15 Ways To Overcome Your Test Nerves
1. Don't rush it Get as much practice as you can and only apply for your test when you feel confident that you are safe. If you're worried about the theory test, ask friends and family to test you to familiarise yourself with the questions and have a go at our sample
theory test questions2. Book the first available driving test of the day. If you take your test early in the morning you will have less time to worry about it.
3. Don’t tell your friends the test date. If everyone knows you are going for the test, you create the additional stress of trying to live up to your friends expectations. It's OK to let your Mum and Dad know, we are sure they will give you all the support you need.
4. Don’t listen to ‘horror stories’. There are many stories about failed tests. Some may even be true. Just concentrate on your performance.
5. Get the timing right. Take the test at the right time. Try to book the test so it does not coincide with other stressful events (just prior to school exams or in the middle of wedding preparations etc).
6. Go to the right test centre. No good going to a test centre were your friends have all failed. This will only lose you confidence. Go to the centre were they all pass!
7. In your last two lessons. Ask your instructor to concentrate on the manoeuvres you find most difficult.
8. Do a practice run. We use the term ‘Mock Test’. The instructor should be very realistic and the student must take it reasonably serious.
9.Practice in your head It's been proven that you can improve your ability to perform coordinated tasks by imagining doing them.
10. Examiners are only human. Your test is one of possibly eight on the examiners sheet that day. Don’t try to please him/her.
11.You do not need to be perfect. Concentrate on the essentials. If you make a mistake, keep calm and concentrate on your driving. The mistake may not result in failure.
12. Don’t worry about silence in the car. It can be daunting sitting beside a stranger, who seems to just grunt: 'turn right, turn left'. Avoid thinking the examiner doesn’t like you. If there is a little chit-chat, be happy, but don’t expect it.
13. You will pass. Both instructor and pupil must be convinced that the result will be a pass. An attitude ‘lets have a go at it’ may produce a pass, but is exhausting on the nerves.
14. Don’t take pills to calm your nerves. This only slows your reaction and performance.
15. Get a good night's sleep before the test.
The key to avoiding stress whilst you’re on the road is to plan ahead. Even if you don’t end up sticking to the original plan, it is well worth planning a route to take across the country, planning roughly how much you can spend each day and planning activities that you can stop and do along the way.
During the summer, we all need water to stay active and prevent dehydration. Your car isn’t any different, without maintaining fluid levels in your car you may find that it decides to breakdown on you in the middle of nowhere.
Before heading off on a long adventure you should take a few moments to check the 
Preparing a range of car games that the children can play may delay or at best, prevent the dreaded question asked by every child on a car journey, ‘Are we nearly there yet?’.
This is an essential tip for long car journeys, as no matter how old or new your car is, it could breakdown at any time. Your emergency kit should consist of a breakdown triangle, a blanket, a torch, high visibility jackets (legal requirement in France), a mobile phone, a map, and most importantly breakdown cover details.
When you pack the car in a rush you have a tendency to miss things, and to forget where everything is in the car. Take a bit of time, and put things in the glove box that you will need on the journey. Make sure you can easily reach things like CD’s, tissues, snacks, map, pillows and warm clothes. Everything else should be packed in the order you will need them.
Who says that your holiday has to start when you reach your destination. Why not start it on your journey and stop for a picnic along the way? Take a few snacks, sandwiches, crisps, drinks and fruit and find a nice spot to stop and have a picnic. Assuming the weather is nice there are many beautiful places in the UK to stop and stretch your legs.
Rather than just traveling along the boring motorways, why not plan a scenic route for your journey? Advantages of taking a scenic route to your destination include, avoiding long holiday tailbacks, stopping to stretch your legs more often, and by far the biggest advantage is discovering quaint little villages and beautiful scenery along the way.
If you plan your fuel stops in advance you can save up to £40 when refuelling on your summer journey this year. Why not take a little time to find out where the 
Our final piece of advice is to make sure that you have travel sickness remedies with you. There is nothing worse than having poorly children in the back of the car, as it will only make your journey 10 times harder. As well as over the counter anti sickness tablets you can use other methods to keep travel sickness at bay. You can use acupressure bracelets which have a small plastic button on the inside which put gentle pressure on acupuncture points. One final remedy would be to try ginger snap biscuits, as ginger can be a natural remedy to nausea.
