Chris Le Maistre, a senior traffic controller at Driver and Vehicle Standards, said that there had been a slight rise in pass rates from 71.24 per cent in 2016 to 72.92 per cent so far this year.
According to the figures, 1,180 women took the test in 2016 and had a pass rate of 64.9 per cent. The 1,692 men who had the test in the same year had a 75 per cent pass rate.
Figures up until the end of August this year show there has been an increase in passes amongst both sexes, with 67.5 per cent of the 693 women that took the test passing, compared to 76 per cent of the 1,013 men who took their tests.
Mr Le Maistre said there had also been a drop in the number of people taking driving lessons this year, which he attributed to a decline in the birth rate in 2000 meaning there were fewer people turning 17 in the Island this year.
Blair Hickman, from A1 School of Motoring, believes the changed theory test is partly to blame for fewer people taking the practical test – the practical test cannot be taken unless the learner has passed both a multiple-choice exam and a hazard perception test.
Learner drivers were once expected to answer 30 out of 35 multiple choice questions correctly, but now have to get 43 out 50 to secure a pass.
‘If you fail either one [the multiple-choice test or hazard perception exam] you fail them both, and have to take the tests again,’ Mr Hickman said, adding that he had seen people having to resit the new theory test ‘up to four or five times’.
Mr Hickman also said he felt ‘parents’ tighter budgets’ had contributed to the dip, meaning there was more financial pressure on young people to fund the lessons themselves.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in the UK recently announced that changes to the driving test format were being introduced this December which will include asking candidates to demonstrate how to operate the car’s windscreen wipers during the test.
Mr Le Maistre said these questions would not be asked in Jersey, but added that the department was always looking at ways to improve the format of the test for new drivers.
