Know exactly how the examiner marks you: the three fault types, how many minors you can get before you fail, what 'examiner took action' means and how to read your result.
Driving test faults come in three types: driving faults (minors), serious faults and dangerous faults (majors). You pass with no more than 15 driving faults and no serious or dangerous faults. So a 16th minor, or a single serious or dangerous fault, means you do not pass.
Every mistake the examiner marks goes into one of three groups. GOV.UK defines them like this:
| Fault | What it means | Effect on your result |
|---|---|---|
| Driving fault (minor) | Not potentially dangerous, but if you keep making the same fault it could become a serious fault | Up to 15 allowed |
| Serious fault (major) | Something potentially dangerous | 1 means you do not pass |
| Dangerous fault (major) | Actual danger to you, the examiner, the public or property | 1 means you do not pass |
The two words that matter are potentially and actual. A serious fault is one that could have led to danger. A dangerous fault is one where the danger was real.
Driving faults are the small slips your instructor would point out on a lesson, but that did not put anyone at risk. Because the definitions turn on danger, the situation matters: what was around you when the mistake happened affects how it is marked.
You can get up to 15 driving faults and still pass, as long as you have no serious or dangerous faults. A 16th driving fault means you do not pass, even if none of them was serious.
There is a catch. GOV.UK says a driving fault you keep making could become a serious fault. Missing a mirror check once on a quiet road may be one minor. Missing it at junction after junction shows a habit, and the examiner can mark that as serious even though no single check was dangerous on its own.
So do not treat 15 as an allowance to use up. Drive the way you do on a good lesson and the minors look after themselves.
Some marks are fixed. Getting one or both of the show me tell me questions wrong counts as 1 driving fault. But if your driving becomes dangerous or potentially dangerous while you do the show me task on the move, that is a fail. You can practise all 21 questions on our free show me tell me page.
A serious or dangerous fault is a fail on its own, but it does not always end the drive. GOV.UK says you can carry on if you make a mistake, and that the examiner will only stop the test if they think your driving is a danger to other road users. So keep driving as well as you can. You hear the result at the end.
Sometimes the examiner has to step in. If they had to tell you to do something, or take control of the car to avoid an incident, your result shows "examiner took action", often shortened to ETA. It tells you the examiner saw a situation that needed them to act at once.
The eyesight check comes first. If you cannot read the number plate correctly, you fail and the test does not continue. Once you are driving, the examiner only stops the test early for driving that is a danger to other road users.
The examiner also assesses whether you drive with economy and the environment in mind. GOV.UK says this assessment does not affect your result.
Your result groups faults under headings. GOV.UK lists 24 of them in its guide to understanding your result, with examples. Any heading can hold a driving, serious or dangerous fault.
| Heading | Faults DVSA gives as examples |
|---|---|
| Ancillary controls | not using wipers or demisters when needed |
| Awareness and planning | not anticipating what pedestrians, cyclists and other road users will do |
| Clearance to obstructions | passing parked cars or hazards too closely |
| Control | steering onto the pavement, coasting with the clutch down, braking too hard or not hard enough |
| Controlled stop | reacting slowly in the emergency stop, locking the wheels |
| Following at a safe distance | driving too close, not leaving more room in rain, ice or fog |
| Forward park | not centred in the bay, poor observation when reversing out |
| Judgement | not giving way, turning right across an oncoming vehicle, passing a cyclist too closely |
| Junctions | misjudging the speed of traffic when emerging, approaching too fast |
| Move off | rolling back, no blind spot check, repeated stalling |
| Pedestrian crossing | stopping on the crossing, moving off before people have cleared it |
| Position and normal stops | blocking a driveway, wheels on the pavement, stopping too far from the kerb |
| Positioning | too close to the kerb or centre line, straddling lanes |
| Precautions | starting the engine in gear, adjusting the seat or mirrors on the move |
| Progress | not emerging when it is safe, driving too slowly for the road |
| Response to signs and signals | reacting late to a speed limit change, using the wrong lane, misusing a bus lane |
| Reverse park | repeated corrections, touching the kerb, weak all-round observation |
| Reverse / right | relying only on mirrors, missing a hazard behind |
| Signals | signalling too late, signalling right at a roundabout when going ahead |
| Use of mirrors | checking after signalling, changing lanes without effective checks |
| Use of speed | going over the limit, not adjusting speed to the conditions |
| Vehicle checks | one or both show me tell me answers wrong (1 driving fault) |
| Eyesight check | not reading the number plate: the test ends |
| Fuel-efficient driving (eco-driving) | assessed, but does not affect your result |
Some headings are split further. DVSA's list of the most common fails, for example, names faults such as Junctions: observations and Mirrors: change direction. See the top 10 reasons people fail for the faults that come up most.
At the end of the drive, the examiner tells you whether you passed and explains any faults you made. You can ask for your instructor to be there for the result and feedback. If you pass, you get a pass certificate and can drive straight away.
You also get an email with your result. It shows the driving, serious and dangerous faults you made, under the headings above. If the examiner had to act, the result shows ETA as well.
The examiner records your drive on a tablet. The paper version is the driving test report, form DL25, which examiners only use if the tablet fails. Instructors can use the DL25 to mark practice tests, so ask yours to mark a full mock driving test the same way before the day.
If you did not pass, our guide on what to do after a failed test covers rebooking, complaints and appeals.
Many headings come back to the same few habits. Fix those and your faults drop across the whole result.
For the full plan from lessons to test day, read how to pass your driving test.
Up to 15. A 16th driving fault means you do not pass, and so does any single serious or dangerous fault.
One. A single serious or dangerous fault means you do not pass, however few driving faults you have.
Yes. GOV.UK says that if you keep making the same driving fault, it could become a serious fault, and a serious fault is a fail.
No. Going the wrong way during independent driving is not a fault, and the examiner will help you get back on route.
Not always. The examiner only stops the test if they think your driving is a danger to other road users, so you often finish the drive and hear the result at the end.
Last checked: 13 October 2026.
