Abergavenny driving test centre

Fifteen per cent of the loop distance here is at 70 mph, and none of it is dual carriageway. That single fact tells you what kind of test Abergavenny is. National speed limit on a single carriageway means oncoming traffic at closing speeds, bends you cannot see round, and overtaking decisions that a dual carriageway would take out of your hands. Close to a third of the distance is at 60. Half the test, in other words, is driving that many candidates have barely done.

Give way signs do the work that traffic lights do elsewhere. There are 15 give-way junctions on the practice loops on this page and only four sets of traffic signals across the whole 57 km. Most junctions are yours to judge, which is a different pressure from waiting for a green.

Roundabouts come in bursts. Heads of the Valleys Road, Merthyr Road and Monmouth Road are the loop roads that carry them, and one of the shorter loops takes in eleven roundabouts in under ten kilometres. Two mini-roundabouts sit among them, and minis reward an early decision: choose the exit on the approach, signal for it, and steer round the painted circle rather than over it.

The town half is slower and much tighter. Lower Monk Street, Gipsy Lane and Alexandra Road are the sort of streets where the 20 mph limit describes what is possible rather than restricting it, and two traffic-calming features sit on the loops. Manoeuvres are asked for away from the main roads.

Two things you will not meet: a level crossing and a dual carriageway. Neither appears anywhere on these loops.