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Every fault category on the marking sheet, in plain English. What it actually means, why examiners mark it, and exactly how to stop doing it. Search or filter to find yours.
Type what the examiner wrote on your sheet, or filter by category. Tap any fault to see what it means and how to fix it.
What it means: You emerged from a junction without looking properly, or you looked but pulled out anyway when it was not safe.
Why examiners mark it: This is the single most common reason people fail the practical test in Great Britain, year after year. Examiners mark it when your observation is missing, too brief, or ignored. Emerging into a gap that forces another driver to slow down or change course is a serious fault.
How to fix it: Slow down earlier so you arrive at the give-way line with time to look. Look right, left, then right again, and keep looking as you creep forward. If you cannot see, you cannot go — inch out until you can. Practise the same junction repeatedly at different times of day until the routine is automatic.
What it means: You changed direction, changed lane, or turned without checking the correct mirror first.
Why examiners mark it: Mirrors must be checked before every signal, every change of direction and every change of speed. Examiners watch your head, not your eyes, so a glance that does not move your head often does not register.
How to fix it: Drill Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre until it is reflex. Move your head visibly. Get into the habit of saying the routine out loud in lessons — it feels silly for two lessons and then it sticks for good.
What it means: You positioned badly for a right turn, cut the corner, turned across oncoming traffic when it was not safe, or blocked the junction.
Why examiners mark it: Right turns ask you to do several things at once: position, observe, judge a gap, and complete the turn without cutting. Any one of them going wrong gets marked.
How to fix it: Position just left of the centre line, keep your wheels straight while waiting, and only turn when you can complete the turn without making anyone slow down. If in doubt, wait. Waiting is never a serious fault; guessing is.
What it means: You steered too early, too late, too much or too little — clipping a kerb, drifting wide, or straightening up in the wrong place.
Why examiners mark it: Steering faults are usually a symptom of looking in the wrong place. Drivers steer where they look, so eyes fixed on the bonnet produce wandering steering.
How to fix it: Look further ahead, well into the corner and out the other side. Keep both hands on the wheel and feed it through smoothly. Practise on a quiet estate with lots of tight left and right turns until the car goes where you intend without you thinking about your hands.
What it means: You pulled away without the full observation routine, most often missing the blind spot check over your right shoulder.
Why examiners mark it: Every time you move off, from the kerb, from a stop, or after a hold-up, you owe a full six-point check. Examiners see the missing blind spot check constantly.
How to fix it: Build a fixed routine and never vary it: mirrors, blind spot, signal if needed, then go. Do it even in an empty car park. Consistency in practice is what survives test-day nerves.
What it means: You went through an amber you could have stopped for, hesitated on green, stopped over the line, or blocked a yellow box junction.
Why examiners mark it: Amber means stop unless stopping would be dangerous. Creeping over the stop line or entering a box junction with no clear exit are both routinely marked.
How to fix it: Read lights from a distance and plan early. If a light has been green for a while as you approach, expect it to change. Stop behind the line, not on it, and never enter a box junction unless your exit is genuinely clear.
What it means: You stalled repeatedly, rolled backwards, or pulled away with excessive revs or jerky clutch control.
Why examiners mark it: A single stall in a safe place is usually a driving fault, not a failure. Repeated stalls, or stalling somewhere that inconveniences other traffic, escalate quickly.
How to fix it: Practise the biting point deliberately, especially hill starts and moving off at an angle. If you stall on test, stay calm: handbrake on, neutral, restart, full observation, move off. Panicking after a stall causes more faults than the stall itself.
What it means: You drove too close to the kerb, too close to the centre line, or drifted between lanes.
Why examiners mark it: Poor positioning makes you unpredictable to other road users. It is also frequently marked on roads with parked cars, where learners either hug the parked cars or swing far too wide.
How to fix it: Aim to be roughly a metre from the kerb on a normal road, and a door's width from parked cars. On multi-lane roads, choose your lane early and stay in the middle of it.
What it means: You ignored or misread road markings — lane arrows, hatched areas, stop lines, bus lanes or cycle lanes.
Why examiners mark it: Markings tell you what the road expects from you. Driving through hatched markings, straddling lane lines, or entering a bus lane during its hours of operation are all commonly marked.
How to fix it: Look further ahead so you read markings in time to act on them. Learn the local bus lane hours on your test centre's routes, and never treat hatched areas as spare road.
What it means: You lost control of the manoeuvre — hitting or mounting the kerb, ending up badly positioned, or taking several attempts without recovering.
Why examiners mark it: Examiners expect accuracy and control, but they also allow you to correct yourself. Many candidates fail not because the first attempt went wrong but because they did not recognise it and adjust.
How to fix it: Go slowly. Clutch control and steering, not speed. Learn to recognise when it is going wrong early enough to pull forward and reset — that recovery is a sign of competence, not weakness.
What it means: You signalled too early, too late, not at all, or left a signal on after completing a turn.
Why examiners mark it: A misleading signal is worse than no signal. Leaving an indicator on can make another driver pull out in front of you, which is exactly the outcome the examiner is watching for.
How to fix it: Signal after your mirror check and early enough to be useful, but not so early that it confuses people about which turning you mean. Check the indicator has self-cancelled after every turn.
What it means: You waited at junctions when it was safe to go, drove significantly below the speed limit without reason, or were so cautious that you held up traffic.
Why examiners mark it: Driving too slowly is a genuine fault, not a safe choice. Examiners want to see you make normal progress and take safe opportunities when they appear.
How to fix it: Practise gap judgement at busy junctions with your instructor until you trust yourself. On clear roads, drive at the limit where it is safe to do so. Nervous drivers usually need work here more than anywhere else.
What it means: You exceeded a speed limit, or drove at a speed unsuitable for the conditions even if within the limit.
Why examiners mark it: Exceeding the limit is marked immediately and can become a serious fault depending on how far over you were and where. Speed limits change often on Manchester roads, particularly around schools and residential zones.
How to fix it: Check your speedometer regularly rather than driving on feel. Learn to spot repeater signs and street lighting cues that indicate a 30 limit. Slow down before hazards, not during them.
What it means: You approached in the wrong lane, cut across lanes on the roundabout, gave way when you had priority, or emerged into a gap that was too small.
Why examiners mark it: Roundabouts combine everything the test measures: observation, positioning, judgement and decision making. Greater Manchester has plenty of large multi-lane roundabouts that appear on test routes.
How to fix it: Decide your exit and therefore your lane before you arrive, not on the roundabout. Keep your lane discipline all the way round. Look right, but also look ahead at whether traffic in front of you is actually moving.
What it means: You failed to slow or stop for waiting pedestrians, stopped on the crossing zigzags, or overtook near a crossing.
Why examiners mark it: The Highway Code changed in 2022 to strengthen priority for pedestrians, including those waiting to cross at a junction into which you are turning. Many drivers trained before that update have not caught up.
How to fix it: Scan pavements as well as the road. When turning into a side road, look for pedestrians waiting to cross it — they have priority now. Never park or stop on the zigzags.
What it means: You forced an oncoming vehicle to stop or swerve when passing a parked car or narrow section, or you stopped in a place that blocked everyone.
Why examiners mark it: Manchester's residential streets are full of parked cars, so this comes up constantly on local test routes. It is a judgement fault more than a control fault.
How to fix it: Look far ahead to spot the pinch point early. Decide who has the room and act on it decisively. Hold back in a position where you can still see past the obstruction rather than nosing right up to it.
What it means: You drove too close to the vehicle in front, or stopped so close in queuing traffic that you could not pull around if needed.
Why examiners mark it: Tailgating removes your reaction time and is one of the easiest faults for an examiner to observe over a sustained period.
How to fix it: Use the two-second rule on moving roads and double it in wet weather. In queues, stop where you can see the rear tyres of the car in front touching the road.
What it means: You joined a fast road too slowly, failed to build speed on the slip road, or changed lanes without adequate observation.
Why examiners mark it: Joining traffic at a mismatched speed is dangerous, and hesitancy on a slip road is marked as poor progress. Some Greater Manchester routes include national speed limit roads and motorway sections.
How to fix it: Use the slip road to match the speed of traffic already on the carriageway. Mirrors, blind spot, then merge smoothly into a gap you have already chosen.
What it means: You went the wrong way while following signs or the sat nav, and the resulting driving became unsafe or badly planned.
Why examiners mark it: Taking a wrong turn is not a fault in itself. The examiner is testing whether you can navigate and drive safely at the same time. The fault is what happens next: a late lane change, a sudden brake, or a panic turn.
How to fix it: Practise driving to a sat nav with your instructor. If you miss a turn, carry on safely and let the route recalculate. Say it out loud if it helps — the examiner will not penalise the wrong turn.
What it means: You selected the wrong gear, looked down at the gear lever, or coasted with the clutch down for long periods.
Why examiners mark it: Looking down means you are not looking at the road. Coasting reduces your control of the car, especially on downhill sections and approaches to junctions.
How to fix it: Learn the gate by feel, not sight. Practise block gear changes so you match the gear to your speed rather than working through every ratio. Keep the clutch up until the moment you actually need it.
What it means: You braked harshly, braked too late, or stopped in a jerky way that would be uncomfortable for passengers.
Why examiners mark it: Harsh braking usually means late observation. The examiner reads it as a planning problem rather than a pedal problem.
How to fix it: Look further ahead so you can brake progressively: firm at first, easing off as you stop. Practise stopping smoothly at a specific point, like a lamppost, until the car settles rather than nodding.
What it means: You rolled back on a hill start, stalled, or pulled out from behind a parked car without enough observation and clearance.
Why examiners mark it: These come up on almost every test route in Manchester because parked cars and gradients are everywhere.
How to fix it: Practise the biting point until you can hold the car still on a slope without the handbrake for a couple of seconds. For angle starts, look for oncoming traffic and swing out only when there is a proper gap.
What it means: You finished outside the lines of the bay, hit a kerb or line marker, or reversed out without full observation.
Why examiners mark it: This manoeuvre is often set in a supermarket or test centre car park. The reverse out at the end is where most faults are collected, because candidates relax too early.
How to fix it: Aim to be straight and central rather than perfect. When reversing out, stop, look all the way round, and creep back — pedestrians and moving cars in car parks are unpredictable.
What it means: You crossed to the right-hand kerb without proper observation, parked badly, or rejoined the traffic unsafely.
Why examiners mark it: Being on the wrong side of the road makes every observation harder, and the rejoin is a full move-off routine facing oncoming traffic.
How to fix it: Check mirrors and blind spot before crossing, park reasonably close and parallel to the kerb, then treat the rejoin as a fresh move-off with the full six-point check.
What it means: You gave a signal that was unnecessary, misleading, or given at the wrong moment.
Why examiners mark it: Signals are communication. A signal that tells another road user the wrong thing is worse than staying silent.
How to fix it: Ask yourself who benefits from this signal. If nobody is there to see it, it is usually unnecessary. Always check the indicator has cancelled.
What it means: You did not react early enough to a developing hazard — a cyclist, a bus pulling out, a child near the kerb, or a car door opening.
Why examiners mark it: The test measures anticipation, not just reaction. Examiners want to see you adjust speed or position before the hazard becomes urgent.
How to fix it: Commentary driving is the best drill available for this. Say what you can see, what might happen and what you are doing about it. Two or three lessons of commentary transforms most learners' hazard awareness.
Nothing matches that search. Try a broader word like junctions, mirrors, speed or control.
These same categories have topped the national figures year after year. Between them they account for a very large share of all failed tests.
| Rank | Fault | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Junctions — observation | You emerged from a junction without looking properly, or you looked but pulled out anyway when it was not safe. |
| 2 | Mirrors — change direction | You changed direction, changed lane, or turned without checking the correct mirror first. |
| 3 | Junctions — turning right | You positioned badly for a right turn, cut the corner, turned across oncoming traffic when it was not safe, or blocked the junction. |
| 4 | Control — steering | You steered too early, too late, too much or too little — clipping a kerb, drifting wide, or straightening up in the wrong place. |
| 5 | Moving off — safely | You pulled away without the full observation routine, most often missing the blind spot check over your right shoulder. |
| 6 | Response to signals — traffic lights | You went through an amber you could have stopped for, hesitated on green, stopped over the line, or blocked a yellow box junction. |
| 7 | Moving off — control | You stalled repeatedly, rolled backwards, or pulled away with excessive revs or jerky clutch control. |
| 8 | Positioning — normal driving | You drove too close to the kerb, too close to the centre line, or drifted between lanes. |
| 9 | Response to road markings | You ignored or misread road markings — lane arrows, hatched areas, stop lines, bus lanes or cycle lanes. |
| 10 | Reverse park — control | You lost control of the manoeuvre — hitting or mounting the kerb, ending up badly positioned, or taking several attempts without recovering. |
The examiner marks your test on a form called the DL25. It lists every assessable competency down the side, and the examiner records faults against them as you drive. At the end you get a copy, and it is the most useful document in your possession.
Driving faults are mistakes that were not potentially dangerous in that moment. Most tests collect a few, and most passes include some. You are allowed up to fifteen. At sixteen, the test is failed.
Serious faults are marked when something you did was potentially dangerous, or when the same driving fault has been repeated enough times to count as a genuine weakness rather than a slip. One serious fault fails the test on its own.
Dangerous faults are marked when actual danger was caused to you, the examiner, the public or property. In practice this often means the examiner used the dual controls or took the wheel.
A driving fault repeated across the test can become a serious fault. If you fail to check your right mirror once, that is a driving fault. If you fail to check it at every single change of direction for forty minutes, the examiner is entitled to record it as serious, because it describes how you drive rather than a single lapse.
This matters more than the fifteen-fault allowance, because it means consistency counts for more than perfection. An examiner would rather see a candidate who does everything reasonably well than one who does most things flawlessly and one thing wrong every time.
Do not count the faults. Look at where they cluster. Eight driving faults spread across eight different categories usually means nerves — you were slightly off everywhere but fundamentally competent. Eight faults concentrated in observation means one specific habit is wrong and it is showing up all over the drive.
The second is easier to fix than the first, which is not what most people expect. A specific habit can be drilled. Generalised nerves need mock tests and time.
Faults do not carry over. Every test starts with a completely clean sheet. Nothing from a previous attempt counts against you, and examiners have no interest in how many times you have taken it.
Say aloud what you can see, what might happen next and what you are doing about it. "Parked van on the left, someone might step out, I am moving out and easing off." It feels ridiculous for about ten minutes and then it rewires how you look at the road.
Almost every observation-related fault improves with commentary driving, because most observation faults are not about eyesight. They are about where your attention is pointed.
Fixing a fault at the junction where it happened teaches you that junction. Practising the same skill at ten different junctions across Greater Manchester teaches you the skill. Ask your instructor to deliberately take you somewhere you do not know.
A surprising number of faults — harsh braking, late steering, poor positioning, missed signs — trace back to looking at the road immediately in front of the car. Lifting your eyes further down the road fixes several fault categories at once, which makes it the single highest-value change most learners can make.
Guessing which faults you make is unreliable. Being marked on a proper sheet under realistic conditions turns your preparation from general practice into a specific list, and a specific list is something you can actually work through.
A driving fault, commonly called a minor, is a mistake that was not potentially dangerous in that moment. You can collect up to fifteen and still pass; sixteen or more is a fail.
A serious fault is one that was potentially dangerous, and one alone fails the test. A dangerous fault involves actual danger to you, the examiner, the public or property, and usually means the examiner intervened.
Fifteen. At sixteen driving faults the test is failed regardless of how well everything else went.
There is an important extra rule: the same driving fault repeated several times can be upgraded to a serious fault, because a consistent habit is treated as a genuine weakness rather than a one-off lapse.
Observation at junctions has been the most common reason for failing in Great Britain for many years running. It covers emerging without looking properly, or looking and pulling out anyway.
Mirror checks before changing direction and errors turning right at junctions follow closely behind. Between them, these three account for a very large share of all failed tests.
Not usually for a single stall in a safe place — that is normally a driving fault. What escalates it is where and how often.
Stalling repeatedly, or stalling somewhere that inconveniences or endangers other traffic such as a busy junction or a roundabout, can be marked as a serious fault. The bigger risk is what stalling does to your concentration for the following few minutes.
No. The examiner is not testing navigation, they are testing whether you can drive safely while navigating. Taking a wrong turn is not marked at all.
The faults come from the reaction: a sudden lane change, a late brake, a turn made without proper observation. If you realise you have gone wrong, carry on safely and let the examiner or sat nav redirect you.
Yes. Undue hesitation and failing to make normal progress are genuine faults, and they are marked more often than most learners expect.
Sitting at a junction while safe gaps pass, or driving well below the speed limit on a clear road without reason, both show a lack of confidence that the examiner has to record. Safe does not mean slow.
Yes. Every test starts with a clean marking sheet, and faults from a previous attempt carry no weight whatsoever.
That said, the pattern on your last sheet is the most useful preparation document you have. If the same category appears twice across two tests, it is a habit rather than bad luck, and it needs specific work.
Repetition in varied places, not repetition in one place. Fixing a junction fault by practising the same junction twenty times teaches you that junction, not the skill.
Commentary driving is the most effective drill we use: you say aloud what you can see, what might happen and what you are doing about it. Two or three lessons of it changes most learners' observation habits permanently.
Every tool on this page is free to use, built by our DVSA approved instructors in Manchester.
Tell us which fault categories keep coming up in your lessons or on your marking sheet, and we will build lessons around those specifically rather than driving around in general.
Express Pass Driving School is a leading driving school in Manchester, your one-stop destination for intensive driving courses in Manchester.
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