From today driving test candidates will have to drive "independently" for a period without getting step-by-step directions from their examiner.

With set routes no longer being published online, candidates will be asked to follow, for around 10 minutes, a route that they will be shown in advance.

However, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has made it clear that candidates can ask for reminders of their route as they drive and they will not be failed for going off route.

Another change to the test means that candidates will only have to complete one of the three reversing manoeuvres, instead of two previously.

Road Safety Minister Mike Penning said: "The independent driving assessment gives test candidates the chance to show they have the necessary skills to cope with the sort of traffic conditions they will face every day.

"Learning those skills from the very start of the driving process will help make new drivers safer."

DSA's chief driving examiner, Trevor Wedge, said: "The aim of independent driving is to assess the candidate's ability to drive safely while making decisions independently. It's not a test of navigation and candidates won't be failed for going off route.

"The test is being improved to help produce safer drivers, but that doesn't mean it's getting any harder. We know many instructors are already teaching independent driving."

The changes come as the Association of British Insurers (ABI) says the learning period for the driving test should be a minimum of a year to reduce high death and serious injury rates among young motorists.

According to an ABI-commissioned poll, three in four people think a 12-month minimum learning period would be the most effective step to reducing young-driver accidents.

The ABI said that despite a fall in the overall number of road accident casualties, more young drivers are killed or seriously injured on the roads now than 15 years ago.