Most learners who fail the practical driving test fail for the same handful of reasons. DVSA publishes the ten most common ones every year, and the latest list covers tests taken between April 2024 and March 2025. This guide goes through each of them, explains what the examiner is actually marking, and shows what it looks like on the roads around the Oxford (Cowley) test centre.
One thing to know before you start: you can make up to 15 driving faults and still pass, but a single serious or dangerous fault means you do not. Every reason on this list is something examiners most often mark as a serious fault. If you want the full picture of how faults are graded, read our guide to what counts as a serious fault on a driving test.
The 10 most common reasons for failing
These are the DVSA fault categories, in order, with the name each one has on your test result sheet.
1. Not making effective observations at junctions
On your sheet: Junctions, observations.
This has been the top reason for years. It covers pulling out without looking properly, misjudging the speed of something coming towards you, and looking too late. It also includes joining a dual carriageway from a slip road without checking, and going straight over a crossroads without looking both ways.
Around Cowley, emerging from a side road onto a busy road such as Hollow Way is a good example: parked cars can block your view, and traffic often arrives faster than it looks. The fix is a slow, deliberate approach: creep forward until you can genuinely see, look right, left and right again, and only then decide. Taking an extra second is fine. Pulling out on a guess is not.
2. Not using mirrors correctly when changing direction
On your sheet: Mirrors, change direction.
Checking your mirrors is not enough on its own. The examiner wants to see you check them early enough to act on what you see, before signalling, changing lanes or turning. The most common moments are leaving a roundabout and changing lanes on a dual carriageway, where a missed check can force another driver to brake.
On the ring road roundabouts this is where learners lose marks. Build the habit of mirrors, signal, manoeuvre on every exit, even when the road looks empty.
3. Not moving off safely
On your sheet: Moving off, safety.
This one has climbed the list. It covers pulling out into the path of other traffic, missing the blind spot check over your shoulder, and forgetting rear observations when you move off after the emergency stop or a manoeuvre.
Every time you move off, check all around the car, including both blind spots, and only go when it is safe. If something is coming, wait. Nobody expects you to squeeze into a gap.
4. Incorrect positioning when turning right at junctions
On your sheet: Junctions, turning right.
When you wait to turn right, you should be just left of the centre of the road so traffic can pass on your left. Sitting too far left blocks the road behind you. At roundabouts, using the wrong lane for a right turn counts here too.
5. Not responding appropriately to traffic lights
On your sheet: Response to signals, traffic lights.
The obvious fault is going through a red light, but examiners also mark stopping past the white line, and sitting at a green light when the way is clear. Hesitating at green is a fault because it holds up everyone behind you. We cover this in more detail in our post on hesitation in driving.
6. Not having proper control of the steering
On your sheet: Control, steering.
Steering too early or too late leads to clipping the kerb, mounting the pavement or swinging wide into the other side of the road. It shows up most on bends, when turning into minor roads, and when pulling up on the left. Smooth, well timed steering comes from practice, and from looking where you want to go rather than at the kerb.
7. Not responding correctly to road markings
On your sheet: Response to signals, road markings.
This covers ignoring lane arrows, straddling two lanes on a roundabout, crossing a solid white line, and entering a yellow box junction when your exit is not clear. Our posts on roundabout lane markings and keeping clear in traffic go into both.
8. Not responding correctly to traffic signs
On your sheet: Response to signals, traffic signs.
Ignoring a stop sign, a no entry sign or a keep left sign, driving in a bus lane during its hours, and reacting late to a change in speed limit all come under this heading. In Oxford, bus gates and the new traffic filters make reading signs early even more important.
9. Poor positioning on the road during normal driving
On your sheet: Positioning, normal driving.
You should normally keep well to the left without hugging the kerb. Driving too close to the centre line, staying in the right lane of a dual carriageway when you are not overtaking, and cutting straight across a roundabout are all marked here.
10. Not driving at a safe and reasonable speed
On your sheet: Use of speed.
Speeding, including through temporary limits at roadworks, is the obvious fault. The other half is not slowing down for busy roads, bad weather or sharp bends. Driving well under the limit for no reason is marked under a different heading, progress, and we explain why in why driving too slowly can cost you your test.
What has changed in recent years
Junction observations and mirrors have stayed at the top for years. The biggest movement is moving off safely, which has risen up the list in recent years. Reverse parking, which appeared in older top ten lists, no longer does. The manoeuvre still matters on the day, but far more tests are now lost on the everyday driving between manoeuvres than on the manoeuvre itself.
Why so many learners fail
Looking at the list, very few of these faults are about not knowing what to do. Most come from doing it under pressure, on unfamiliar roads, with someone marking you. In our experience, three things make that much worse.
- Taking the test before you are ready. Long waiting times for tests tempt learners to book early and hope they will be ready by the date. A good instructor will tell you honestly if you are not, and we explain why instructors may refuse to take learners to their test.
- Not enough independent driving. If your instructor is still prompting you at junctions, you are not test ready. Aim to drive whole lessons without help before your test.
- Nerves. Nerves make good drivers rush or freeze. Practice in test conditions is the best cure, and our guide to preparing mentally for your test has more ideas.
How to avoid these faults on your test
- Take mock tests. A mock test with your instructor, marked the same way as the real thing, shows you exactly which of these ten you are still at risk of.
- Learn the local roads. Most of the faults above happen at junctions, roundabouts and lights. Our Oxford test route guides, such as the Cowley Junction roundabout and Sandy Lane West route, show where they tend to happen around Cowley.
- Fix one habit at a time. Pick the fault you make most and work on it until it is automatic, then move on to the next.
- Do not panic about minors. A driving fault or two will not fail you. Concentrate on driving safely, not perfectly.
If you do not pass first time, you are far from alone. Our guide on how to overcome a driving test failure explains how to get back on track.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common reason for failing the driving test?
Not making effective observations at junctions. It has been number one on the DVSA list for years and was again for April 2024 to March 2025.
How many minors can you get and still pass?
Up to 15 driving faults, as long as you make no serious or dangerous faults.
Will the examiner stop the test if I make a mistake?
No. DVSA says the examiner will only stop the test if your driving is a danger to other road users. If you make a mistake, keep going and drive the rest of the test as well as you can.
Want to know which of these you are most at risk of? Book a lesson with a mock test on the Cowley routes, or see our lesson prices first.
Source: DVSA, Top 10 reasons for failing the driving test in Great Britain, covering April 2024 to March 2025.
