbers 1-5
(as above) your progress during that lesson with each of the syllabus
areas. It means that the Instructor can see at a glance which areas
you are confident with, and which need further practice or haven’t
been covered for a few lessons.
Competencies –
This two page section breaks down each area of the syllabus into its
component parts, what skills are required and the underpinning
knowledge that goes with it. As an example, the syllabus area of
Moving Away and Stopping involves the Mirror-Signal-Manoeuvre and
Position-Speed-Look procedures, ability to observe around you
including the use of mirrors and checking blind spot, control and
co-ordination of the car, being able to do it on level and on
gradient, at an angle and straight ahead. It also involves knowledge
of which signals to use, what constitutes a safe stopping place, how
to co-ordinate the accelerator, footbrake and clutch, and how to use
the handbrake and steering wheel. The instructor will need to see
you competent in all these aspects before being able to sign you off
as independent on this area.
Private Practice –
The final page of the Record (and you can print as many of these
pages as you require) is where you record the private practice that
you undertake away from your instructor with friends or family
members. For each journey you briefly record the time spent driving,
the miles covered and tick boxes to show the types of road and the
road conditions (e.g. dry or wet, dark or light, country lanes or
urban roads.
The Driver’s
Record is a very useful way to work with your instructor to make the
best possible use of your lessons, and see your progress through the
syllabus.
If you want to learn to drive in Glasgow then contact TX Driver Training now on 0141 764 1213.
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