How to Know If You’re Ready for the PDA (WA)

Cameron Haughey
Aug 21
3 min read

Taking your Practical Driving Assessment (PDA) can feel like the biggest milestone on your journey to getting your licence. For many learners, the nerves come from wondering: “Am I actually ready?” The good news is, there are clear signs that you’ve built the skills, knowledge, and confidence to take the test. At GOAT Driving, we specialise in helping WA learners get to that point — and if these signs sound like you, chances are you’re ready to book.

You've Completed Your Logbook Hours (if applicable)

The first one might seem like its rhetorical, but we have to say it anyway. You need to have a minimum of 50 logged hours of supervised driving, which includes a minimum of 5 night hours, and you need to fill in the statutory declaration at the back of the logbook.

Driving Feels Like Second Nature

When you feel like the car is an extension of yourself. In the early days of learning, figuring out when to brake, how much to brake, whether you're steering enough, how far from the kerb you are all take conscious effort and thought. If you have become so comfortable in the vehicle you drive that 90% of the time your control is spot on, this is a good sign that you've mastered the control aspect of the PDA.

You've Got the Rules Locked In

Do you know the correct rules for:

Moving off and stopping?
Give way?
Roundabouts?
Lane changing?
Merging?
Turning right at traffic lights without an arrow?
Overtaking parked cars?

If you can confidently answer yes, then you've mastered the rules aspect of your PDA.

You Get What Safe Driving Really Means

Safe driving is understanding that no matter how good you are at driving, it won't save you from people doing the wrong thing. Everything about driving in WA is structured. If you've gotten to the point that you can recognise who's breaking out of that structure and you treat them with suspicion, then you might've mastered the awareness aspect of the PDA.

At GOAT Driving, safety is at the heart of everything we teach. Learn more about our story here.

GOAT Driving lesson plans for WA learners – affordable tips and guides to pass the PDA test

You Know the “Left Something Behind” Exercise

If you don't know what this is, how it works, what it's assessing, or what your legal options to turn the car around are, then you might not be ready.

You Can Consistently Bay Park

Can you forward park between two parked cars, with ease, every day of the week?

Can you reverse park without swinging out to an angle first? Can you get it pretty straight and pretty central in the bay, even if it requires a fix-up, pretty much every time? It doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be good enough.

You might be ready for your PDA.

You Feel Confident with Reverse Parallel Parking

Do you feel confident that if asked to do a reverse parallel park you could nail it? It doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be good enough, even with a fix-up.

You might be ready for your PDA.

See how learners just like you nailed the PDA — check out our Wall of Success.

Final Thoughts

We don't need to be perfect, but we do need to demonstrate control of the vehicle, understanding of the rules, and awareness of our environment.

Be honest: can you confidently say yes to every section on this blog? If yes, then you’re ready — go and slay, Queen. If no, then you might need a bit more help to get to the promised land.

👉 Not quite ticking all the boxes yet? Visit GOAT Driving to explore our DIY Driving Lesson Plans, designed to guide you step-by-step through every skill tested in the PDA.

And if you’d like to know why we care so much about helping WA learners succeed, learn more about our story here.