How Many Driving Lessons Do I need?

 

This is a question I get a LOT! Everyone wants to know up front how long it’ll take to learn to drive. That could be for a number of reasons. Maybe you want to budget for driving lessons, maybe you want to set a target or a goal for when you’ll pass your driving test or maybe you want to be able to track your driving lesson progress! All of those are good reasons to want to know how long it’ll take to pass your driving test but the question is sometimes hard to answer definitively.

 
The government did a study a number of years ago, and the average amount of hours of driving lessons that people need to pass their driving test is 45 hours of in car tuition with a driving instructor and 20 hours of driving with a friend or family member to boost your driving skills and experience!
 
The amount of time it takes YOU to pass your driving test will vary depending on a lot of things, like how much effort and time you put into it. Imagine going doing a college course to learn a skill like bricklaying and only turning up for an hour or two a week. How long would it realistically take you to learn how to lay bricks professionally? Driving is the same! The more often you drive with a driving instructor, especially in a busy place like London, the faster you’ll learn and the less skill fade you’ll get in between lessons. Also some people pick up the skill for driving really quickly while others struggle with the multitasking required to learn to drive. One thing I’m a firm believer in, though, is that EVERYBODY can learn to drive! (unless you’re barred from obtaining a licence on, for example, medical grounds).
 
So the best thing to do is budget or plan for 45 hours, revise as much as possible, immerse yourself in driving so you pick up as much knowledge and information inside and outside of your lessons, watch Youtube videos, read the Highway Code, and sit at the front of the bus and pretend you’re driving. Spot the hazards, signal timing and behaviour of other cars on the road. If you pass your driving test sooner then BONUS! If you take a bit longer then trust your driving instructor and stick with it and remember the why’s of why you need and want a driving license!

 

Should You Take Mock Tests And Practice Routes?

Different driving instructors have different opinions on this one but I say DEFINITELY!
 
You take mock GCSE’s, mock A levels and if you did instrument gradings you’d practice those as much as you could as well, right? Why not with your driving test?
 
I fully understand why some driving instructors, with other driving schools, say you shouldn’t do mock tests. And that’s because you should be good enough at driving, after your driving lessons, to pass anywhere, any time and under any conditions. But in my opinion the reality of the driving test just isn’t like that! It puts you under so much pressure and requires you to drive so perfectly, that a run through a couple of times with a driving instructor, can really put your mind at ease, take the pressure of the situation off your shoulders and make the driving test process a lot more enjoyable and easier to go through.
 
Another reason why mock tests can help is that you’ll get the opportunity to drive around the driving test area you’ll be in for the real test, and if there’s a situation that will come up that you misjudge or get wrong through poor judgment, feeling overwhelmed, or just a really tricky bit of road that’s difficult to ace the first time you drive on it, like Lombard roundabout in Croydon or Rose Hill in Morden, then doing it with a driving instructor first will be beneficial for so many reasons! Mainly, failing your driving test really sucks, and you don’t want to make your driving test into a really expensive driving lesson, just because of poor preparation!
 
Just coz I’m super nice I’ve gone around a few test areas that I use a lot with my students and recorded some driving tests on our YouTube channel! I’ll take you through a real driving test and talk you through what you need to do where, and the tricky bits to look out for! Check out the one I did in Morden here! And if there are any others you specifically want then let me know and I’ll get cracking on some more YouTube driving videos to help you out too!

Welcome to our NEW BLOG!!!

Hey!! I’m Francis and I set up The Driving School because after teaching a lot of people like you how to drive I realise that one of your biggest priorities is learning in a fun professional environment with a trusted and verified ADI, like me!
 
Here at the driving school we care about how you learn and who you learn with so all our teachers are personally vetted and verified by me, follow the DVSA driving course and will make sure you can drive safely and confidently for life!