Passed on first attempt both theory and practical in Lund

As the subject says I passed both the theory and practical tests in Lund on the first attempt. Took the theory test in December and took the practical test today. I’ve driven for more than 20 years, mostly in other countries, and about one year in Sweden so I do have the advantage of experience. I’ll share my process in case it’s helpful to anyone.

I found studying for, and taking the theory test more challenging than the practical. I started by reading the theory book. Halfway through reading I started doing the practice test. I’m quite impatient and was getting bored of just reading. There’s a lot of it! However, because I didn’t finish reading the book, the first time I did the 1000 questions, I got a lot of them wrong. So I alternated between finishing the reading and doing the practice test. When doing the practice test, at the end of each round of questions I made sure to correct the ones I got wrong and try to analyse why? Some questions are tricky so it’s important to really take your time and study the question or the picture/video and try to understand the rule behind the answer. I did the practice test another 2 or 3 times until I was consistently passing above 90%. How many times you do the practice test depends on you but definitely do it several times until you’re comfortably passing with a high score. For me, by the 4th time it wasn’t helping because I started to recognise the questions and answers. I wasn’t doing any thinking anymore.

Then came time for the theory test. I did it in English and it was done at the same time as the ones taking the Swedish test. You sit at a computer and watch a short video intro and then start the test when you’re ready. To make best use of time I suggest going through the whole test and answering the questions you’re very sure of. Don’t spend too long analysing a question if you’re unsure. You can skip questions or mark answers you’re unsure of then come back to it later.

For the practical test, I sat in the waiting room and when it was my time I was approached by the tester. The tester was a friendly guy and I asked if I can do the test in English and he was fine with it. The car was a Volvo XC40. We got in and I adjusted the seat while he checked my ID. Then he explained the test process and what we would be doing. For the safety check he only asked me to check the brakes. I switched the ignition on and stepped on the brake pedal hard a few times and let him know it was good. Then I adjusted my seat a bit more and the side mirrors and we started driving. The route we took from Lund followed the 103 to Lomma, then a short drive in Lomma town. In Lomma we drove into a dead end residential road and I was asked to stop and do a 3 point turn wherever I felt good to do it. Then we took the E6 motorway back towards Lund, and after exiting the motorway we turned into a country road and drove along for a few minutes before he asked me to stop by the side and reverse into a dirt road for 10m and let him know when I was done. Then we headed back to the test centre. Overall I tried not to think of it as a test and told myself to drive as I normally do. I wasn’t 100% relaxed but I tried not to overthink and remember to go a little extra on the mirror checking, signalling, paying attention to road signs and other road users. In the end you’re the one driving so try not to pay attention to what the tester is doing and just focus on yourself and the road.

Good luck!

Thanks for the sharing, very helpful, having my theory and practical test soon...