From 4 October 2010 on the practical driving test in Great Britain will include a 10 minute session of independent driving, during which the candidate does not receive step-by-step directions from the examiner. At the beginning of this part of the driving test, the examiner will give the candidate a series of directions or ask him/her to follow traffic signs. A combination of both is also possible.
The introduction of independent driving, which has been in place in the Netherlands for some time already, aims at encouraging the learner drivers to take their own decisions and think for themselves when driving and not only follow instructions. Consequently learner drivers will have to practice this in preparation for the test which will lead to better and safer drivers.
As another step in making the driving test more representative of real driving the details of the test routes will no longer be published. This will prevent candidates from learning the test routes by rote.
For more details please refer to the full press release. The research report "On the road to independence" is available here.