Many trainers believe that Part Three does not reflect the real world of day-to-day teaching and that the teaching approach adopted during the exam needs to be different. In reality, there is little validity in this argument and, although the exam could be improved, it is totally compatible with 'skills for life' teacher training methods.
For trainers, the problem of holding the belief that Part Three is unrealistic is that it can immediately set up confusion in the minds of their students (and indeed the trainers themselves) and perpetuate another common myth, namely that Part Three is difficult.
Perhaps it's time to decide whether we are preparing our students for an exam, or for real world driving instruction. I believe that we should be doing both; and furthermore, that the same preparation will satisfy both goals!
So, how does day-to-day teaching practice fit in with the exam requirements and what are the differences? Below I consider some of the main problem areas:

• The examiner's constraints
• Briefing strategy
• Route
• Time factor
• Subjects

Examiner Constraints

• Examiners are stuck with a fixed location (their base test centre). Often this location will be on a busy road which is far from ideal for a 'novice pupil'.
• Examiners have to work to a fixed timescale. The time allocated for the examination is more or less set in stone and will rarely vary (occasionally an examiner might run over time if the following session is not booked). This means that they cannot take time to travel to an area where there will be an ideal lesson route.
• Examiners are tied to a set of pre-set tests and must adapt their role-play to fit the criteria of those tests.

The above constraints mean that examiners are limited with regard to the routes and scenarios that they can choose. Despite, or perhaps because of, these limitations the student knows what to expect; this surely works in his/her favour.
Many trainers fail to explain the information highlighted above to their students; those who do often fail to demonstrate just how these factors can work in the student's favour and how the teaching skills needed to deal with the exam situation are the same as those needed to deal with 'real' pupils.
So what's different for the candidate?

Briefing Strategy

One factor that differs slightly between the exam and real teaching is the scope of the lesson briefing.
When an instructor has control of the route, an appropriate briefing can be delivered 'on-site'. For example, if you are giving a lesson on junctions, you can start in a training area that facilitates simple left turns and begin the session with a briefing on left turns (only). When left turns have been mastered you can take a break and give a separate briefing on right turns.
Because of the location of the test centre it's possible that the examiner might be forced to turn right at the first or second junction. The luxury of a 'left turn only' route is probably not available; therefore, the brief will be slightly artificial in that it must cover both left and right turns. However, unlike a real pupil who might struggle to take on and remember all of the relevant information, the examiner will listen carefully and remember whatever is said (although the student might need to jog his/her memory from time-to-time).
Benefits? The student doesn't have to choose the location and the briefing can be a bit 'sloppy' - the purpose of the exam briefing is simply to demonstrate that students have the required 'explanation skills' and that they can establish a rapport with the pupil.
The location problem does not affect all briefings. Briefings for set manoeuvres (the turn-in the road, reversing and emergency stop) can be given at the location of the exercise ­ exactly the same as with a real pupil. The student will simply have to introduce the topic and give an overview of how the lesson will proceed. The benefit here, especially for those who have been on a trainee licence, is that this is just like a normal lesson.
The skills needed to deliver exam briefings are exactly the same as those needed to deliver briefings to 'real' pupils.

Route

The route chosen by the examiner will affect the level of instruction required during the lesson. Given the location of some test centres it would be totally inappropriate to take a beginner onto the surrounding roads. The examiners are aware of this fact and, to a degree, will compensate with their role-play. However, once again the skills required to cope in these situations are exactly the same as those required in everyday teaching.
When the examiner is playing the role of a novice, but the route is a busy road, the student needs to ask him/herself a simple question" "If for some reason I were to find myself on this road with a beginner, how much help would I need to be giving?" The answer to this question will determine the level of instruction. Benefit? The student doesn't have to select a route.
Examiners will generally compensate by ensuring that some aspects of their driving do not present problems. The problems will, on the whole, be related to the subject area. Benefit? The student knows what to watch out for!
The teaching skills in terms of direct instruction are no different with an examiner on a busy road than with a real pupil on a quiet road.

Time Factor

A popular grumble is that each phase of the exam only allows 25 minutes or so to get the message across, whereas in a real driving lesson there is an hour or more. It's important here to recognise that the examination is testing teaching skills rather than allowing practice time.
A competent instructor (and students should be competent when they take Part Three) should be able to break down lessons into manageable chunks. Given the concentration span of most people, a time-slot of 20/25 minutes is ample to introduce a new subject. After that, a real lesson would ideally have an activity change; this could be a variation of the subject, practice of the subject in a different location or moving on to a new subject entirely.
In a 25 minute time slot there is plenty of time to give a briefing, offer a period of guided practice and a further period during which the instructor can transfer some responsibility to the pupil. In role-play the examiner will generally learn quicker than a real pupil (given correct and appropriate instruction); therefore, twenty-five minutes of examination time is probably the equivalent of fifty minutes real lesson time.

Subjects

Given the current examination format, perhaps the area that differs most from day-to-day teaching is the lesson subject/content; this is limited by the pre-set test groupings; the subject groupings have remained unaltered over the years and some seem a little bizarre.
Pedestrian crossings and use of signals; emergency stop and mirror use; meet, cross, overtake, adequate clearance and anticipation (Examiner's choice). Presumably, the reason these topics were grouped is because it was felt there was not enough in any single one of the topics for students to adequately demonstrate their abilities.
Given the change in road and traffic conditions there is really no longer a case for split subjects, at least not in the present format. It could be argued that these subjects are 'too big' for the timescale allowed. Remember though, examiners will compensate to a degree with their role-play and so once again the teaching skills required will be no different from a normal lesson.

Last word

Could the exam be changed to make it more relevant to modern teaching conditions and requirements? Undoubtedly! But we'll save that for another day . . .

You can contact John Farlam by:
email: John@smartdriving.co.uk
and/or get free driving, training and business advice by visiting:
www.smartdriving.co.uk