Tricky roundabouts and junctions on the Sevenoaks driving test

The Sevenoaks driving test is varied: busy mini-roundabouts, narrow residential roads, restricted views, steep hills, sharp turns and the A21. That's a big part of why people who learned elsewhere often find it more demanding than they expected.

Some places deserve particular preparation, because their layout isn't what you'd expect. Knowing about them beforehand means you arrive with more time to look, plan and make a safe decision. These are the places I pay most attention to on lessons, grouped by area. They're all covered in more detail in my narrated test route videos.

Around the test centre and Hollybush

Argyle Road into London Road

Leaving the test centre area can involve the sharp right turn from Argyle Road into London Road. Because it can come right at the start of the test, it's worth practising until it feels familiar. Position carefully, check traffic in both directions, and choose a gap that lets you complete the turn safely. The steering needs to be controlled and accurate, so you end up on the correct side of London Road. Don't feel you have to go just because the test has started. The examiner wants a safe decision, not a quick one.

Coming back the other way, the right turn from London Road into Argyle Road after the Ferrari dealership is a steep hill start. The roads around the Ferrari dealership are also one of the places where it's easy to go the wrong way if you don't know them.

Vine Court Road: stop, then pick your road

The end of Vine Court Road, by Hollybush, is a STOP junction with more than one way to go. Following the sat nav, you need to tell the difference between turning left into Hartslands Road and bearing right into Bayham Road. Listen to the sat nav early, then match the instruction to the road layout. The sat nav gives directions; it doesn't tell you who has priority or whether it's safe to go. Stop completely behind the line, look properly, and know which road you want before you move. If the instruction isn't clear, ask the examiner.

If you do go the wrong way, it generally isn't a problem in itself. The examiners know these spots, and they'll usually just reroute you. What you must never do is correct it with a sudden change of direction or speed. Carry on safely, and let the examiner sort out the route.

Burntwood Road into Ashgrove Road

This left turn is a closed junction with very limited visibility: it's one of the places where I teach pupils to put the window down slightly to listen for oncoming traffic. Approach slowly, look into the new road before committing, and allow for parked cars and anything coming the other way. Ashgrove Road is narrow in places, so 20 mph may well be the right speed, even where the limit is higher.

Seal and Godden Green

Blackhall Lane into Park Lane

Blackhall Lane is a national speed limit road, and the left turn into Park Lane towards Wilderness Golf Club is sharper than it looks. Spot it early and slow down before you start steering. In a manual, choose your gear while you still have time. Arrive late and you'll be trying to brake, change gear and turn all at once. Don't swing out towards the middle of the road to make the turn.

Park Lane onto Seal High Street

Park Lane drops to 20 mph past the duck pond and ends at a STOP line, where you turn left onto Seal High Street with a very restricted view. There's a mirror on the building ahead: use it as extra information, but it doesn't replace your own observations, and it doesn't mean other drivers have seen you. Stop fully, creep forward if you need to see more without getting in the way of approaching traffic, and go only when there's a safe gap.

Seal Road into Seal Hollow Road

Turning left at the traffic lights into Seal Hollow Road, near Trinity School, watch the left-hand light: it has its own green filter arrow. Don't copy the car beside you or react to lights meant for a different lane. A green arrow means you can go in that direction only if the way is clear (opens in a new tab). Keep checking for pedestrians and cyclists as you turn.

Otford and Bat & Ball

The Otford duck pond roundabout

The roundabout around Otford pond works with reverse priority. On most roundabouts you give way to traffic from your right, but here, traffic already going round may have to give way to traffic coming on. The shape of the road encourages the wrong assumption, so read the signs and markings for your approach and work out where you must give way before you start looking for a gap. We drive it from every direction on lessons, so you understand the priority rather than remembering one way through.

The roundabout near Sainsbury's, from Otford

Coming from Otford, the lane you need to go straight ahead at the roundabout near Sainsbury's catches learners out: it's the right-hand lane. Don't assume straight ahead always means the left lane. Read the signs and markings early. If you realise you're in the wrong lane, don't swap lanes suddenly: carry on safely and let the examiner reroute you.

Riverhead and the A21

The Riverhead mini-roundabouts

The two mini-roundabouts in Riverhead are close together, so you may be dealing with traffic, pedestrians, signals and your position while already thinking about the next one. Treat each as a separate decision: a safe gap at the first doesn't mean the second will be clear. Judge other vehicles' speed and path, not just their indicators, and don't follow the car in front without looking for yourself. Learning to spot "blockers", vehicles that will hold up the traffic you'd otherwise give way to, makes a big difference.

Joining the A21 southbound from Chipstead and Riverhead

This is the hardest A21 slip road on the test routes. It's very short, with a sharp left-hand bend and an uphill section, so you need a suitable speed through the bend, then firm acceleration as it opens out. In a manual, choose a responsive gear. Start looking at the traffic on the A21 as soon as you can see it, build your speed to fit safely into the flow, and give way to traffic already on the carriageway. Joining too slowly is dangerous in itself, and can be a serious fault if it affects other traffic.

Leaving the A21 northbound for Chipstead and Riverhead

The exit slip road is short too, so slow down promptly and under control once you're on it. Read the signs early, look well ahead, and don't carry dual carriageway speed into the bend just because you've only just left the A21.

Short slip roads: firm acceleration on, prompt braking off.

South of Sevenoaks

Morleys Roundabout

Morleys Roundabout links Riverhill, Sevenoaks Weald and the A21, and it has a reputation for being challenging. Examiners pay close attention to your positioning here. You may meet it from several directions, so learning one sequence of steering isn't enough: you need to know where you're entering, which exit you want and how to position for it.

Read the signs early, choose your lane in good time and adjust your speed so you can see the traffic already going round. It's one of the few roundabouts where I particularly encourage early vision: look well ahead and see whether a safe chance to go is developing, rather than approaching expecting to stop. Keep updating that decision as you get closer, and once you're on, hold your position and check before you change lanes or leave.

Beechmont Road into Gracious Lane

This sharp right needs early preparation: mirrors, signal, position, and slow down before you turn. Keep watching for oncoming vehicles and anything in the road you're turning into, and don't cut the corner. Leave room for someone coming out of Gracious Lane.

The STOP junctions around Gracious Lane and Weald Road

A very slow roll is not a stop. Bring the car completely to rest behind the line (opens in a new tab), then decide whether it's safe. You don't have to use the handbrake just because it's a STOP junction: what matters is stopping fully, keeping control and looking properly. If your view is still restricted, creep forward carefully after you've stopped.

When you pull out of Gracious Lane onto Hubbards Hill, which is a national speed limit road, accelerate briskly. Pulling out and then accelerating far too slowly can be dangerous in itself, because traffic can come up behind you very quickly.

Brittains Lane into Oak Lane

The end of Brittains Lane is another STOP junction, and turning right onto Oak Lane needs the same deliberate approach. Visibility is so limited that this is another place to put the window down and listen. Spot the sign early, stop at the line, look carefully both ways, and allow plenty of time to complete the right turn. Knowing the junction well shouldn't become a reason to cut your observations short, and the lane you're turning into is very tight (see below).

The narrow and fast country roads

It isn't only junctions. Several Sevenoaks routes use country roads where the challenge is the road itself: narrow sections where you may meet oncoming traffic, and faster roads where you need to make progress. The rule I give my pupils on narrow lanes is simple: drive slowly enough that meeting another vehicle never feels like an emergency stop. Keep well to the left, look as far ahead as you can, and be ready to stop in the distance you can see to be clear.

From Dunton Green to Otford, along Pilgrims Way West

Going through Dunton Green and turning right off London Road, the road that becomes Pilgrims Way West into Otford can be tight in places. Most of the time it's fine, but occasionally you'll meet a larger vehicle where there isn't room for both of you. Slow down early, keep left, and be prepared to stop and let the other driver through.

Sundridge Road

When you turn into Sundridge Road, the challenge is the opposite. It's a fast-flowing country road, though easily wide enough for two-way traffic. Build your speed confidently once you've turned, plan for the bends, and keep up with the flow when it's safe. Driving far below a safe speed here can hold traffic up and cause problems of its own.

Brittains Lane

Brittains Lane isn't strictly a country road, but it's very narrow in places. Watch for the SLOW signs and SLOW markings on the road, because when they say slow, they really mean it. Take them as a warning that what's ahead needs a much lower speed than you might think.

Oak Lane, into Gracious Lane

Turning right from Brittains Lane into Oak Lane, which becomes Gracious Lane, the road is incredibly tight. After the STOP junction, keep your speed down, stay well to the left, and expect to meet oncoming traffic on a bend. If you do, slow right down or stop, and work out with the other driver who has the room to pass.

Park Lane, past Wilderness Golf Club

After the sharp left from Blackhall Lane, Park Lane past Wilderness Golf Club is tight in places too. Keep your speed down, watch well ahead for oncoming vehicles, cyclists and walkers, and be ready to tuck in or stop to let others through.

On narrow lanes, slow enough that meeting someone is never an emergency.

How we prepare

We build up to these places at a pace that suits you. A junction that feels complicated the first time becomes a familiar sequence of looking and deciding once you've driven it a few times, in both directions. Nearer your test, we drive the routes and do mock tests, so very little is new on the day.

Watching a route before you drive it helps too. My narrated videos show the approach to each of these places and what to look for, so you recognise a tricky junction earlier. They're based on my experience of the routes examiners use most; they can't tell you which route you'll get, and signs, traffic and roadworks on the day always come first.

Frequently asked questions

Finally…

None of these places is impossible. They just reward preparation: slowing down early, looking properly, reading the signs and markings, and knowing what's coming. That's how my learners prepare, and it's part of why they had an 87% pass rate in 2026 (53 of 61 tests).