Advanced driving course

Dick_Turpin99

Has anyone here done the advanced driving test, if so what is the normal duration for study (driving hrs, study hrs) for this?
What does it normally consist of over and above the normal driving test requirements?

I hope to have some free time in January and fancy having a go at this....as I understand it can offer reduced insurance costs as well

vikingaero

I think that doing an advanced driving course for the insurance reduction isn't the right reason. Loads of policies are cheaper than the limited schemes that give you discounts for having an advanced licence.

The first place to look is the Institute of Advanced Motorists. If you are looking to pass in January I would head to a meeting now as they are only head monthly at most locations. Because of this it may take longer than you think to pass. Definitely head to a local IAM meeting. I didn't get along with my local group because the instructor was ridiculous and the meeting were just an outlet for the members to whinge about other drivers. I wanted to be there to learn, not to listen to stuff that I could learn on MSE. Don't let my negative experience of IAM dissuade you as there are some excellent IAM instructors out there.

I did a High Performance Driving Course with an instructor called Paul Ripley. There are no paper qualifications to wave around but it was the best £300 I ever invested.

Dick_Turpin99

Thanks Vik. The motivation wasn't really to get cheap insurance only that it was hidden bonus from this. Just that I have spent so much time out of U.K. I wanted to brush up and further my driving skills.

I'll make contact with some local approved driving instructors and see what they suggest

sebdangerfield

I did mine with the police and it's quite different from the IAM and rospa courses.

None the less, I agree with VK, it's a fair old commitment whatever you choose. I did my advanced with the police which was a 5 week advanced course after a 4 week standard course and a 2 week ubv course. Those were full time 8 hours a day in the car or class and each time I drove my personal car I had to practice too so you get an idea of the amount of time required.

It was honestly one of the best things I've done, so interesting and very very hard! At the end of each course I was fast asleep by 7:30 as the course was so intense. It was just the fact that doing something I'd done for years suddenly became much more involved and difficult and just a trip down a dual carriageway I'd done hundreds of times before became something I couldn't switch off from. really recommend it but my insurance hasn't dropped too much.