Driving Test Success – Theory Test for Car Drivers

Taking the driving theory test currently costs £31 so it makes sense to be as prepared as possible.

Since most young drivers are used to looking at PC screens as much as at books, Driving Test Success: Theory Test for Car Drivers sounds like just the job.

It's divided into three sections – theory, practice and mock exam– and includes all the official questions in the compulsory car theory test for Great Britain and Northern Ireland (make sure you select the right country when the program starts). Other programs are available for other types of vehicle.

It also takes into account whether the candidate has a pre-driver qualification (which can give partial credit towards the theory exam). If so it reduces the standard number of questions from 50 to 35.

Many of the questions are screamingly easy to answer (one answer to "What should you not do at the scene of a collision?" is "Offer someone a cigarette to calm them down") while others – should you give way to pedestrians who are already crossing a minor road when you're trying to turn into it from a major road? – can still fox even experienced drivers.

Most people will use the standard practice sessions that take their questions from the entire test. Alternatively, you can focus on a particular category – for example, accidents, motorway rules or road signs – or create a custom session that allows you to define the degree of difficulty (from easy to hard) or retake those questions you're consistently getting wrong.

It's this ability to store the results of exams and practice runs and then use them to define the scope of further sessions that makes the program more effective than using a simple revision book.

On the other hand the program looked and felt primitive, and its design neither encouraged nor rewarded good results. Exams finish without any fanfare and the whole interface could do with a lick of electronic paint.

Still, it does the job and given the choice between this and a book, we'd choose Driving Test Success every time.