Thanks to Top Gear School of Motoring for bringing us the latest news on changes to the Learner Driver Theory test!
As of the 23 January 2012, new theory tests will be introduced using questions and answers that the public will not have had access to, making any previous theory test ‘Q&A banks’ redundant.
Since the theory tests started in 1996, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has published the questions and answers from the question banks for all categories of tests for cars, motorcycles, lorries and buses.
However, the DSA announced last November that it was to stop publishing the multiple choice questions and answers, with unpublished questions being used from January 2012.
After 23 January, the questions a candidate will be asked on test will not be exactly the same as those in their learning materials. Questions will be drawn from new ‘live’ theory test question banks, which will not be published.
DSA’s chief executive Rosemary Thew said: “The reason behind the move is to stop candidates from simply memorising theory test questions and answers and learning by rote. …”This approach to learning will help candidates to gain a better knowledge and understanding of driving theory which will help them respond correctly to the new, re-worded live questions used in the actual test.”
The DSA have published more help for learner drivers taking their theory test, with The Official DSA Theory Test for Car Drivers DVD-ROM. This new software has been totally remodelled and is the most, user friendly to date. The new layout makes it a lot more noticeable that the DSA expects you to learn the material rather than memorise answers, by implementing a study, practice, test yourself strategy, for best results.
