EU Member States have made commitments in terms of the content and duration of driving tests, as laid down in directives from the European Union and the European Commission. However, there remain considerable differences with regard to the assessment of the candidates’ driving ability. The CIECA workshop was designed to initiate a period of reflection on harmonising the assessment criteria used in the driving test.
The workshop participants were divided into 4 groups (2 English speaking groups, one French speaking group and one German speaking Group). The groups were asked to:
- Explore and evaluate the working practices of countries in assessing driving tests
AND - Reach some basic conclusions on how they would like to see a common standard assessment within the CIECA structure.
The main questions at the event were:
- Does the examiner judge mistakes (weaknesses) or competences (strengths)?
- To decide if a candidate passes or fails, does the examiner follow strict guidelines or make an overall assessment based on personal judgement?
- If a candidate makes a serious mistake, can he/she still pass the test?
- If a candidate makes less than the maximum allowable number of errors, can he/she still fail?
- Are there strict criteria for passing and/or failing?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the national assessment systems?