The short answer
The test drive for class B lasts 55 minutes. Before it you answer one question about vehicle checks. Along the way come manoeuvres such as parking, turning or an emergency stop. The examiner sits in the back, your instructor front right, and you get the result in the car.
Most test nerves come from not knowing what is about to happen. The sequence, though, is largely fixed and nearly the same in every test.
Before you set off
The examiner checks your ID and asks one question about vehicle checks: tyre pressure, oil level, brake fluid, lights. You are not meant to recite it but to show and explain — bonnet up, name the reservoir, read the marking. One or two minutes, and it is not a knock-out criterion.
Who sits where
You drive, your instructor sits front right, the examiner behind. The instructor is not there as a spectator: they may stop the drive if it becomes dangerous, and the instructions come from them too. The examiner says where to go and assesses — nothing else.
The 55 minutes
That is driving time, excluding preparation and debrief. You drive what the day offers: town traffic, country road, and where possible motorway or dual carriageway. In Düsseldorf that usually means the city centre plus a stretch outside it — multi-lane roads, trams and cyclists included.
Manoeuvres
- Reversing round a corner
- Parallel or bay parking, forwards or backwards
- Turning in a confined space
- Emergency stop
- Hill start
Not all of them come up; the examiner chooses. They are all practised anyway, because nobody knows in advance which one it will be. A manoeuvre that goes wrong may usually be attempted once more.
What makes you fail
Not small hesitations but mistakes that endanger somebody: missing a priority, running a red light, clearly too fast, the instructor intervening. Driving too slowly and too cautiously can also end the test if it obstructs traffic — which surprises a lot of people.
Keep driving
One mistake is not a result. Anyone who mentally gives up after a botched parking attempt produces the next three mistakes themselves. The test runs until the examiner ends it — until then, keep driving.
The result
Comes at the end, in the car. Pass and you get the test certificate and may drive immediately — the card licence you collect later from the licensing authority. If you do not pass, the examiner tells you why.