The most common driving test faults

The ten faults learners make most often in their test, and what to do about them.

Megan Watkins, Drivepal Founder·Updated 13 October 2026

If you fail your driving test, the fault most likely to be on your result is not looking properly at junctions. DVSA has published its list of the most common faults every year since 2007-08, and this one has been top all 19 times.

Most of the list hardly changes. Six of this year's ten faults have been on it every year. So the list is a good guide to what to practise before your test.

DVSA publishes the order of the faults, not how many times each one happened. We can say which faults are most common, but not by how much.

Top fault

Not looking properly at junctions

First every year since 2007-08

Biggest change

Not moving off safely

Down from third to sixth

New this year

Driving too slowly for the road

In tenth place

The ten most common faults in 2025-26

Most common first. “Last year” is each fault's place in 2024-25. The last column shows how many of the 19 years each fault has been in the top ten.

#	Fault	Last year	Years in top 10
1	Not looking properly at junctions DVSA: Junctions - observation	1	19 of 19
2	Not using your mirrors properly when changing direction DVSA: Mirrors - change direction	2	19 of 19
3	Getting your position wrong when turning right at junctions DVSA: Junctions - turning right	4	19 of 19
4	Not responding properly to traffic lights DVSA: Response to signs - traffic lights	5	18 of 19
5	Not keeping proper control of the steering DVSA: Control - steering	6	19 of 19
6	Not moving off safely DVSA: Move off - safely	3	19 of 19
7	Not responding properly to road markings DVSA: Response to signs - road markings	7	13 of 19
8	Not responding properly to traffic signs DVSA: Response to signs - traffic signs	8	8 of 19
9	Poor position on the road in normal driving DVSA: Positioning - normal driving	9	19 of 19
10	Driving too slowly for the road DVSA: Maintain progress - speed	New	3 of 19

Car driving tests in Great Britain, April 2025 to March 2026. The plain-English names follow DVSA's own guide where it has one.

Not looking properly at junctions has been the most common fault every year for 19 years.

What changed this year

“Not moving off safely” dropped from third to sixth. The three faults below it each moved up a place.

Driving too slowly is new on the list this year, in tenth place. “Use of speed”, which is mostly about driving too fast, has dropped off it. Driving too slowly has been on the list before, in 2021-22 and 2007-08.

A ranking can't tell us why. A fault can drop a place because fewer people made it, or because more people made the faults around it.

The same faults every year

Six faults have been in the top ten in all 19 years:

Not looking properly at junctions
Not using your mirrors properly when changing direction
Getting your position wrong when turning right at junctions
Not keeping proper control of the steering
Not moving off safely
Poor position on the road in normal driving

Not looking properly at junctions has been first every time. “Not using your mirrors properly when changing direction” has been second every year except 2007-08.

Every test has lots of junctions. Each one is another chance to miss a look. You might reverse park once in your test, but you'll go through junction after junction.
You can't feel a missed look. If you stall, you know straight away. If you don't look properly at a junction and nothing happens, nothing tells you. So the habit stays unless someone in the car spots it.
Mirrors are about timing. You check them before you signal or change direction, not after. Checking once you've started to turn still counts as a fault.

How faults are marked

The examiner marks each mistake as one of three kinds of fault:

A driving fault (a minor): this isn't dangerous on its own. Make the same one again and again and it can become a serious fault.
A serious fault (a major): this could have been dangerous.
A dangerous fault (also a major): this put you, the examiner, someone else or something in actual danger.

You pass if you make no more than 15 driving faults and zero serious or dangerous ones.

Any of the ten faults in the table can be a minor or a major, depending on how bad it was.

Checked against gov.uk on 12 October 2026.

What makes a fault a major

The examiner judges each fault on its own: how bad it was, and what it led to. A minor didn't affect anyone. A serious fault could have affected someone, or broke the law. A dangerous fault put someone in actual danger.

DVSA's guidance for examiners gives an example of each. These are its examples for five of this year's top ten:

Looking properly at junctions: misjudging how fast a car is coming, without putting anyone at risk, is a minor. Pulling out into another car's path because you didn't look properly is serious.
Mirrors before changing direction: checking late is a minor. Not using your door mirror before a big change of direction is serious.
Moving off safely: checking your blind spot after you've started to move, with no risk to anyone, is a minor. Moving off into traffic, or not looking at all, is serious.
Traffic lights: reacting late to amber, with no effect on safety, is a minor. Not doing what a light tells you is serious, because it breaks the law.
Position on the road: driving too close to the kerb is a minor. Keeping on doing it, so pedestrians are at risk, is serious.

In every case, it becomes a dangerous fault if someone was put in actual danger.

From DVSA's guidance for examiners, checked on 12 October 2026.

Everything the examiner can mark

This is everything on the car test report, grouped the way the report groups it. Highlighted ones are in this year's top ten.

Eyesight: reading a number plate at the start of the test
Manoeuvre: reverse parking (on the road or in a car park), parking forwards in a bay or pulling up on the right and reversing
Show me, tell me questions: the two questions about how to check or use the car
Emergency stop: if you're asked to do one
Controls: accelerator, clutch, gears, footbrake, handbrake and steering (in the top ten)
Before you start: making sure the car is safe to start
Other controls: using lights, wipers, demisters and so on when you need them
Moving off: safely (in the top ten) and with control
Mirrors: before signalling, before changing direction (in the top ten) and before changing speed
Signals: giving one when it's needed, giving the right one and giving it at the right time
Junctions: speed as you approach, looking properly (in the top ten), turning right (in the top ten), turning left and cutting corners
Judgement: overtaking, meeting oncoming traffic and turning across oncoming traffic
Position on the road: in normal driving (in the top ten) and keeping to your lane
Pedestrian crossings: approaching, stopping and moving off again
Pulling up: stopping in a safe place when asked
Awareness and planning: seeing what other road users are about to do
Clearance: leaving room past parked cars and obstructions
Following distance: the gap to the car in front
Use of speed: not too fast for the road, or over the limit
Progress: keeping up a suitable speed (in the top ten) and not hesitating when it's safe to go
Signs and signals: traffic signs (in the top ten), road markings (in the top ten), traffic lights (in the top ten), people directing traffic (police, school crossing patrols) and signals from other road users

From DVSA's guidance for examiners, checked on 12 October 2026.

What to do with this list

Before your test, ask your instructor for a mock test, marked the way an examiner would. Then go through DVSA's guide, which gives examples of the mistakes that count for most of these faults, and check you're not making any of them.
If you've failed before, your test result is a better guide than this list. It shows the faults you made on the day. This list is everyone's put together.
Your instructor knows your driving. If they say your steering or your position on the road needs work, that matters more than where it sits on a national list.

What the list can't tell you

How often each fault happens. DVSA publishes the order, not the numbers. The top fault could be twice as common as the tenth, or fifty times.
Which faults come up at your test centre. DVSA's list covers Great Britain as a whole. Centres in busy cities tend to have lower pass rates, and their routes probably have more junctions, but that's our guess rather than something the figures show. See Britain's 10 hardest driving test centres.

Frequently asked questions

How many minors can you get in a driving test?

15. You fail if you make 16 or more, or any serious or dangerous fault.

How many majors can you have in a driving test?

None. One serious or dangerous fault means you fail.

What counts as a major in a driving test?

There are two kinds of major. A serious fault could have affected someone, or broke the law. A dangerous fault put someone in actual danger. See DVSA’s examples for five of the most common faults.

What counts as a minor in a driving test?

A minor (a driving fault) is a mistake that didn’t affect anyone. Making the same one again and again can turn it into a serious fault.

Is there a list of major and minor faults?

Yes. There’s one list, the test report, and the examiner can mark anything on it as a minor or a major. You can see the whole list above.

What are the most common reasons people fail the driving test?

In 2025-26, the three most common faults were “Not looking properly at junctions”, “Not using your mirrors properly when changing direction” and “Getting your position wrong when turning right at junctions”. See the full top ten.

How does your test centre compare?

How we worked this out

The list is DVSA's table of the ten faults made most often in car driving tests in Great Britain, for each financial year (April to March) from 2007-08 to 2025-26. DVSA's guide for learners calls the same list the top 10 reasons for failing.

DVSA gives each fault's place in the list, not how many times it was made. So there are no counts or percentages on this page.

DVSA has renamed some faults over the years. “Response to signals (traffic lights)” became “Response to signs - traffic lights”, for example, and in 2025-26 “Progress (appropriate speed)” came back as “Maintain progress - speed”. We've treated each of these as the same fault and used DVSA's current names.

Northern Ireland isn't included: its tests are run by a different agency, the DVA.

Source: DVSA, driving test and theory test data: cars (table DRT121f). Open Government Licence v3.0. Questions or corrections: info@usedrivepal.com.