Hi, been lurking and reading all the tips in this thread. Thanks to you guys, I managed to pass my Class 3A TP first try at BBDC yesterday. Decided to create an account and share my experience.
Fyi, I enrolled as a student and was assigned to a group (G8035). I didn't go for any fixed group or instructor schemes since I felt I could gain a wider range of knowledge and skills from different instructors. However, it seems like the system will try to assign you to your group instructors as much as possible (unless you go for try-sell).
Generally, my instructors were very helpful and friendly, although some of them were quite harsh in their feedback. However, I realized that by looking past all the nagging and scolding, I was able to gain a lot of wisdom and knowledge from them.
I booked session 6 (12.55 PM to 2.30 PM including warmup) for my TP since traffic is (usually) relatively clear during that time. My warmup was alright, but I nearly struck kerb during the crank course, so I wasn't all that confident coming into the test.
Now, for those who said the tester you get will determine whether you pass or fail — I fully agree! My tester was Asis Bin Wasail. He was really nice, and even greeted me good afternoon. Other testers I saw just called out names and told them to go down and get ready. It was at that moment that I thought, this tester is here to help me pass, so I didn't feel as nervous as before. He even told me we were going to Test Route 3 before we moved off.
My circuit wasn't too bad. The only incident was when I did a wide turn after coming out of the crank course, causing my car to come very close to a learner car on the opposite lane. Mr. Asis actually told me to turn earlier, but my mind went blank for a moment and I didn't react in time.
Fortunately, I made it to the road and completed the route without any major issues. When we returned to BBDC, he told me to wait in the debriefing room. Inside, I saw an Indian tester really tekan his testee unitl jialat jialat. Not sure if the tester was strict, or the testee was bad. Anyway, Mr. Asis came in, told me I passed, pointed out my wide turn during the circuit, then give the result slip and told me to go down to watch the graduation video.
In the end, I got 10 demerit points. 8 for not enough side clearance given to other road users/object, and 2 for incorrect position when moving/reversing up ramp in circuit. Mr. Asis didn't say anything about the last mistake, but I believe it was because I didn't align the pole to the center of the car (one of my instructors mentioned it previously).
That's it for my experience. If you have any questions about learning at BBDC, feel free to ask.
