Hi there, my husband is a US citizen and we moved back to the UK last September. Life has been very hectic and so neglected to apply to get his UK drivers license and do the driving test etc. His work relies on having a UK license. Is there a way of getting extension beyond the 12 months while he waits for a driving test appointment to come through? It looks like it takes three months to obtain driving test appointment.
Thank you for your help.

No, I don't think so unfortunately. All I can think of is to hunt all over the country daily (sometimes there are cancellations and a spot opens up) and be prepared to travel to get there.

https://www.gov.uk/find-driving-test-centre

Complication - to use your own car it must meet test requirements. You can look those up.

Remember you must pass your theory test, a separate appointment, and get your provisional license before you can even book a practical test appointment. Get that done now if he hasn't.

Strongly recommend a few driving lessons to get "UK test ready". I'm sure he knows how to drive but that's not the same thing and if he fails the test there will be another long wait.

Since he's been driving here I assume insurance is sorted, but in case of difficulty Marshmallow insured me while I still had only a US license.

No he may not. You can only drive on a provisional with a supervising adult in the car who has held their license for at least three years, and you can't go on motorways at all. This is not likely to be possible if driving for work.

This is imperative IMO. I am sure someone who learned to drive in the US, and who has acquired the many of the sloppy habits that we all get driving over the years, will find that there are many things he is doing that will lead to failing a road test in the UK- not least things like (not) holding the steering wheel with two hands at all times when a hand isn't needed for something else - such as moving the gear selector.

The UK road test is extremely strict compared to the joke that passes for a test in the US, and I hear now lasts over 40 minutes. There are a number of set-piece maneuvres that are expected, some of which would rarely if ever occur in day-to-day driving, such as an emergency stop, backing around a corner (small radius and large radius corners require different techniques), and a three point turn, demonstrating observation and care looking out for other road users, etc. All such maneuvres need to be executed competently, reasonably confidently, and without excessive adjustments or start-overs.

The reality is that the pass rate for a road test in the UK is about 50%, irrespective of the age and experience of the driver, so there is a very real possibility that it will take someone two or more attempts to pass the test and approximately a 12% chance of someone failing the test three times.

I can't help but wonder why, if driving is necessary for his job, how he let getting a UK licence just slip his mind? FWIW When anyone asks here on BE about moving to the UK and doesn't already have a UK license, I always recommend starting the process almost immediately - within a couple of weeks of arriving, as soon as the dust has settled, to allow time for some lessons and practice, and still allow time for taking the test several times if that becomes necessary.

Both my children, in 2017 and in 2022, moved back to England and spent 7 or 8 months driving on their US licence before passing their UK driving tests. They managed to pass first time but it was a huge and stressful effort. I can’t recommend enough getting driving lessons to learn how to pass the test.

No help to you...but I am now so grateful we could just swap our licenses over with no test after reading the above.

From NZ, right?

Yes...we are Kiwis

My daughter’s partner is from Australia and having seen all the stress and effort she went through to pass her UK test decided to simply exchange his Australian licence for a UK one.

I took lessons precisely to clean up years of habits and ways of driving acquired from driving in American cities. I did manage to pass my test first time, but I took lessons and probably would have failed had I not done so for things you wouldn't necessarily expect to be wrong.

My test was about 40 mins. You don't have to do all those three point turns backwards around a corner stuff any more (recent change), but you must do a good park (parallel or backing into a bay, examiner's choice). Proper use of roundabouts can be a struggle if you aren't used to them. But things you might not expect that are about knowing how to drive well, not just drive: extremely strict on "observations" at the right times and in the right ways; use of mirrors (when, and not too little but also not too much!); lane usage; how you behave on meeting traffic; following a sat nav or signage; not going either too fast or too slowly with respect to both speed limits and conditions; clearance from parked vehicles; passing cyclists; dealing with hazards, and more. You can't get it all from the book.

ONE error classed as "serious", which wouldn't seem very serious in our day to day driving, will see you fail the test.


Also to note - for the first two years of your UK licence, if you get 6 points, say a couple of modest speeding tickets, then you lose your licence and have to start all over again and take a new theory and a new practical test.

That's interesting that some of the set pieces have been dropped. I know that parallel parking was added, quite a long time ago, as it was always curious that it wasn't part of the test. In fact parallel parking was the only thing that was part of my test in NY that I hadn't been tested on in the UK.

But "failing to keep up with traffic" has long been a failure point, and used to be a tricky factor to balance before automated cameras became ubiquitous, when most cars were doing 5-10mph over the posted limit. I assume these days sticking right on the posted speed is the way to balance the speed question.

Speed isn't too tricky and I'm used to adjusting for conditions so no big deal there. The bit I most dislike are those windy English country roads, one lane each way, where the limit is freaking 60mph in places I would never do 60 personally. But you do have to go " fast enough". Ditto if you are happily doing 30 in a 30 zone in a town and you go past a 40 sign, make sure you speed up a bit if traffic permits so they don't think you missed the sign.

I think they do more now to see if you can actually drive. Lots of pulling over to the kerb and then pulling out, to make sure you look properly and don't either hit the kerb or pull up miles away from it. Lots of general traffic management, big emphasis on safety as well as competence.

I got the reverse bay park, not the parallel. Get it right first time. If you have to adjust you get a minor fault. Adjust too much or mount the kerb and you will fail the test.

Oh, I miss those!

I have many happy memories of leaving the heavily congested M4 on a Friday evening, heading to see my parents in Gloucester, taking the A329(M) into Reading, then taking the A329 towards Didcot and eventually A417, passing south of Didcot and through Wantage before emerging near Cirencester. There was very little traffic on the A417, and going that way was about as quick as taking the M4 to Swindon on a Friday evening, but a whole load more fun!

In case Mrs P sees this, I know driving isn't supposed to be fun.

I used to find my moped fun, and if I had a bike then rolling English road probably would be fun. But then I'd probably be dead, so less fun. Cars are mostly just transport to me.

My wife was one of those Americans to fail her English driving test. She was young, irascible, had been driving in New York City for years, had driven out to the west coast .. no doubt, the British couldn’t possibly teach her anything. Also, she had driven in the UK on her New York licence for maybe eight or nine years. In those days, no internet, no social media, probably hard to imagine now, neither of us knew she needed to get a British driving license. I can’t remember now, why we eventually realised she needed to take the test. She failed and simply went back to relying on her NY license. Driving in the UK for twelve years, we never had an accident and never had to show a license to a police officer.