Check Test Success: A practical guide to improving your ADI Check Test performance: Revised for 2011

Check Test Success: Foreword
I have been a practising ADI for over thirty-six years, during that time I have been responsible directly or indirectly for training hundreds of ADIs and over thirty-five thousand learner drivers, covering all licence groups. The first year that check test grades were introduced, I achieved what I can only describe as a disappointing five.

Being a perfectionist, I set about improving my teaching ability and strive to maintain my grade six which I have achieved on every check test since.
In those early days there was very little material about what the Check Test contained. There was no complete guide to the test although several authors had made an attempt at it. Then I came across Check Test Success by Lynne Barrie.

Part of my build up to each check test is to seek out the best reading material. In my opinion, Lynne’s book is the very best complete guide to the check test that I have ever read.

It is laid out and written in a very modern, unique and articulate way, it’s simple to understand and follow and has been written by an author that has researched and knows her subject well. Not only is this book an excellent guide, it is an extremely good teaching and coaching aid. It will not only benefit the ADI, but their pupils as well.

This is a book that every self-respecting ADI who is out to improve their teaching methods or seeking a grade 6 should not be without. I thoroughly recommend it without hesitation.

Neil Peek, Fellow of the Institute of Master Tutors of Driving and President of the Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council

Check Test Success: Review by Mac McDade
Atlantis, The Dropa Stones, Angel Hair, UFOs, the ADI Check Test; the world's great mysteries. What is it with ADIs and the check test? We all took and passed the Part 3 test to qualify as ADIs. Within a year of passing your Part 3 test you should be invited along for your first check test. Like the Part 3, your performance on the check test is judged on the same outcome - 'Learning must be seen to have taken place by the end of the lesson'. But, this time it is with a real pupil, your pupil, someone you have chosen, someone you have got to know. It should be just like a 'normal lesson', and at the end of a 'normal lesson' learning has taken place...hasn't it? So, why do so many ADIs still feel that the check test is like stepping into the 'twilight zone'?

Is it that whole 'test situation' that gets you; the fear you may have 'let it slip' and no longer instruct to the format learnt for the Part 3 test? Is that even important? Or, is it that you haven't given it a moments thought since qualifying and realise you haven't sought to maintain, never mind improve, your skills? Whatever the reason, the check test, for most, seems to come like a bolt from the blue and is as welcome as an unexpected letter from the tax man. It should however be viewed as a positive thing. Whether a wake-up call or an opportunity for self-reflection, the check test is an essential requirement in maintaining the professional status of driving instructors.

Check Test Success is a jargon free, concise guide to the check test which also gives you the tools to assess your own instructional technique and pointers on how to improve on your weaknesses. It starts off with a clear and full appraisal of the check test, what it is, how and by whom it is conducted and what is expected of you. It provides tips on choosing a suitable pupil and what happens if you don’t have one and have to have a role-play check test. The question of 'which topic to teach' is covered in detail and Lynne gives her own rating, from ‘unsuitable’ to ‘an excellent choice’, of 19 key lesson subjects. There are extremely useful notes on what points should be considered when teaching each of these subject areas.

Lynne reveals how the DSA's performance assessment works, with the criteria being that which is used for the Part 3 exam. The main emphasis is again on the Core Competencies: Fault Identification; Fault Analysis and Remedial Action. These areas and those of Instructional Technique, which are also assessed, are fully explained. As in Lynne’s ‘Pass Part 3’ book there is a useful Fault Identification Chart, which provides you with exactly what to say when particular faults arise, along with some valuable pointers and examples for using Q & A.

There is a section on building confidence which includes advice on how to use the tone of your voice as a tool; a valuable addition to the book. Something which may seem obvious to some, but to many, even from my own experience, is not realised. Preparation and conduct on the day, including: positive attitude, appearance of yourself and your car, meeting the examiner, planning your lesson and timings are all covered well. There is a detailed run through of each of the grades, 1-6 and E (Educational), from which a lot of what is expected of you can be read.

In the final chapter, before concluding, Lynne covers the Fleet Check Test. This section has been updated and improved, providing a more thorough insight into what is sometimes called 'the test of continued ability to give instructional coaching'. Lesson structure, performance assessment and coaching skills are all covered without losing focus on the subject. I found this part particularly interesting, especially the mnemonic GROW, which stands for Goals, Reality, Options and Will. I thought about how this process was applied here and how it can be applied in other areas, not just driver training. To polish off this section there is an interesting comparison of traditional instruction and coaching phrases, as used by a Fleet Trainer.

Summary
Check Test Success was first published in 2007. At that time, in my humble opinion, it was the most comprehensive guide to the check test money could buy. I have to say, it still is. There are many books that deal with the subject of the check test, but none that offer as much constructive guidance as this one. Lynne Barrie not only has knowledge and qualifications, but also many valuable years of experience and a complete understanding of the standards sought by the DSA. Besides looking introspectively at her own instruction, this knowledge and understanding seems to have given her an intuitive sense of the obstacles confronting an ADI called-up for a check test. Where this book triumphs, is in the basic, common sense approach to overcoming these obstacles. This is no miracle cure; as the saying goes, ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink it.’ You have to take the advice and work at it. If you are dreading the impending check test invitation, or are looking to ‘up’ your grade, then I would unreservedly recommend this book.

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