How to pass your practical and theory driving tests with apps

This app enables you to take a timed mock test, with 57 minutes to answer a whole raft of questions, or a more freeform test. The freebie version offers up just a small selection of the official question set, with the full-whack edition costing £1.99.

As well as the theory test quiz bits, there are also questions designed to help you out with the practical test. These tend to be more about things you need to bear in mind when you're out on the road, to do with hazard perception and those particularly awkward moments that only seem to crop up when you're behind the wheel with an examiner sitting beside you.

Virtual Learn-Manoeuvres

Virtual Learn Manoeuvres

£1.79 | Android

Most driving apps are about schooling you up for the theory test, but Virtual Learn-Manoeuvres is all about the hands-on-the-wheel stuff: teaching you where you need to move, look and so on when performing on the road.

We're talking parallel parking, three-point turns, the lot. These are the bits you really need to nail if you want to avoid the time and expense of having to retake your practical test.

Each manoeuvre comes with videos showing the process from inside the car, outside the car and other angles, so you can really get your head around the practicalities of it.

There's just the initial £1.79 payment to worry about, and the videos are loaded onto your device as required, rather than eating up all your phone storage in one go.

UK Driving Tests

UK Driving Tests

Free | Android

Most driving test apps out there lure you in with a fistful of questions in their free version, hoping to get you to splash out a few pounds for the real deal. However, UK Driving Tests gives you 1,200 questions, gratis, making it one for those who are allergic to spending money on mobile apps.

Not surprisingly, UK Driving Tests is much less glossy than most of the premium apps, and is packed with ads. It offers a mock test to give you the experience of a real theory examination, and is undoubtedly helpful when it comes to testing time. Spend enough time with it and you should be ready to roll.

Drive Coach

Drive Coach

Free | iOS and Android

And now for something completely different. Drive Coach is an app that actually monitors your driving, using the GPS in your phone to track your car's movements.

It'll then score your breaking, acceleration and turns, each with a rating out of 100. Confident, properly timed braking and turning are often what separate a good driver from a test-failing one.

What's in it for the developer? Drive Coach is made by AXA, a provider of car insurance. So if you're worried about a giant insurance broker tracking your every movement, you can give Drive Coach a go without creating a profile.

Andrew Williams

Andrew is a freelance journalist and has been writing and editing for some of the UK's top tech and lifestyle publications including TrustedReviews, Stuff, T3, TechRadar, Lifehacker and others.