Supervising a learner driver: the rules, and how to practise for the test

Who can supervise, and who can be supervised

The licence-type rule catches families out. A parent who passed in an automatic can't supervise practice in a manual car. These are the rules for England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has its own, including a 45 mph speed limit for learner drivers.

The car: L plates, mirror, tax and insurance

• L plates on the front and back (D plates are an option in Wales), with a red letter on a white background and the right size. The learner can get up to 6 penalty points for missing or wrongly sized plates. Take them off, or cover them, when a full licence holder is driving.
• An extra rear-view mirror for the supervisor, so you can see behind the car during the session.
• Tax, MOT and roadworthiness. The car must be taxed, registered and safe, with an MOT if it needs one. Help the learner check it before each drive.
• Insurance. In your car, the learner is either added as a named driver or takes out learner driver insurance. In their own car, they must be the registered keeper with their own learner policy. Some insurers require the supervisor to be over 25, and driving uninsured risks an unlimited fine, a ban and up to 8 penalty points.

A claim by a learner on a named-driver policy can affect the policyholder's no claims discount, so check before choosing. Our guide to learner driver insurance compares the options.

What the law expects from the supervisor

As the full licence holder, you're in charge of the car even while the learner drives. Sit in the front passenger seat. During the session you must not:

• hold or use a phone, sat nav or tablet for any reason, including texts, calls and photos; the handheld device law applies to supervisors too
• have alcohol in your breath or blood above the legal limit, or supervise under the influence of drugs or with certain medicines above the specified limits
• let the learner drive on a motorway; learners can only use motorways with an approved instructor in a car with dual controls

If a dangerous situation develops, speak firmly without shouting, reach across to take the steering wheel if you need to, use dual controls if the car has them, and keep the handbrake for a last-resort emergency stop, telling the learner to stop as you do. GOV.UK also suggests rearranging a session if either of you is angry, stressed or tired.

Plan sessions around the current test

The test has changed since many supervisors passed theirs, so match practice to today's format. Since 24 November 2025, independent driving can run for the whole drive, there are three stops rather than four, and the emergency stop comes up in about one test in seven.

• Talk to the instructor first. They can say when the learner is ready for private practice and help you plan it, and GOV.UK suggests taking a lesson yourself, or sitting in on one, so you don't pass on old habits.
• Practise independent driving with a sat nav and with road signs, for 20 minutes or more without prompts.
• Cover the stops: a normal stop, moving off from behind a parked car and a hill start.
• Rotate the reversing exercises in a quiet part of a car park with several bays to choose from, and on quiet roads where you won't bother residents.
• Mix the conditions: day and night, rain and wind, dual carriageways and country roads, but not severe weather unless the journey is essential.
• Record each session on GOV.UK's private practice form and show it to the instructor at the next lesson.

SteerClear's practice routes around the learner's test centre give turn-by-turn voice directions, so you can watch the road instead of navigating, and community routes shared by local learners and instructors add variety. Our driving test routes page explains how route practice works when the examiners' routes aren't published.

Run a mock test together

1. Start parked with a 'tell me' question, such as how you'd check the brakes are working before a journey.
2. Drive for about 35 minutes, giving directions at first and then switching to a sat nav or road signs for at least 20 minutes.
3. Ask for one reversing exercise, chosen at random, and the three stops along the way.
4. Ask a 'show me' question on the move, for example washing the front windscreen, only when it's safe.
5. Note mistakes without commenting, using three levels: minor, potentially dangerous and dangerous. Our guide to how driving test faults are marked explains each one.
6. Debrief once parked: what went well, the two things to fix first, then record the session.

For an objective second opinion, SteerClear's mock driving test scores the drive by fault type, and its readiness score out of 100 tracks progress between lessons. SteerClear is an independent app and isn't connected to GOV.UK or the examiners.

Common supervising mistakes

• Directions given late. Give them clearly, calmly and in plenty of time.
• Expecting your own judgement. Look and think further ahead than usual; a learner won't spot hazards as early as you do.
• Passing on shortcuts. Techniques may have changed since you passed, and some old habits now count as faults.
• Too much, too soon. Avoid busy times of day until the learner copes with heavier traffic.
• Arguing at the wheel. Ask the learner to pull over safely, and talk once you've both calmed down.

How much private practice is enough varies from learner to learner; our post on how much practice you need covers the benchmarks. If the learner will take the test in your car, check the rules for using your own car well before the day.