The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has issued guidance on the '16th fault rule' that learner drivers should be aware of before taking their practical driving test. The rule is a hypothetical benchmark used by examiners to decide whether a driving fault should be recorded.
According to the DVSA, while a candidate may accumulate up to 15 driving faults before failing, the 16th fault rule applies to every fault, regardless of when it occurs. The examiner must assess each fault individually by asking: 'If this was the 16th fault, could you justify it resulting in the candidate failing their test?' This helps determine whether a fault is sufficient to be recorded as a driving fault or deemed not worthy.
There are three types of faults that can be made during the test: dangerous faults, serious faults, and driving faults. A single dangerous or serious fault results in an immediate fail, while up to 15 driving faults are allowed before a fail is recorded.
If a candidate passes, the examiner will inform them of any faults made and hand over the pass certificate. The DVSA reminds candidates to give their provisional licence to the examiner if they wish to have their full licence sent automatically.
