So following by successful CBT, I figured out the next step was to get the theory test. The internet was my friend again and I soon found out that there was a theory test centre in the centre of Cheltenham. So I logged on and found that the nearest timeslot I could book was during a normal working day in mid-June. Well, OK, I had better take that.
Of course I have been driving for years so I know all about the highway code right? Well maybe! As it happens there were two ‘mock tests’ on the internet for motorbike theory, so I tried those. The passmark is 43 correct out of 50 questions. Well I managed to pass both mock tests, but only just. There were a few questions I guessed at and the motorbike specific questions I also had to guess at. In addition to the multi-choice, there is also a second part to the test where you watch a series of video clips and click when you see a hazard etc.
So rather than be complacent and assume that I could just waltz in and breeze through it, I again turned to Rob, who had passed this test a year or two ago for advice. He had some software that generated random multi-choice questions using the actual DVLC question bank and had the video clips test. In addition to using the software, I also bought the book that had the complete DVLC question and answer bank. Suffice to say that I read through the book cover to cover about four times and ran numerous tests on the computer software.
The problem with the clickable video clip section is not so much spotting a developing hazard, as spotting it when the guy who made the video thought it was a hazard, I was finding in many instances that I was scoring zero on a particular clip. When I reviewed it, it turned out that I spotted the hazard just before the software decided it was a hazard. Plus the real test will disqualify you if you just click too many time. So I evolved an approach where I clicked when I thought it was a hazard, clicked again when I thought they would think it was a hazard and clicked a third time when it was bleedin obvious it was a hazard. It was this hazard perception part of the test that many found so difficult – the passmark for this was a ‘mere’ 47 out of 75, but it certainly seemed to me that 75 was pretty nigh on impossible, so this was more challenging than it appeared at first sight.
The gotcha was that you had to pass both the sections of the theory test to get a theory pass, it wasn’t a case of if you fail one, you just had to retake that part only.
So by the time I came to take the test, I was very confident of the multi-choice test and was going to try hard to get 50/50 just for the hell of it. I was only slightly concerned about the video clips section and thought that I would pass, but maybe not with stellar marks.
Off I went to Pates Court in Cheltenham and handed across all the required documents (including government issued photo-id as some have tried sending their mates in to take the test for them!). I waited and was soon called into the test room, a bank of PC’s behind screens with workspaces four I would guess 15 – 20 people at any one time. They logged me on and I went through the introductory video and instructions and started. First the multi-choice tests. I went through that carefully, but fairly quickly, I was sure on virtually all of them and only had to make ‘I am pretty sure this is right’ answers on three or four questions.
Then onto the video clip section. There were about 9 video clips, most with only one hazard, but a couple with two hazards, not that they were going to tell you which was which. I plunged in and followed my formula of one click when I saw it, another when I thought they would think you saw it and a third when it was obvious. The clips are a lot harder than they sound as they are real videos taken from a car driver point of view and you would not believe the number of potentially dumb things that could happen, it was a case of sorting the wheat from the chaff, it certainly wasn’t a long driving sequence with nothing happens, then a tractor pulls out from a side road! I finished this and felt OK about it, I certainly couldn’t believe I could have failed.
I shut down and walked out of the room. They asked me for the keyfob they gave me and printed the letter with the results. They had carefully folded the letter so they couldn’t see the results, so I opened it and scan read it until I came to the relevant section. Yes I had passed both sections, with a score of 50 / 50 for the multi-choice and I suspect a very good 63 / 75 for the hazard perception. So all in all, I was pretty pleased with myself. I know a pass is a pass and it doesn’t matter two hoots what mark you got, but there is personal pride at stake here!
So I had passed the theory test and now had the required certificate, I could now put in for the Part 1 practical motorbike test (you can’t even book it until you have the pass certificate and the unique pass number).
I now had the basic CBT and the Theory test under my belt, Now just the Practical Part 1 and Part 2 tests to go.
