Class 2B TP Test: What Happens on Practical Test Day

The Traffic Police (TP) practical test is the final step before your licence. It has a circuit section inside the driving centre followed by a road section on public roads around it. A Traffic Police examiner marks every fault.

Before the test

• Check your documents the night before. Your PDL and RTT must both still be valid on test day.
• Arrive early. Late candidates are turned away, and fees are not refunded for cancellations.
• Book a warm-up if your centre offers one. A short ride on the circuit before the test settles your nerves.
• Hold only one test booking. Holding more than one test date at a time can get you disqualified.

The circuit section

You ride the circuit courses you trained on in a set sequence. At CDC, for example, learners report the order as slope, figure 8, crank course, narrow plank, pylon slalom and emergency braking. The examiner watches your signals, safety checks and speed control between courses as well as the courses themselves.

The circuit is where most candidates fail, so go back over the circuit skills guides in the week before your test.

The road section

After the circuit, you ride a set route on public roads near the centre. You will be marked on:

• Observation: mirror checks and head checks over your shoulder before moving off, changing lanes and turning
• Signalling: signalling early, and cancelling after the turn
• Positioning: keeping a sensible lane position, not riding in blind spots
• Speed and gaps: keeping to limits and leaving a safe following distance
• Junctions: stopping fully at stop lines and giving way correctly

Road routes are fixed for each centre, and your road lessons follow them. This learner’s recording of CDC’s route gives a sense of what the road section looks like:

Demerit points and immediate fails

Each mistake has a set number of demerit points. The examiner stops the test when you reach 20. Some faults end the test straight away, such as dropping the bike, riding off the plank, touching a cone or kerb, putting a foot down inside a course, or a dangerous action on the road.

If you fail

You must book at least one road revision lesson before booking another test, then pay the test fee and bike rental again. Use the examiner’s feedback to choose what to practise.