You get one "tell me" question before you drive and one "show me" question while you are driving. They come from a published list of 21, which means there is nothing to guess. Getting one wrong is a single driving fault, not a fail.
The safety questions are the one part of the practical test with no uncertainty in it at all. The DVSA publishes every question it can ask, there are 21 of them, and you will be asked exactly two. Half an hour with the list and your own car is genuinely enough.
They are also the part that carries the least weight. Get both wrong and you collect one driving fault. That is it. People arrive at the test having memorised all 21 word for word and having never practised a hill start, which is the wrong way round.
How They Are Asked
The DVSA's format is fixed. You get one "tell me" question at the start of the test, before you start driving, and one "show me" question while you are driving.
- The tell me question is answered in the car park with the car stationary. You explain how you would do something. You do not have to do it, except for the three that begin "open the bonnet".
- The show me question is asked once you are on the road, and you operate the control while continuing to drive. The examiner will not ask it at a moment when doing so would be unsafe, and every one of them is phrased "when it's safe to do so".
That second point matters more than the answer does. If you are being asked to demist the front windscreen while approaching a junction, deal with the junction first and the demister after. Looking down at the dashboard at the wrong moment turns a question worth one driving fault into a missed observation worth rather more.
The 14 "Tell Me" Questions
Asked before you drive, in the order the DVSA publishes them.
| Question | A workable answer |
|---|---|
| Tell me how you'd check that the brakes are working before starting a journey. | They should not feel spongy or slack, and the car should not pull to one side when I test them as I move off at low speed. |
| Tell me where you'd find the information for the recommended tyre pressures for this car and how tyre pressures should be checked. | In the manufacturer's handbook, or on a plate inside the driver's door or the fuel filler flap. Check with a reliable gauge when the tyres are cold, including the spare if there is one, and refit the valve caps. |
| Tell me how you make sure your head restraint is correctly adjusted so it provides the best protection in the event of a crash. | The rigid part should be at least as high as my eyes or the top of my ears, and as close to the back of my head as is comfortable. |
| Tell me how you'd check the tyres to ensure that they have sufficient tread depth and that their general condition is safe to use on the road. | No cuts or bulges, and at least 1.6mm of tread across the central three quarters of the tyre and around its entire circumference. |
| Tell me how you'd check that the headlights and tail lights are working. | Turn the ignition on if needed, operate the light switch, then walk round the car and check them. |
| Tell me how you'd know if there was a problem with your anti-lock braking system. | A warning light on the dashboard would stay lit if there was a fault with the ABS. |
| Tell me how you'd check the direction indicators are working. | Operate the indicators or the hazard warning switch and walk round the car to check all of them flash. |
| Tell me how you'd check the brake lights are working on this car. | Press the brake pedal and look for the reflection in a window, a wall or a garage door behind me, or ask someone to check for me. |
| Tell me how you'd check the power-assisted steering is working before starting a journey. | With gentle pressure held on the wheel as I start the engine, the wheel should move slightly as the system takes over. Or the steering will feel light as soon as I move off. |
| Tell me how you'd switch on the rear fog light(s) and explain when you'd use it/them. | Turn on the ignition and dipped headlights, operate the fog light switch, and check the warning light comes on. Use them only when visibility is seriously reduced, and switch them off when it improves. |
| Tell me how you switch your headlight from dipped to main beam and explain how you'd know the main beam is on. | With the ignition and dipped headlights on, push or pull the stalk to main beam. A blue warning light on the dashboard shows it is on. |
| Open the bonnet and tell me how you'd check that the engine has sufficient oil. | Find the dipstick, pull it out, wipe it, put it back fully, pull it out again and check the level sits between the minimum and maximum marks. |
| Open the bonnet and tell me how you'd check that the engine has sufficient engine coolant. | Identify the header tank and check the level is between the minimum and maximum markings. Top up with the engine cold, never by opening a hot cap. |
| Open the bonnet and tell me how you'd check that you have a safe level of hydraulic brake fluid. | Identify the brake fluid reservoir and check the level sits between the minimum and maximum markings on it. |
Question wording as published by the DVSA, car show me, tell me vehicle safety questions. The answers are ours, written to be short enough to say out loud.
Three of the fourteen ask you to open the bonnet. If you cannot find the bonnet release on the car you are testing in, find it before test day. It is the only part of this that is hardware rather than memory.
The 7 "Show Me" Questions
Asked while you are driving. All seven begin "when it's safe to do so", which is the examiner telling you that the timing is yours.
| Question | What to do |
|---|---|
| Show me how you wash and clean the rear windscreen. | Operate the rear washer and wiper control on the wiper stalk. |
| Show me how you wash and clean the front windscreen. | Pull or push the wiper stalk to run the washer and wipers together. |
| Show me how you'd switch on your dipped headlights. | Turn the light switch to the dipped headlight position. |
| Show me how you'd set the rear demister. | Press the heated rear window button and check its indicator light comes on. |
| Show me how you'd operate the horn. | Press the centre of the steering wheel, or the horn control where it sits on this car. |
| Show me how you'd demist the front windscreen. | Set the fan, temperature and air direction to the windscreen, and use the heated front screen or air conditioning if the car has it. |
| Show me how you'd open and close the side window. | Operate the window switch on the driver's door. |
Question wording as published by the DVSA at gov.uk.
Six of the seven are one button. The demisting one is the only one that takes a sequence, and it is the one worth rehearsing in the actual car you will test in, because the layout differs between models more than any of the others.
What Getting One Wrong Costs
One driving fault, in total, regardless of whether you get one wrong or both. It is recorded under vehicle checks and it counts towards the limit of 15 like any other minor. It cannot fail you on its own.
The only way these questions end a test is indirectly: by taking your attention off the road at the wrong moment during the show me. If you are approaching a roundabout and the examiner asks you to set the rear demister, the roundabout comes first. Nobody has ever been marked down for doing the show me twenty seconds later than they could have.
How the fault limit works, and why 15 is a larger allowance than it sounds, is set out in how many minors you are allowed.
Learn Them In The Car You Will Test In
Reading the list is not the same as knowing where things are. The tyre pressure plate is inside the driver's door on some cars and inside the fuel flap on others.
The bonnet release is under the dash on the right on most cars and in the footwell on some. The rear fog light is a separate switch on some and a further click of the main light dial on others.
Answer the questions once each, out loud, sitting in the car you will actually take the test in. That is a ten-minute job and it turns fourteen memorised paragraphs into four things you can point at.
They Are The Same For Automatics
There is no separate list for automatic cars and none of the 21 questions touches the gearbox. Nothing in this part of the test changes whether you learned in an automatic or a manual, which is worth saying because the safety questions are the part learners most often assume must differ.
Where They Sit In The Test
The tell me question happens after the eyesight check and before you get moving, which makes it the first thing you are marked on. That is worth knowing for a reason that has nothing to do with vehicle maintenance: answering something confidently in the first ninety seconds settles a lot of people down.
The rest of the test is where the result is actually decided. The three fault grades and how a mistake gets escalated are covered in what the examiner is actually marking, and if it does not go your way, what happens if you fail explains the ten working day wait and how to read the sheet. The whole process from provisional licence onwards is in the guide to learning to drive in East London.
A mock test starts the way the real one does, with the eyesight check and a tell me question, which is the cheapest way to find out whether you actually know the answers out loud.
Book a mock testQuestions about the safety questions
How many show me tell me questions are asked on the driving test?
Two. One "tell me" question before you start driving and one "show me" question while you are driving. They are drawn from a published list of 14 tell me and 7 show me questions.
Do you fail for getting a show me tell me question wrong?
No. Getting one or both wrong is recorded as a single driving fault under vehicle checks. It counts towards the limit of 15 driving faults and cannot fail you on its own.
Are the show me tell me questions different for an automatic car?
No. The published list of 21 is the same for automatic and manual cars, and none of the questions is about the gearbox or the clutch.
What if I cannot open the bonnet?
Three of the tell me questions start by asking you to open the bonnet, so find the release on your test car in advance. If you cannot open it on the day the examiner will mark it as a driving fault and move on, but it is an avoidable one.
Can the examiner ask a question that is not on the list?
No. The DVSA publishes the full set and examiners work from it. There are 21 questions and you will be asked two of them.
Knowing the answers on paper and saying them to a stranger holding a clipboard are different skills. A mock test at £50 is where the gap shows up.
Book a mock testMore in The practical test
Published 1 September 2026. Prices and DVSA figures are checked when this page is revised. If anything here has changed, ring us and we will confirm it.