QLD Driving Test Explained (2023)

FIRST SECTION (Privacy Statement):

This relates to the privacy statement, and the four key points in this section are:

• Driving examiners use this form to assess your driving ability
• A copy of this form will be given to you and your examiner goes through this paper with you
• All examiners have access to this form. So let’s say if you fail your driving test, the next examiner can have access to this form and they can find out why you failed the test before
• This information is not going to be disclosed to another third party unless required by law

THIRD SECTION (Specific Driving Situations): 

During your driving test, you will be taken to different traffic situations. And here is the list of all traffic situations that they will take you to. When they take you to any specific traffic situation, they tick the related box. This is to indicate which ones you’ve been to. For example, when they take you to a roundabout or a one-way road, they tick the corresponding box.

FOURTH SECTION (Manoeuvres):

There are two parts in the manoeuvres section, which are for cars and for trucks. But we will only focus on the manoeuvres for a car. So ignore the trucks part. There are 6 manoeuvres that you need to know for your driving test in QLD. These manoeuvres are as follows:

• Reverse park (or Reverse parallel parking)

(Download the step by step instructions of this manoeuvre here: https://emudrivingschool.com.au/Product/12824/How-to-do-a-Reverse-Parallel-Parking-Step-by-Step )

• Turn Around

(Commonly known as a 3-point turn. You can watch this video on how to do a 3-point turn to see how it’s done properly.)

• U-turn

(Watch this video to learn how to do a U-turn at a T-intersection.

• Hill start

(Here’s a video which show you everything you need to know about hill start.)

• Reversing exercise

(Reversing the car on a straight line for approximately 30 meters)

• Gear changing

(This is a manoeuvre for ONLY automatic cars. YES, automatic cars! The examiners ask you to change the gear to a lower gear usually when driving down a steep hill and then they want you to change it back to D again when you are on the flat road.)

FIFTH SECTION (Pre-Drive Check): 

This section relates to 9 car controls that you need to know for your driving test. The driving examiners ask you about two of them randomly again. These car controls include:

• mirror adjustment
• headlight/dip (high beam)
• wipers
• washers
• demisters
• air conditioning
• hazard lights
• seat adjustment

Sometimes they might ask the students about the rear-view mirror anti-glare, which is not listed here. You can read this article for more details on the 9 car controls you must know for your driving test.

SIXTH SECTION (Vehicle Operation- Hazard Recognition/Decision): 

And here are the criteria that the examiners look at in a driving test in QLD. They evaluate your driving according to these criteria. And they put the final result in the ‘Appraisal’ section of the paper with their feedback.

So what are these criteria? Some of them are related to manual cars, which obviously you don’t need to worry about if you go for an automatic car test. For example, ancillary control, clutch, clutch control, stalling, accelerator, gears, and so on. In front of them, we have three columns. The first one is Non-Critical Driving Error with a number of boxes. The second one is Specific Repeated Driving Error and the last one is Critical Driving Error.

So what do they mean? For example, let’s take steering control. The examiners ask you to turn left at an intersection. When you turn, the steering wheel is very shaky. You don’t turn smoothly. So they put a tick in the first box in front of it in the NCDE column. One minor driving error for steering control. Then, they ask you to turn right. And again when turning, your steering wheel is not smooth. So they put another tick or cross in another box in NCDE column; two minor marks.

If that happens for five times, you will get all these boxes filled. And the sixth mistake goes to the specific repeated driving error column. When you get a tick in SRDE column, this means that this driver keeps making a specific driving error and constantly repeats it. And when you get a tick anywhere in this column, that’s a fail in the test. As you can see, there is a specific driving error or SRDE (1 or more) at the top. So they tick this box here and that’s a fail in the test.

Let’s say, you get one mark on the accelerator, two for steering operation, three for the left-turn position, one for shoulder checks, one for safety margin, and one for progress. When we add them all up, you get 9 minor errors. Then they tick the box on the top where it says NCDE (9 or more), and that’s a fail again. Up until 8 minor errors, it’s still a pass, but 9 or more is a fail. That’s too many errors. 

SEVENTH SECTION (General- Critical Driving Errors):

Something important to mention here is that some driving errors can be non-critical in one situation and critical in another. For example, if you don’t indicate when doing a 3-point turn in a quiet street, you will only get one minor mark for not indicating. But if you don’t indicate at a roundabout and make other drivers confused and create a dangerous situation, that’s a critical error in the signalling (or indicating) section of the form.

You might notice there is a section called general critical driving error. Any mark in this section is an instant fail as well. The boxes are as follows:

• Intervention by the examiner. This means any verbal or physical intervention by the examiner. For example, when they need to grab the steering wheel to avoid accidents. Or prompt you to stop to avoid a collision.
• Collision. This is when you strike another object. It can either be a pole, a tree, a pedestrian, or another vehicle. Bear in mind that mounting the curb is also classified as a collision and hence a fail.
• Dangerous action. It’s when you do a dangerous action that makes other road users or pedestrians take evasive action to avoid an accident. For example, merging too slow on a highway and causing other drivers to brake for you to avoid a collision.
• Disobeying official direction. It can be a police officer, school crossing supervisor, or an authorized traffic controller. If you come across these situations and don’t show any intention of stopping, it will be an instant fail.

EIGHTH SECTION (Note):

The bottom part of this paper has a note that says: “This report relates only to this test. This is not a licence. ” Once you’re done with your test, and hopefully pass it, you are still going to do some paperwork at the test centre. And then they can issue your licence.