Automatic v manual pass rates
Discussion
Driving my auto hybrid my thoughts wandered to how easy it was to drive and how much easier it would be to pass a driving test.
No clutch, gears, hill start and no risk of stalling. Just keep your hands on the steering wheel and look around you.
I knew there was a difference in pass rates but honestly I thought it was in favour of automatic but it’s substantially the other way.
Seemingly the difference is because drivers are taking the auto test earlier in their driving experience and before they are really ready. Surely driving instructors are aware of this? The figures speak for themselves. Unless they are taking the test independently.
"According to the latest gov.uk driving test and theory test data, the 2023/24 UK automatic pass rate was 42.8%, whilst the 2024/25 manual pass rate was 48.5%" - from https://www.billplant.co.uk/blog/benefits-of-learn...
That website gives the source as https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-set... but I couldn't immediately see which spreadsheet the figures come from there.
I have a feeling the gap in pass rates has narrowed in recent years, but it's hard to find figures.
I suspect part of the reason is less confident/competent candidates going for the auto test, but as automatics become more mainstream, this factor is reducing.
It'll be interesting to see what happens in a few years' time, when the supply of new/recent manual cars for instructors dries up.
That website gives the source as https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-set... but I couldn't immediately see which spreadsheet the figures come from there.
I have a feeling the gap in pass rates has narrowed in recent years, but it's hard to find figures.
I suspect part of the reason is less confident/competent candidates going for the auto test, but as automatics become more mainstream, this factor is reducing.
It'll be interesting to see what happens in a few years' time, when the supply of new/recent manual cars for instructors dries up.
Drawweight said:
Driving my auto hybrid my thoughts wandered to how easy it was to drive and how much easier it would be to pass a driving test.
No clutch, gears, hill start and no risk of stalling. Just keep your hands on the steering wheel and look around you.
I have driven a manual for over 30 years with an occasional go in an Auto. I borrowed an auto full hybrid a few months ago, and as you say it is the easiest car I have ever driven and I want one now.No clutch, gears, hill start and no risk of stalling. Just keep your hands on the steering wheel and look around you.
My daughter is having driving lessons in a manual and to be honest is struggling to the point where she is losing interest. I suggested trying automatic lessons, but her mother is not keen on the idea due to the cost of small automatic cars and wants her to persevere.
My youngest is 17 in 3 months, lots of her friends are learning in an automatic and I get the impression she wants to do the same. I actually agree with her as I think the writing is on the wall for the manual gearbox and it will be virtually extinct on new cars in five years. All of the youngsters in my road drive Autos, and when they have friends over their cars are all automatic too.
My parents who are old school don't believe this and think everyone should drive a manual. I will add my dad still believes you cannot take your test in a car with an automatic handbrake or hill assist.
Am I right, should I just get them to learn in an automatic as having a manual in future is going to be pointless. I really cannot see either of them wanting a manual car at any point in their lives.
When I passed my test in the early 90s you only learnt in an automatic if you were a hopeless driver and could not get gears. I feel the number of auto tests is going to increase every year from now on.
My partner is Australian and she has an auto licence, manual cars are pretty much extinct there.
Presumably there's also an element of people who are really rubbish drivers are only going to bother trying for an automatic test.
I did my first driving test with 32 forward and 32 reverse gears, my second with 5 forward and 1 reverse, and my third with 5 forward and no reverse
I've just bought my first ever auto, manuals are more fun on the twisties but a hybrid auto is so much better on a congested motorway.
I did my first driving test with 32 forward and 32 reverse gears, my second with 5 forward and 1 reverse, and my third with 5 forward and no reverse
I've just bought my first ever auto, manuals are more fun on the twisties but a hybrid auto is so much better on a congested motorway.
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 2nd October 08:50
This makes interesting reading.and most of the faults seem to be transmission agnostic which might just point to people taking their tests in autos having less wheel time/experience or they are just naturally worse drivers who are doing auto because they struggled with manual.
It will be interesting to see how that changes over the next few years!
Chris
It will be interesting to see how that changes over the next few years!
Chris
My daughter started learning in a manual which then highlighted that she has some dyspraxia and could not cope with the co-ordination required with the foot/ hand control of the clutch and gears.
So I suggested learning in an auto, imo, there's no real disadvantage to it these days, apart from maybe the increased cost of the car. But overall, I thought that the increased cost of more lessons, and the possibility that she'd be put into a situation by her dyspraxia that could result in a collision, that the cost of an auto car would be worth it.
She didn't want to at first, but I took her to a quiet place and let her drive my auto and she immediately changed her mind to give it a go.
So I sold her car and bought an auto, rather she bought an auto.
She was a totally different driver, far more confident and competent. And she passed her test with 1 minor fault. Well worth it for her as I think she would have eventually given up or needed far more time and goes to pass.
So I suggested learning in an auto, imo, there's no real disadvantage to it these days, apart from maybe the increased cost of the car. But overall, I thought that the increased cost of more lessons, and the possibility that she'd be put into a situation by her dyspraxia that could result in a collision, that the cost of an auto car would be worth it.
She didn't want to at first, but I took her to a quiet place and let her drive my auto and she immediately changed her mind to give it a go.
So I sold her car and bought an auto, rather she bought an auto.
She was a totally different driver, far more confident and competent. And she passed her test with 1 minor fault. Well worth it for her as I think she would have eventually given up or needed far more time and goes to pass.
I had a girlfriend who took and passed her test at 54 years old. But auto only.
It was a right pain, as on trips in the UK we couldn't share the driving as my car was a manual, and rentals in Europe were all manuals unless you spent more than double the cost, so once more I did all the driving
Van rentals tend to still be manuals and the amount of times in work where I've had to use a company van or car, that happens to be manual, is plenty.
My two eldest have no interest in driving but my 19 year old boy wants to learn and without me advising him to, he's chosen manual.
My latest car is an auto hybrid and yes, it's so easy to drive that I nearly fall asleep, I feel that a part of me has died
Previous car was a DSG Alpine which in comparison still was a driver's car that you could use the shifters in manual mode and still listen to/feel the engine whilst making progress, with the advantage of switching to full auto once I was back in London.
Until we go like the US and a licence allows one to drive either, even if you took the test in an auto, I think that one should try to learn manual.
I remember being on Mustang forums whilst waiting for my manual V8 to cross the Atlantic, reading every US post about this new 6 generation car.
There were always a few posts that said.....
Hi guys, picking up my new stick shift Mustang next week, can anyone tell me how to drive it
It was a right pain, as on trips in the UK we couldn't share the driving as my car was a manual, and rentals in Europe were all manuals unless you spent more than double the cost, so once more I did all the driving
Van rentals tend to still be manuals and the amount of times in work where I've had to use a company van or car, that happens to be manual, is plenty.
My two eldest have no interest in driving but my 19 year old boy wants to learn and without me advising him to, he's chosen manual.
My latest car is an auto hybrid and yes, it's so easy to drive that I nearly fall asleep, I feel that a part of me has died
Previous car was a DSG Alpine which in comparison still was a driver's car that you could use the shifters in manual mode and still listen to/feel the engine whilst making progress, with the advantage of switching to full auto once I was back in London.
Until we go like the US and a licence allows one to drive either, even if you took the test in an auto, I think that one should try to learn manual.
I remember being on Mustang forums whilst waiting for my manual V8 to cross the Atlantic, reading every US post about this new 6 generation car.
There were always a few posts that said.....
Hi guys, picking up my new stick shift Mustang next week, can anyone tell me how to drive it
I still think that only people with a medical reason should be able to take the auto only test. If someone is unable to comprehend using a clutch a gearstick and driving at the same time what hope is there for them coping with driving in anything but perfect conditions. Its a skill that needs to be learnt even if you never drive a manual again.
I have a full manual licence but I can see why people are doing Auto only tests now as Manual cars are becoming a rarer thing on the roads. Our fleet of vehicles at work now has gone from being only Manual to only Auto with one exception of an old van which no one wants to use for reasons other than it's gearbox.
Even our Transit vans over the last 4 years have become Autos. I do enjoy a manual occasionally, my track car is a manual but for 99% of the time a good auto, even in a sports car with a paddle shift is much better.
Even our Transit vans over the last 4 years have become Autos. I do enjoy a manual occasionally, my track car is a manual but for 99% of the time a good auto, even in a sports car with a paddle shift is much better.
Granadier said:
RizzoTheRat said:
I did my first driving test with 32 forward and 32 reverse gears
Intriguing! What sort of vehicle was that? Dunno how it worked mechanically, but it operates as 4 separate gearboxes. 1-4 on a conventional looking gear stick, knock it across to switch between a high and low ratio, giving 8 gears. Second stick with high and low forward and high and low reverse giving 16 each way, and a tortoise/hare button for another ratio giving you 32 each way. All with a top speed of about 25 mph. Driving a 5 speed manual Escort at 17 was a piece of piss in comparison It's a bit weird you can do your test at 16, but can't drive on the road on L plates until you're 17, so the first time you're allowed on the road is on the way to the test! However the examiner comes out to you so the test involved repeatedly driving through the village, turning round, and driving back, with the examiner occasionally flagging me down to ask some questions. Pretty simple though as anyone who's doing a tractor test at 16 will have been driving them off road since they could reach the pedals.
I've got 3 mates who all tried doing manual lessons and couldn't do it at all, now all 3 have passed autos.
There was a big debate on local FB the other week about driving standards, I pointed out that most people drive autos these days so have more time to check their phone while driving etc, but I got shot down for that, some lady even tried telling me that driving an auto was harder than manual.
I've had a DSG and PDK car, both gearboxes were tuned, but have gone back to a proper manual since.
There was a big debate on local FB the other week about driving standards, I pointed out that most people drive autos these days so have more time to check their phone while driving etc, but I got shot down for that, some lady even tried telling me that driving an auto was harder than manual.
I've had a DSG and PDK car, both gearboxes were tuned, but have gone back to a proper manual since.
Read about something similar on the bbc a few weeks back.
End of the road for manual drivers? - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c80gk97xe85o
End of the road for manual drivers? - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c80gk97xe85o
Edited by NWMark on Thursday 2nd October 10:42
I imagine the discrepancy is because the majority of driving instructors have had manual cars in which to learn.
That seems to be slowly changing as I have seen DSG and EV cars.
Personally, I would want manual to maintain the skill requirement. As noted, anyone can steer a car and push a brake.
That seems to be slowly changing as I have seen DSG and EV cars.
Personally, I would want manual to maintain the skill requirement. As noted, anyone can steer a car and push a brake.
As above I suspect it will be a combination of:
1) Some people choose automatic tests because they struggle with driving in general. This is an ever shrinking minority though as manuals become less and less dominant in the used small car market.
2) Learning to drive in a manual essentially puts a minimum limit on how much practice you have to have before you take the test, because changing gears is arguably the most mechanically complex bit of driving; thus there will be fewer people trying to pass their test in a manual after only a handful of lessons.
I can't see the licence distinction lasting more than about 15 years or so. The UK isn't the only country to do it, but it's definitely in a minority.
1) Some people choose automatic tests because they struggle with driving in general. This is an ever shrinking minority though as manuals become less and less dominant in the used small car market.
2) Learning to drive in a manual essentially puts a minimum limit on how much practice you have to have before you take the test, because changing gears is arguably the most mechanically complex bit of driving; thus there will be fewer people trying to pass their test in a manual after only a handful of lessons.
I can't see the licence distinction lasting more than about 15 years or so. The UK isn't the only country to do it, but it's definitely in a minority.
LuS1fer said:
Personally, I would want manual to maintain the skill requirement. As noted, anyone can steer a car and push a brake.
But you are forgetting that for a lot of people a car is to get from A to B and they have zero interest other than that. As I said earlier, my partner is Australian and has an automatic licence, she could not explain to you what gears or engine revs are, she couldn't care less. She has no idea why anybody would want to drive a manual as it is more difficult, more effort and just not worth it.In Australia the manual gearbox on new cars is virtually extinct, nobody I know over there would even consider driving a manual. Do you think people should still know about Chokes and Carburettors when no car has been fitted with one for 25 years?
If you come from a wealthy family then the chances are you are never going to encounter a manual car, so why bother learning in one? The majority of prestige cars are automatic which is what people want, very few people buy a manual Mercedes or BMW unless it is entry level.
Also what percentage of people out there on the roads do you think are highly skilled? I would say most people are average drivers with little interest in cars, why would they be bothered about driving a manual?
I personally think I am a better driver in an automatic, and a smoother driver overall. Driving a hybrid with regenrative braking has been a revelation.
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