The hazard perception test: how scoring works and how to pass

The hazard perception test is the video half of the theory test. You watch 14 clips of everyday road scenes, click when you see a hazard starting to develop, and score up to 5 points for each of the 15 hazards. The earlier you click once it has started, the more you score. The pass mark for car drivers is 44 out of 75.

The rest of this guide covers how the scoring window works, why people who can drive perfectly well still fail it, and how to practise. Format and rules come from GOV.UK's hazard perception test page unless stated otherwise. For the multiple-choice part, booking and what to bring, see our complete guide to the theory test.

What the hazard perception test is

It is the second part of the car theory test. You take the multiple-choice questions first, can have a break of up to 3 minutes, then move on to hazard perception. Before the clips start you are shown a DVSA video explaining how it works.

Then you watch 14 clips. Each one shows an everyday road scene and contains at least one developing hazard. One of the 14 contains two.

A developing hazard is something that would make you take action, such as changing speed or direction. GOV.UK gives this example. A car parked at the side of the road, doing nothing, is not a developing hazard: you wouldn't change anything for it. When its right-hand indicator starts flashing and it begins to pull out, it is, because you would need to slow down.

That distinction is what the test marks. Plenty of things on screen are potential hazards: parked cars, pedestrians on the pavement, a side road. You only score for the ones that start to develop into something you'd have to react to.

Two rules catch people out:

• You get one attempt at each clip. You can't rewind, review or change your clicks.
• Clicking continuously, or in a pattern, scores nothing for that clip.

How scoring works: the 5-point window

Each developing hazard has a scoring window. It opens when the hazard starts to develop and closes a few seconds later. Click inside it and you score. Click before it opens or after it closes and that click scores nothing, but it doesn't cost you anything either.

GOV.UK only says you can score up to 5 points per hazard, and that "to get a high score, click the mouse as soon as you see the hazard starting to develop." The scoring sheets for the DVSA CGI clips licensed to Orbit show how the points fall: the window is split into five back-to-back bands. Click in the first band and you get 5 points, then 4, 3, 2 and 1 as the hazard gets closer.

How long is the window? DVSA does not publish window lengths on GOV.UK. What we can tell you is what the scoring sheets say for the 49 DVSA CGI clips licensed to Orbit: across their 51 hazards, the full window runs from about 2.3 seconds at its shortest to about 11.2 seconds at its longest, and 30 of the 51 are under 5 seconds. A single band can be under half a second. So "about a second per point" is a fair rule of thumb for many clips, but some hazards develop fast and give you very little time. Treat any website that quotes one fixed window length for every clip with suspicion.

Why 5 points matters more than you think

There are 75 points available and you need 44. That's an average of a little under 3 points per hazard (44 ÷ 15 is 2.93). Someone who reliably clicks in the middle of every window scores 45 and scrapes through. Miss one hazard completely and they fail.

Now look at it the other way. If you average 4 per hazard you score 60, which leaves room to miss up to four hazards outright and still pass (11 × 4 = 44). Early, confident clicks are your margin of safety.

The pass mark (car, motorcycle, ADI)

The hazard perception part is always marked out of 75: 15 hazards at 5 points each. The pass mark depends on which test you're taking.

Instructors have to average 3.8 points per hazard, which leaves very little room for a slow click. If you're training to be an ADI, our ADI part 1 theory test guide covers the rest of that test.

A few rules apply to all of them:

• You have to pass both parts in the same sitting. Passing the questions and failing hazard perception is a fail.
• If you fail, your result letter tells you which part you didn't score enough on, but you rebook and retake the whole test.
• You must wait at least 3 working days before the retest. The car theory test costs £23 each time you book it.
• A car theory pass certificate lasts 2 years. If you don't pass your practical test in that time, you take the theory test again.

Why people fail: clicking too much, too early or too late

Given how the scoring works, the usual problem is timing rather than eyesight. You can see the hazard and still score nothing for it if you click at the wrong moment, or click in a way the test rejects.

Clicking too much

Because wrong clicks carry no penalty, it's tempting to click every few seconds and hope one lands in the window. The test is built to stop that. Continuous or patterned clicking scores zero for the clip, even if one of your clicks was perfectly timed. One clip zeroed costs you as much as missing a hazard entirely, and on the clip with two hazards it costs you up to 10 points.

Clicking too early

Clicking for a potential hazard that hasn't started to develop yet scores nothing. The parked car example again: click when you first see it and you are early. Click when the indicator comes on and it starts to move and you are at the start of the window, where the 5 points are. If your only click was the early one, you've scored zero on a hazard you saw coming.

Clicking too late

This is the habit of careful drivers. You wait until you're certain it's a hazard, and by then much of the window has gone. In real driving, confirming the threat before reacting is sensible. In this test, the points are front-loaded: the moment the hazard first changes is worth 5 points, a click near the end of the window is worth 1 or 2.

Nerves

Fourteen clips back to back, one attempt each, after you've already sat 50 questions. It's easy to tense up after a clip you think went badly and carry that into the next one. Our guide to staying calm on test day is written for the practical test, but the breathing and reset techniques work as well at the theory test centre.

9 tips to pass the hazard perception test first time

1. Learn what "developing" means and apply it to everything. Every car, cyclist and pedestrian is a potential hazard. You're waiting for the moment one of them changes: an indicator, a wheel turning, a head turning, a door opening, a ball rolling out.
2. Click once when you spot the clue, and again as it develops. Wrong clicks cost nothing. A first click when the first sign appears, and a second as it becomes clear, gives you a good chance of landing in an early band without clicking so often that it looks like a pattern.
3. Keep it to two or three clicks per hazard. That's enough to cover the window. DVSA doesn't publish where continuous clicking starts, so a burst of clicks is a risk you don't need to take.
4. Don't fall into a rhythm. Evenly spaced clicks are the most obvious kind of pattern. Click when something happens on screen, not to a beat.
5. Watch the whole screen, not the middle of the road. Hazards often start at the edges: a side road on the left, a driveway, a pedestrian between parked cars. Scan out to the sides and back.
6. Don't stop after the first hazard. Every clip has at least one developing hazard, and one has two. Keep watching until the clip ends.
7. Forget the last clip. You can't review it, so a bad one is gone. Give the next clip your full attention.
8. Practise on clips that score you, not only on clips you watch. Watching examples teaches you what hazards look like. Getting a score from 0 to 5 for each one, and seeing where your click fell, teaches you timing, which is what the test marks.
9. Spot hazards as a passenger. When someone else is driving, say out loud when you see a hazard start to develop. It trains the same habit for free, and it helps your practical driving too.

How to practise with real CGI clips

The real test has used computer-generated (CGI) clips since 12 January 2015, and since November 2018 the car test has included clips in fog, rain, snow and ice, wind, at night and in low light at dawn and dusk. DVSA says you don't need to have practised on CGI or bad-weather clips to pass, and older practice material is still relevant. What matters is practice that scores your timing. GOV.UK's revision and practice page points to the official options: the Official DVSA Theory Test kit for PC or Mac, which includes hazard perception, and the Official DVSA Hazard Perception app for Apple and Android phones and tablets. Our comparison of theory test apps covers what the paid apps include.

Orbit's theory test app includes 49 DVSA CGI hazard perception clips with Theory Premium, reproduced with DVSA's permission. Here is how they work:

• Scored like the real test. Each hazard is worth up to 5 points, falling by a point a band as the window runs on.
• You're told nothing in advance. Before you submit, the app doesn't reveal the scoring windows or how many hazards a clip has, so you can't game it.
• An anti-cheat rule modelled on the real one. Click too often or in a regular rhythm and the clip scores zero, as it would on the day.
• Feedback after every go. You see each of your clicks plotted against the scoring window, the points it earned and what the hazard was. 10 of the clips also have a replay that shows the answer.

Theory Premium is £2.99 a month on the Orbit website, cancel any time. It also includes the DVSA revision question bank with unlimited practice and full 50-question mock tests. It runs in the browser on any phone, tablet or laptop. A free account gives you 10 practice questions a day, and the free theory practice taster lets you try questions without signing up.

If you have lessons with an instructor who uses Orbit, your theory practice sits in the same pupil account as your lessons and progress. Our learner hub covers finding an instructor and booking lessons. And if you're still at the start of the process, our guide to how many driving lessons you need helps you plan the practical side while you revise.

Hazard perception test FAQ

What is the pass mark for the hazard perception test?

For the car and motorcycle theory tests it is 44 out of 75. For the ADI part 1 test it is 57 out of 75. You must pass both the multiple-choice part and the hazard perception part on the same day to pass the theory test.

How many clips are in the hazard perception test?

There are 14 video clips of everyday road scenes. Each has at least one developing hazard and one has two, so there are 15 hazards worth up to 5 points each.

Do you lose points for clicking at the wrong time?

No. GOV.UK says you do not lose points if you click and get it wrong. But if you click continuously or in a pattern, that clip scores nothing.

Can you go back and watch a clip again?

No. You get one attempt at each clip and you cannot review or change your responses.

What happens if I pass the questions but fail hazard perception?

You fail the theory test. Your result letter tells you which part let you down, but you book and take the whole test again, at least 3 working days later.

Where can I practise hazard perception with real clips?

GOV.UK lists the Official DVSA Theory Test kit and the Official DVSA Hazard Perception app. Orbit Theory Premium includes 49 DVSA CGI clips, scored up to 5 points per hazard, with your clicks shown against the scoring window after each attempt.

Ready to work on your timing? Practise with real hazard clips in the Orbit theory test app.