Intensive Driving Courses

dreams_R_free

Forgive me if this is in the wrong thread but it seems like a money-saving idea:rolleyes:.

My sister-in-law has failed 5 driving tests and has not been behind the wheel of a car for the past 5 years. Due to family circumstances it is crucial now that she can drive asap. She spent a fortune on lessons over the years, plus did loads of accompanied drives with her husband who is a nasty piece of work and really sapped her confidence and made her a nervous wreck:eek:

She has come into a little money and was considering one of those Intensive Driving Courses in another town (such as at the seaside) for a week which culminates in the test. She/I feel this might be more economical than any alternative and should get it all over and done with and hopefully build up her confidence away from any family interference. She'd get a little break from the monster husband too:T

Have any of you had any experience of these courses, or know anyone who has. Are they to be recommended? I know we can't advertise on here but do you know of any successful ones? All help gratefully received and I'll pass it on. SIL doesn't live in my area and doesn't have internet access at home. There shouldn't be any problem with the theory part of the test, she could do that before she went.

Marvelbeast

I wanted to take one of these intensive courses and I researched it a fair bit amongst family, friends and colleagues last year. I didn't go ahead with it myself because of debt but I did decide that it would be the best option for me and my partner.

The majority of people (drivers) I spoke too, said that they wouldn't have done the course BUT if you had some experience then it would be better then taking a course with no driving experience.

That being said, you need to take into account that if you do take lessons on a weekly basis like most people do, then (in my opinion) you are spending some of the new lesson, going over lessons you have already taken. Yes I realise that you do need to be comfortable and safe with everything you learn to be a capable driver but I feel that it could also be counter productive.

Only two people in my family drive, one a VERY confident person and a really quick learner (at everything, she is kinda annoying) and the other a very nervous person who is quite clever but also lacks in self confidence due to an abusive husband who beat her for 17 years.

They both learnt to drive with no previous driving experience by taking intensive courses. The confident one was trained by her employers (the Post Office) and passed her manual test after 4 days of training and the other took her automatic test after 1 week and passed.

They both passed first time and in my opinion they are both good drivers.

I would suggest that if she does decide to go ahead with the intensive course then she does as much homework before she books with a company as she can. If you can try to find a person who has trained with them and can reccomend them. Thats because I tend not to trust people and I try bnot to be taken in with the adverts which say "We have over 95% pass rate", not because they are lying (because I don't know) but because it is a huge amount of money to spend in one go.

Sorry if it doesn't answer you question but like I said I personally do think that there is merit in intensive courses but many other people don't agree with me. But take into account that many drivers who are giving advice would have taken their tests when they were much easier and not as complicated as they are now.

melancholly

here's a few threads that might help:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=173073&highlight=intensive
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=440127&highlight=intensive
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=302929&highlight=driving

scoobysue_4

Impomdasp wrote: »

Forgive me if this is in the wrong thread but it seems like a money-saving idea:rolleyes:.

My sister-in-law has failed 5 driving tests and has not been behind the wheel of a car for the past 5 years. Due to family circumstances it is crucial now that she can drive asap. She spent a fortune on lessons over the years, plus did loads of accompanied drives with her husband who is a nasty piece of work and really sapped her confidence and made her a nervous wreck:eek:

She has come into a little money and was considering one of those Intensive Driving Courses in another town (such as at the seaside) for a week which culminates in the test. She/I feel this might be more economical than any alternative and should get it all over and done with and hopefully build up her confidence away from any family interference. She'd get a little break from the monster husband too:T

Have any of you had any experience of these courses, or know anyone who has. Are they to be recommended? I know we can't advertise on here but do you know of any successful ones? All help gratefully received and I'll pass it on. SIL doesn't live in my area and doesn't have internet access at home. There shouldn't be any problem with the theory part of the test, she could do that before she went.

My husband bought me a voucher back in 2002 for an intensive driving course from the great escape company. It was thought that if i combined the driving/test and break as a holiday it would ease my nerves. I decided to do the driving and test in herefordshire, from day one it was a disaster, after driving for the best part of a day and whilst taking her car back to the depot the driving instructor had a smash in the car and wrote it off, she was okay but she was struggling to find me a replacement for the next day, mid afternoon next day she had found another similar car but we only got an hrs driving in, she had borrowed that car and so when i took my test on the 4th day it was in a totally different car and was so stressed with it all that i failed again. there were only two driving instructors in that area and what happened was totally an accident but it didnt help me at all.If , like me your sil suffers from very bad nerves when it comes to test centres and examiners then she might be as well going to her g.p for beta blockers which was what i did and passed straight afterwards. I only know of the great escapes one so cannot comment on any of the others. good luck.

tomstickland

Intensive or not, being exposed a negative, confidence sapping person wreaks havoc on the learning process.

anewman

She could divorce the husband. That way she'll have plenty of money for any lessons.

dawnydee73

I had 2 full days of driving lessons the day before my test and it is so tiring and towards the end of the day my driving was not the best - I would recommend shorter lessons if they could afford a few a week. Some driving schools give you discounts if you buy so many lessons at a time.

myrnahaz

I booked my DD on an itensive course last week (private instructor) as she has failed 5 tests and her confidence is on the floor. She had her assessment lesson last Friday and the instructor told her that it wasn't worth doing an intensive course as most people fail their test doing it that way (something to do with them having too little road experience??). I'm not sure whether she'll continue with normal lessons but she's really disappointed as she thought it was a failsafe method of passing her test.

Tabby_Kitten_2

I passed my driving test a few months ago by taking an intenive driving course, I'd already had weekly lessons for 6 months and passed my theory test.
What I would have thought would be best for your sister in law to do is get her theory test out of the way and then find a driving instructor who offers a free assessment lesson to see just how much driving they think she needs before she could pass her test.
My grandad use to be an instructor and both me and my brother talked to him about driving, test, etc. he has always said that intensive courses are the best way as if you're having weekily lessons you are spending the first part of the lesson getting used to the car again.
By the end of my course I was so bored with driving that the test didn't really worry me BUT TAKE THE THEORY TEST FIRST that way there's nothing standing in the way!

mennie

I think BSM are a fab company and have instructors all over the country all trainied to high standards with new cars to learn in

dawnydee73

mennie wrote: »

I think BSM are a fab company and have instructors all over the country all trainied to high standards with new cars to learn in

I would not recommend BSM to anyone, my instructor was awful, after I failed my first test I went to a different company that was more value for money and had an excellent instructor.