(All opinions are mine; feel free to disagree/supplement below)
Thanks to the generous discount available through this forum a few months back, I was able to book Class 2 training + test + CPC Mod 4 + free accommodation (since I was coming from more than 70 miles away) for 1,260 GBP. My thanks to Peter Smythe transport.
Central Hotel provides decent accommodation. My instructor was Chris. The good thing about Chris is that he comments on everything you do wrong to such an extent that you can almost hear his voice during the test (when he’s not there). During training, you do a lot of driving about around the area, with some reversing practice in the yard. I’ve only ever driven a little Peugeot 206 & have trouble reversing in that sometimes, but reversing a rigid is actually quite straightforward.
One thing I’d recommend doing before training is to start religiously doing mirror checks again (I’d let my mirror checks slide after my car driving test, but if they’re a must for the car test, they absolutely are for a Class 2 test as well). Also, remember that stopping times are longer in a truck - you’ve got to start slowing down further back than you would do in a car. Slow it down (esp. if coming up to an obstruction, e.g. a car parked on your side of the road)!
CPC Mod 4 training was quite straightforward (you DON’T have to do the dolly knot!). You may wish to watch Mod 4 videos on Youtube (e.g. youtube.com/watch?v=KdqZHPIjDT0&t=2s) a few times beforehand. Kenny was the examiner (it’ll either be Kenny or Chris) & he made the experience a positive one, despite my travails with the tensioning bar (I found it’s suddenly a lot more difficult in a test situation!).
I only passed my car test on my 5th(!) attempt, so I wasn’t too bothered by the prospect of failing Class 2 once or twice, but I almost passed on my first attempt!
1st test I failed on reversing - now don’t suddenly get nervous about reversing because it really is almost too easy, I’d got it right in practice, just messed it up on the test. As I was starting to reverse (having turned the wheel left), my front right wheel was about to touch the yellow line, so I turned the wheel right (to get the wheel pointing away from the line) - BUT I SHOULD THEN HAVE TURNED THE WHEEL LEFT AGAIN! Because I just left my wheel like that, I hit the central (‘B’) cone :‘(
I chose to carry on with the rest of the test (extra practice, innit), & the actual drive was passable (7 minors) thanks to Chris’ voice in my head (‘keep in your lane’, ‘slow it down’, etc). That was on December 12th. At least Boris won.
My 2 hours of refresher training (on the morning of my re-test) was with Paul. Good thing with Paul is that he really puts you at ease.
2nd test I failed because I was going at the correct speed along a country road, but there was a pedestrian on a narrow pavement & apparently in that situation you should go more slowly - had the pavement been normal size, I’d’ve likely passed.
1 hour refresher training (the hour b4 my 3rd test) was with Chris. Got his voice into my head again.
It was a beautiful morning. There was a couple of hairy moments, like when I was told to turn right at the lights, but started turning right into a garage/car dealership(?) before the lights. I thought about just continuing into the garage, but (rightly) decided against, & thankfully the truck behind waited to let me back into the correct lane. I made some other mistakes as well, which made me think perhaps I’d failed again, but thought I’d try my best anyway - 1) it’s good practice for the next test; 2) you might not have failed. In this case, I hadn’t failed! I was very pleasantly surprised when examiner Paul informed me that I’d passed! It’s a great feeling.
If I can pass, anybody can.
If, like me, you have a history of failing driving tests, you might like to enquire about the Pass Protection scheme before you book training (Tracey will kindly explain it to you). A retest costs about 200 quid each time (test-fee, fuel, site hire); each hour of refresher training costs 100 quid. I didn’t mind forking out too much, it all contributes to the UK’s economy, right??
My thanks also to the kind receptionist Rosina.
My first 2 tests were at 12:20, my 3rd at 8:40. I found the roads relatively quiet at both time slots.
Remember:
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Mirror, mirror
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Slow it down
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Even if you think you’ve failed (during a test), try your best
