It has long been said that if you take your driving test on a Friday afternoon or at the end of the month, the chances are that you will fail. Do the examiners ‘manage’ their pass rates. Are these rumours true?
In fact the truth is yes and no. Like every large organisation the Driving Standards Agency which conduct the Driving Tests in the UK keep records of everything. They keep records of each Driving Examiners test.
The Driving Examiners at each test centre have to keep within a 10% pass rate from all the other Examiners in their centre. If their rate changes i.e. they pass too many, the change is highlighted at head office. Someone from regional office is then informed of the said crime and they are sent to the centre to examine the examiner. They do this by sitting in the back of the car whilst there is a candidate on test.
Many examiners maintain that this pressure to conform does not affect the way they conduct the test. Assuming examiners are human beings, then they will have human characteristics. On a day they are not under pressure to conform, they will mark the test according to how they usually do. On a day they are under pressure then their perspective may be different. With an error that requires discretion. One day they will perceive the error as a minor fault and the other they may perceive the same error differently maybe as a serious fault and thus fail the test.
If you have any stories about unfair marking please let me know.
