Free TfL Topographical Test Practice

Topographical test practice is the best way to raise your chances on the TfL assessment with the lowest pass rate. Only about half of candidates pass the Topographical skills assessment, and most failures come from habits that practice fixes: starting at the wrong marker, missing a one-way arrow, ignoring a road closure or misreading a scale. This page is where you start our free TfL Topographical test practice, and it explains what each part covers, works through examples and shows you how to practise the route-drawing tasks that no website can fully simulate.

UK Driver Licence Prep is an independent study aid, not part of TfL. Our questions are written from TfL's published assessment guidelines and general map-reading skills.

The real test in one box

Item	TfL Topographical skills assessment
Marks	100: three route-planning questions (66) and multiple choice (34)
Pass mark	60%
Session	90 minutes, on a computer with a mouse
Fee	£40, re-sit £30 (from 9 March 2026)
Where	TfL Driver Assessment Centre, 14 Pier Walk, SE10 0ES
Pass rate	51% (FOI-0168-2425)

For the full picture, including exemptions and booking, see our TfL Topographical test guide.

Start your free Topographical test practice

Practice	What you get
Free diagnostic	10 questions in 15 minutes, across every topic
Free mock 1	30 multiple-choice questions, 90 minutes, 18 correct to pass
Free quick practice	20 questions with explanations
Printable worksheet	A page of questions with an answer key, to print or save as PDF
Pro	Mocks 2 to 10 and practice by topic

Our Topographical bank has 623 questions. Every answer has an explanation, so a wrong answer teaches you the rule behind it.

Key fact: Our practice is multiple choice only. It trains the 34-mark side of the test and the rules behind the routes, but it does not simulate the three route-drawing questions worth 66 marks. Practise those with a map as described below.

What the practice covers

Our mocks draw on four topics. Each has its own practice set.

Map reading and scales

Map reading practice covers map symbols, the legend, compass directions and scale. You will see questions such as which symbol shows a banned turn, which direction you travel along a road, or how far apart two points are at a given scale.

Worked example: a scale sum. A map has a scale of 1:10,000. Two junctions are 4 cm apart on the map. How far apart are they on the ground?

1. At 1:10,000, 1 cm on the map is 10,000 cm on the ground.
2. 10,000 cm is 100 m.
3. So 4 cm is 4 × 100 m = 400 m.

The quick check: at 1:10,000, every centimetre is 100 metres. At 1:20,000 every centimetre is 200 metres. The bigger the second number, the more ground each centimetre covers and the less detail the map shows.

Grid references

Grid reference practice covers both kinds of grid you may meet.

• Street atlas grids use a column letter and a row number, such as C5. Read the letter first, then the number.
• Numbered grids use numbers on both edges. You always read along first, then up: the eastings (the numbers along the bottom) come before the northings (the numbers up the side). A common memory aid is "along the corridor, then up the stairs".

Worked example: a six-figure grid reference. You are given the reference 254 683.

1. Split it in half: 254 is the easting and 683 is the northing.
2. Find vertical line 25 along the bottom. The last digit, 4, means four-tenths of the way to line 26.
3. Find horizontal line 68 up the side. The last digit, 3, means three-tenths of the way to line 69.
4. The point is where those two positions meet: inside square 25 68, a little left of centre and in the lower half.

A four-figure reference (2568) only names the square. A six-figure reference pins down a point within it.

Route-planning rules

Route planning practice tests the rules that decide whether a route is legal and direct: one-way streets, no entry, banned turns, pedestrianised and bus-only streets, bus lanes and road closures. The Highway Code is clear that you must follow the direction shown in a one-way street and must not drive in a bus lane during its hours of operation unless the signs allow your vehicle. In the Topographical test, assume that a private hire vehicle is not a bus or a taxi.

London places and geography

London knowledge practice covers well-known places, stations, hospitals, river crossings and main roads. Some questions ask which of several places is nearest to or furthest from another, measured as a straight line. Our positions come from OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

Exam tip: In "nearest" and "furthest" questions, compare straight-line distance on the map, not driving distance, unless the question says otherwise.

How to practise the route-drawing questions

The three route questions carry two-thirds of the marks. Here is how to practise them at home with any detailed London street map, printed or online.

Set up the exercise

1. Pick two places about 1 to 2 km apart. Mark the start with a green dot and the end with a red dot, as in the real test.
2. For the second exercise, choose a street on the obvious route and treat it as closed.
3. For the third, pick two places 4 to 6 km apart for a long route.

Plan the route

1. Start at green, finish at red. Say it to yourself every time. A reversed route loses marks even if every road is right.
2. Look for the main roads first. Wider roads usually give the most direct route with fewer turns.
3. Check every road you plan to use for one-way arrows, no entry, banned turns, pedestrian zones and bus-only sections.
4. Go around a closure, never through it. Pick the nearest legal road running in the same direction.
5. Write the route road by road, with directions: "High Street east, then Station Road north".
6. Check it backwards. Trace from red to green to make sure there are no gaps, then confirm the direction again.

Mark your own route

After each route, compare it with what an online route planner suggests for a car, then ask three questions. Did I start and end in the right place? Is my route as direct as possible? Did I break any restriction? If the planner's route is shorter and legal, work out what you missed. Over time you will start to see the direct route at a glance.

Our app has a map trainer on a made-up practice town, with a grid, compass and shortest-legal-route tasks, for the same skill.

Key fact: Most route marks are lost on the basics: wrong start or end, a reversed route, a detour that is not the most direct, or a prohibited turn. A checklist used every time removes most of these errors.

Learning London for the place and road-number questions

You do not need black cab knowledge, but you do need a mental frame of London so you can find places on screen quickly. Build it in layers.

Layer 1: the ring roads

Road	What it does
Inner Ring Road	Circles central London and forms the boundary of the Congestion Charge zone
A406 North Circular	Orbital road through north London
A205 South Circular	Orbital route through south London
M25	Motorway orbiting Greater London

Layer 2: the main radial A roads

Learn which direction the big numbered roads leave central London. The A1 heads north, the A10 north towards Cambridgeshire, the A12 north-east, the A13 east into Essex, the A2 south-east towards Kent, the A23 south towards Brighton, the A3 south-west, the A4 west towards Heathrow, the A40 west and the A5 north-west along Edgware Road. A question that asks for a road number often becomes easy once you know which side of London you are looking at.

Layer 3: river crossings and landmarks

The Thames is the biggest feature on any London map. Learn the order of the central bridges and where the main stations sit relative to the river. Then add hospitals, major parks and well-known landmarks. Each new place is easier to remember when you can attach it to a road or a bridge you already know.

Spend ten minutes a day on this. Our free London areas and places note gives you a structured list.

Common mistakes in Topographical practice

• Practising only the multiple choice. It feels productive because you get a score, but the routes carry 66 marks. Plan at least one route every day.
• Using a sat nav mindset. A sat nav picks the quickest route with live traffic. The test asks for the most direct legal route on the map in front of you.
• Guessing symbols. If you are not sure what a symbol means, look it up on the legend. On the day, use the map reference page.
• Rushing scale sums. Write the conversion down: "1 cm = 100 m" at 1:10,000. Most wrong answers are a missing zero.
• Answering one when the question wants two. Our mocks have one correct answer per question; the real test sometimes asks for two and says so.

For the meaning of road signs and markings that match the symbols, the government's Know Your Traffic Signs is free and useful. TfL's own Topographical assessment page links its "what to expect" video.

Map symbols to learn first

Symbols vary between maps, and TfL may give you a printed map reference page on the day. These are the ones that matter most:

Symbol	Why it matters
One-way arrow	You can only drive in the arrow's direction
No entry	You cannot enter from that end
Barred or crossed turn arrow	That turn is banned
Pedestrianised street	Closed to vehicles
Bus-only street or bus gate	Closed to private hire vehicles
Road closure marking	Plan around it
Station, hospital, place of worship, park	Used in "find the place" questions
A, B and M road numbers	Used in "identify the road number" questions

Our free map reading and grid note explains each in more detail, and the route planning note gives the full step-by-step method.

How our mocks compare with the real test

	Our mock	Real assessment
Multiple-choice questions	30	Not published by TfL
Route drawing	Not included	3 questions, 66 marks
Time	90 minutes	90-minute session
Pass	18 of 30 (60%)	60% of 100 marks
Answers per question	One	One or two (stated in the question)

Our 90 minutes for 30 questions is generous on purpose: use the spare time to read questions carefully and check scale sums. The real session has to fit the routes as well. For the kinds of questions TfL asks in each section, see Topographical test questions, and for a strategy for the day, see how to pass the Topographical test.

Free, Pro and the app

The diagnostic, mock 1, quick practice, worksheet and the free Topographical exam guide are free. Pro, at £6.99 per week, £11.99 per month or £22.99 for three months, adds mocks 2 to 10, topic practice and every note, and also covers the SERU; see pricing. Many people prepare for both at once with our SERU mock test. There is no pass guarantee.

Your study plan

1. Day 1: take the free Topographical diagnostic and read the free exam guide.
2. Week 1: learn the symbols and do grid and scale questions daily. Plan one short route on a map every day.
3. Week 2: add a route with a closure each day. Sit Topographical mock 1.
4. Week 3: add long routes and London places. Repeat weak topics.
5. Book when every practice route is legal and direct, and you score 85% on three mocks in a row. Then plan the rest of your PCO licence.