Car Test Examiners

MovingForwards

Same examiner for each attempt?

Is there another test centre your partner could book into?

facade

badger09 wrote: »

FWIW, my father and brother, both sadly deceased, were Senior Driving Examiners in the 1980s and 1990s. There wasn't a pass quota then and I'm sure there isn't one now.

There is an expected % pass rate. Like there is for MOTs, customer complaints in shops etc.. If the centre is found to be repeatedly too near the tails of the bell curve they will get scrutinised, as they are denying the laws of statistics.



Standard "Keep your head below the parapet if you don't want to draw fire" stuff



They are not told to pass a particular number.

Norman_Castle

renegadefm wrote: »

the instructor is a proper ADI, its her business, so she isnt trying to be bias or anything towards my partner.

The person qualified to judge her driving is the examiner, not the instructor. Try a different instructor.

The test has been failed four times, the fault is with either the driver, the instructor or the examiner. The examiner isn't there for the post failure conversation so they're easy to blame.
Its difficult for the instructor not to be biased when their instruction is being questioned.

F1F93

As has been said, even if the examiner is corrupt - what would they gain from failing your partner 4 times. The driving instructor, however, keeps a pupil for a few extra months if they sit their test before being 100% ready and end up failing...

There is an average pass rate - if the examiner is too high above this too often then they may be harsher on some pupils to avoid any unnecessary scrutiny but they still wouldnt fail an obviously competent driver or pass a recklessly dangerous one - more that the marginal ones may be more likely to be pushed over the edge of the pass/fail line, but this wouldnt happen 4 times to the same person.

unholyangel

Scrapit wrote: »

I'm certain there's not. Cos of the standard of driving of some road users, they must have passed but I can't see how.

Well they could be driving without a licence (either never passed or had their licence suspended)

But a driving test doesn't say anything about what kind of driver you are. Its purely a test on whether the restriction (of only driving with supervision) can be lifted or not.

OP, unless its changed in the last few years, 15 minors is not difficult to achieve. Many people prove that every day by passing the same test. I booked both theory & practical expecting to fail them (was to support a friend who wanted to sit theirs) - passed them both first time (ironically, friend failed!) dropping only 1 mark on the theory and 2 minors on the practical. My driving back then was way below what it is now, so I don't think their standards are high enough tbh.

However I will gently point out that while there may be a decent possibility of 1 examiner being corrupt (or jobsworth if you prefer), with every examiner you add to that (that has come to the same conclusion as the original) the odds decrease expotentially. The far more likely conclusion is that your partner needs more practice and perhaps the DI doesn't want to lose her business or knock her confidence (if that is an issue).

Car_54

renegadefm wrote: »

Thank you AdrianC, you been a great help, I honestly didnt know if you could appeal or not, I will tell her. Thanks again.

Yes, but note that you can only appeal if the test was not conducted properly, e.g. the required manoeuvres were not tested, or the time on the road was too short (30 minutes minimum). And if you win you do not get a pass, just a free retest.
There is no appeal against the examiner's pass/fail decision.

Johno100

facade wrote: »

There is an expected % pass rate. Like there is for MOTs, customer complaints in shops etc.. If the centre is found to be repeatedly too near the tails of the bell curve they will get scrutinised, as they are denying the laws of statistics.

Standard "Keep your head below the parapet if you don't want to draw fire" stuff

They are not told to pass a particular number.

That was a point I was going to make. If a test centre is an outlyer when it comes to the percentage of candidates either passing or failing then I'm sure the management (and examinders) at those test centres will be under some pressure to bring the pass/fail rate back closer to the norm.

AdrianC

Johno100 wrote: »

That was a point I was going to make. If a test centre is an outlyer when it comes to the percentage of candidates either passing or failing then I'm sure the management (and examinders) at those test centres will be under some pressure to bring the pass/fail rate back closer to the norm.

No. If their percentages are found to be accurate, because for some reason their candidates tend to be better or worse than the national average, then they will be accepted.

The candidates are tested as individuals on their own aptitude. Nothing else.

lindens

Has the same examiner failed her all 4 times?

Car_54

facade wrote: »

There is an expected % pass rate. Like there is for MOTs, customer complaints in shops etc.. If the centre is found to be repeatedly too near the tails of the bell curve they will get scrutinised, as they are denying the laws of statistics.
.

Not quite. The average pass rate for individual centres varies widely, and tends to be fairly consistent over time. This is mainly for demographic reasons - as a gross over-simplification, poorer areas tend to have lower pass rates because people spend less on training. (All of these stats, and much more, are published.)



Individual examiners will be scrutinised if they are consistently adrift from the norm for that centre.