Turning the car to face the other way in a street too narrow for a U-turn. It is the manoeuvre most learners are taught first and the one most drivers keep using for the rest of their lives — even though, as of December 2017, the examiner can no longer ask you to perform it on the practical test.
Is it still on the test? No. On 4 December 2017 the DVSA removed turn in the road and reverse around a corner from the practical driving test. The manoeuvres the examiner can ask for now are parallel parking, reverse bay parking, forward bay parking, and pulling up on the right then reversing about two car lengths before rejoining traffic.
It is still part of the wider driving syllabus, your instructor will still teach it, and you can still be marked on the underlying skills — control, observation, and not mounting the kerb — if you end up doing one during the drive. So learn it properly; just don't spend test-prep time rehearsing it at the expense of the four manoeuvres that are assessed.
Clutch to the biting point, handbrake off, and move at walking pace while winding on full right lock quickly. Slow car, fast hands — the car should barely be moving while the wheel is spinning.
Where to stop: as the nearside front corner comes within about a metre of the opposite kerb. Just before you stop, wind a turn of lock back off. That single habit saves you a second and a half at the start of the reverse, and it is the difference between a tidy three-point turn and a scrappy five-point one.
Select reverse. Look again, all round — this is where most faults are collected, because the road behind you has had ten seconds to change. Then reverse slowly with full left lock.
Where to stop: about a metre short of the kerb you started from, judged through the rear window and the nearside mirror. Again, take some lock off before you stop.
First gear, one more look both ways, then move off and straighten up into your new side of the road. Signal only if there is someone to signal to.
The simulator covers reverse bay parking and parallel parking — two of the four the examiner can ask for — with the scene set to drive on the left, as you will on the day.
Launch 3D Simulator