Driving lessons

[Gizmo]

Hi guys,

I'm currently in my second year of sixth form (3 post 16 academic years over here in the UK) and I have just over 1 month left until the entire academic year finishes for a 6 week summer holiday. I've been saving like mad and have been thinking about getting ready for driving lessons and was wondering what the theory tests entail, how many there are and how many practical lessons are taken before passing the entire course. The 2 biggest concerns I have at the moment are the cost and whether the summer holiday is the best time to do it because of my coursework and revision for possible up and coming exams after the summer holiday. I'll appreciate all input.

TIA..

[freakitchen]

Hi Gizmo. The summer holiday is probably the best time to do it, since with some effort you can look to get the bulk of the work over with by the time it ends, and perhaps book a test for around Christmas-time. The key is to be as economical as you can with lessons, since it's not cheap!.

Cost depends very much on wherabouts in the UK you are. In London, the cost per hour of lessons can reach £30, but in the north it's about £10 less than that. How many lessons you'll need depends very much on the speed at which you get to grips with it, but youll probably need around 10 to cover everything.

I don't know whether you've had much/any driving experience, but it would help very much if you could get a parent or a friend to take you to some private land (a carpark after-hours for example) to get the hang of clutch control. This in itself can take a few hours, and it's money wasted if you do this with your instructor.

The Theory test entails two parts, a multiple choice part, and a hazard perception part. The multiple choice is mostly common sense, the hazard perception is a series of video clips that you are shown, and asked to identify potential hazards as they happen......(I'd suggest practising this before you take it). It really isn't a difficult test.

My final tip would be to shop around driving schools to get the best price. I live near a test centre, and see a lot of 'Bill Plant' driving school cars (I believe they're a national company), offering the first 5 lessons for £60, which seems like a good deal to me.

Hope that helps some!

FK

[Kareeser]

Wow, you brits sure have good testing regulations...

In Canada, the test given to new drivers was the same test (down to the same questions from the same question bank) given over 10 years ago, when my parents took the test.

However, the driving test is supposedly harder.

[Gizmo]

Hi guys, sincere apologies for the late reply.

Thanks for the replies Kareeser and Freakitchen, very helpful, I appreciate it . I'm currently doing practice theory tests and hazard perception demos on webpages when I get the time, I'm going to keep at them until I can get straight passes on each first attempt. I know all my signs like the back of my hand now and rules of the road is very much common sense, so that's clear.

I'm pretty sure of all the controls in a car, I remember my uncle taking me out during a holiday and he put me in charge of switching gears lol now I just need to get started on the road markings, even though road markings may not be that important but I think it'll be a bonus during the lessons.

As far as cost goes, I got a phone call from my Dad while I was at school and he told me that my Grandparents may well cover the first 10 lessons for me because that's what they did with my older brother. If I remember correctly, 10 lessons was all he actually needed. I'm pretty confident in myself so hopefully all will go well.

After thinking about it, I'm not sure whether I can book the theory and lessons this year, next year looks a little more safer in respect of costs, but I'll see what happens.

Once again, thanks for your replies guys!

[Sauron]

Learning to drive like everyone else is easy - it is just learning to drive above the average is the hard part.

Good luck!