Driving an automatic car: what is different for learners and on the test
The gear selector, one foot for both pedals, creep, hills and the parking brake, kickdown, the faults automatic drivers pick up on the test, and what an automatic-only licence (code 78) lets you drive.
Watch firstThe 4 manoeuvre skills
DVSA's short guide to the four manoeuvre skills the examiner looks for.
From the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on YouTube. Free to watch.
More videos on YouTubeAbout three in ten UK driving tests are now taken in an automatic car, according to the AA's analysis of DVSA figures for 2025/26, and the share keeps rising as more learners learn in electric and hybrid cars. An automatic takes the clutch and the gear lever away. It does not take away the test: the route, the manoeuvres and the marking are the same.
What changes
There is no clutch pedal and you do not choose the gears for each speed. The gearbox does it for you. Electric cars and most hybrids count as automatics for your licence, even though many of them have no gearbox in the usual sense.
What you gain is attention. Without a clutch to manage, the first lessons go on steering, observation and positioning instead of stalling. What you lose, if you pass in one, is the right to drive a manual car (see the last section).
The selector: P, R, N, D
- P (park) locks the gearbox. Use it when you have stopped and are getting out, with the parking brake on as well.
- R (reverse).
- N (neutral) disconnects the drive. You rarely need it while driving.
- D (drive) for going forward.
Many cars add more: B or L for extra engine braking downhill, S for sport, M or paddles behind the wheel to hold a gear. Your car's handbook says what each one does.
Most modern automatics will not leave P unless your foot is on the brake. Always change between D and R with the car stopped and your foot on the brake. Selecting R while the car is still rolling forward is one of the classic automatic mistakes, and on a manoeuvre it can turn into a lurch the wrong way.
One foot for both pedals
Use your right foot for both the accelerator and the brake, and keep your left foot flat on the footrest. Learners who move over from a manual sometimes want to brake with the left. With both feet in use it is easy to press both pedals at once, or to stamp on the brake much harder than you meant to because your left foot is used to pressing a clutch all the way down.
Creep
In D or R most automatics move slowly on their own when you take your foot off the brake, at a walking pace on the flat. That is creep. It is the automatic driver's clutch control: in slow queues, in car parks and in every manoeuvre, you control the speed by easing the brake on and off, often without touching the accelerator at all.
The fault that goes with creep is forgetting it. A car in D starts to move the moment the brake comes up, so the observations have to be finished before your foot moves. Some electric cars let you turn creep off or drive on one pedal; learn how your test car is set.
Moving off and hills
Foot on the brake, select D, look all round including the blind spot, signal if needed, release the parking brake, then move your right foot from the brake to the accelerator. On many cars the electric parking brake releases itself when you press the accelerator with your seatbelt on.
On a hill the car can still roll back in the moment between brake and accelerator. Many cars hold themselves for a second or two (hill hold), and some have an auto hold button that keeps the brakes on until you press the accelerator. Do not rely on a feature you have not tested in that car. If it rolls back, it is marked the same way as in a manual. The hill start page has the routine for both kinds of car.
Stopping and waiting
For a short stop, hold the car on the footbrake in D. For a longer one, put the parking brake on. Highway Code rule 114 asks drivers in stationary queues to apply the parking brake and, once the traffic behind has stopped, take their foot off the footbrake so the brake lights do not dazzle the driver behind.
When you park, stop, apply the parking brake, select P, then switch off.
Kickdown and engine braking
Press the accelerator hard and the gearbox drops a gear or two for a burst of power. That is kickdown, useful for joining a fast road, surprising the first time it happens on a roundabout exit. Smooth, progressive pressure keeps the car calm.
An automatic still slows a little when you lift off, but less than a manual in a low gear. On long, steep hills use the lower range (B, L, 2 or a held gear, whatever your car has) so you are not riding the brakes all the way down. Never select N to roll downhill. Highway Code rule 122 on coasting applies to automatics too.
On the test
The test is the same as in a manual: the same 40 minutes, the same independent driving, one of the same manoeuvres and the same marking. The Control boxes for the accelerator, footbrake, parking brake and steering all still apply. The faults automatic drivers pick up most are:
- creeping off before the observations are finished;
- manoeuvres done too fast because the brake is not used to control the creep;
- moving while still in the wrong one of D and R;
- the car rolling back on a hill;
- leaving the parking brake on, or forgetting it when parked on a slope.
Automatic test pass rates by centre shows how each UK test centre does for automatic candidates.
Manual or automatic?
- Learning time. Many learners need fewer lessons in an automatic, and it suits anyone who keeps stalling under pressure.
- Cost. Automatic lessons often cost a little more per hour, and fewer instructors offer them in some areas.
- The licence. Pass in an automatic and your licence carries code 78: you can drive only automatic cars. To drive a manual you pass a practical test in a manual car. You do not need another theory test.
- The future. New cars are moving to automatic and electric quickly. If you will mostly drive your own newer car, the restriction may never matter. If you might need to drive a van at work, a family member's older car or hire cars abroad, a manual licence covers both.
If you choose a manual, clutch control, gears and stalling is where the extra learning goes.
Practising with PassRank
PassRank's simulator drives as an automatic by default: accelerator, brake, D and R. The manoeuvres, roundabouts and 3D test routes carry straight over to an automatic test car. In the manoeuvres, practise controlling the speed with the brake rather than the accelerator, the way you will with creep in a real car.