Intensive driving course.

TheBoy12345

Anyone have any knowledge about these?? Struggling to find reviews on the internet.

Basically I need to pass ASAP, this 5 day course I've found with Acclaim sounds too good.

Any input would be appreciated, thanks.

forgotmyname

Take lots of lessons at various times and days to get a proper experience on the road.

The 5 day courses teach you how to pass the test and little more. There maybe many situations that you wont have come across because you may not have driven when its dark or raining etc..

24 hours of lessons only. What if you need more than that?

Not that cheap either just under £30 a lesson. If you book a block you should be able to get cheaper than that.

Also what happens if you get an instructor that you just dont get on with? Not in a bad nasty way. But you dont react well to their style of teaching.

Instructors are not robots, They all have their own ways of teaching.

Ive seen driving instructors drive and it makes you wonder how they passed never mind want to teach others.

colino

I don't know anything about that specific company, but do have a relative who took a, "crash" course and learned to drive in a week, passed on the Friday had a new job and a company car on the Monday. After a few months of driving all over the country, even he admitted he wasn't really prepared for the solo experience (and a lot of it!) and was fortunate to have the environment to actually learn by doing and survived (and so did we!) more by luck than judgement. He likened it to a 5 year old having a go on the dodgems and then be expected to drive the family car home.

heartbreak_star

I wouldn't do it unless you've had lessons before, and vaguely know your way around a car.

HBS x

alastairq

There is much to be said for undergoing driver training as a continuous course [as you have discovered], compared to an hour here and there on a regular basis.

The main issue centres around 'skill fade'.....

Undergoing training on an extended, spread-out basis has the problem that, part of each 'lesson' involves simply playing catch-up on what you have previously learnt.....before you can progress onto something new.

The so-called 'intensive' driving course allows you to build up skill continuously [like any normal training course?], obviating the issue of skill fade occurring during learning.

The objective of driver training is to pass the test.

No-one, but no-one, is in a position to teach anyone to drive.

In this regard, whatever level driver training is set at [whether cat B, as in this case, or training for a traffic police office, as an example]...there has to be a form of assessment [quality control]...to see if the training objective has been achieved.

In normal terms, this is the driving test.

Whilst some consider the driving test [for cat B] to have limitations, this is accepted. The only way to make it more thorough is to lengthen the time out on test. [Present the candidate with more opportunity to make mistakes].

[MAking the test too hard, and there is a risk too many people 'won't bother'....is another 'excuse' put about!]

The driving test is a start on the driving road, a basic standard has to be achieved.

There has to be a time when a new driver must face the roads without having a skilled instructor sat next to them.

This is when the new driver suddenly finds they have misunderstood, or not paid attention to, some of what they have been taught.

Sometimes they keep this misunderstanding right throughout their driving lives.

IMHO, if there are concerns over the levels of driver training needed to pass the test, there is nothing to prevent the new driver then immediately undertaking further, more 'advanced' driver training......'further education' if you like?

However, there is little incentive to do so in the society we live in.....where everybody 'thinks' they can drive.


As an example, all military driver training is conducted using the 'intensive' method.

The Military have found that, where driving standards fail, that is usually because the training system has been interrupted. [Long spells away from vehicles, for example]

Whilst much will depend on individual driver's attitudes towards driving on the roads, I would prefer to sit beside a young 18 year old that has had continuous training, right through from Cat B to Cat C+E, and beyond to Service Driver Conversion, [my current field of endeavor]....than I would, too many 'civilian' drivers in the 20-90 age bracket!

The real issue is, once you have passed your test, what are you going to do with that licence, and how keen are you to learn more?

Better to learn under supervision, than to try to learn [or not?}from isolated experience.

TheBoy12345

Thanks for reply everyone. I have had lessons before and had previously passed mock tests. Theory is also all done so I just thought a week course, a week course would get me back to the standard I was at relatively quickly.

alastairq

Whilst ultimately it's up to you [not knowing 'how' you learn stuff?]....if you can afford it, the course you mention is a good way of getting back into things, and retaining the skills.

If you like, imagine you were to do a course [on a particular topic] at work?

Would you be happier to do it from start to finish, continuously [bearing in mind the need to eat 'n sleep?]....or would you rather it was done, an hour a week?

Remember, ultimately it's about how confident you imagine you would feel, doing the final assessment [test?] at the end of each training method?

TheBoy12345

I'm a quick learner tbh. It's just when I did lessons once a week I found I'm very impatient and just lost interest. I feel the course could be best for me. Just wanted views as I don't want it to be a waste of money.

captainawsome

I had my licence revoked within my first 2 years and had to resit my full test, I needed to drive in work so needed a test ASAP. With a month wait for local test centres I booke a 'crash' course as they have available dates but in centres all over the north west, so it was a lottery where you would end up.

Anyway I went along the next week and done my theory and passed the practical test again on the 3rd day of a 5 day intensive course (I had already been driving for 2.5 years when it was revoked so didn't need too many lessons). Their was a girl on the course who could NOT drive, I.E she had never even sat in a drivers seat, didn't know the pedals etc etc, she was sold the course as if she would drive away after 5 days which is obviously not the case. To keep the instructors pass rate up they never even let her take a test in the week! They told her when she was ready they would send her the money to take a test at home which was slightly out of order given how the advertised the course to her (although I do agree, nobody with less than a weeks experience/lessons should really be on the road, but it was still naughty to sell her a £500course knowing this would be a likely outcome). This is apparently very common practice, if they don't think your 100% capable they won't even allow you to take the test to keep their pass rates as high as possible. Keep this in mind as I think it's a dirty trick and it happened to about 3 different people in the group while I was there.

duggan1

I did an intensive course in june this year after years of on off 'normal' lessons.


Found it enormously beneficial. First couple of days were tiring and kept making same mistakes over and over (as learner drivers do). By third day though it had clicked and I ended up not using all the hours I had paid for.


Of course it depends a lot on the instructor. The guy I had was marvellous.

dearlouise

My ex did a fast pass week long residential course in Blackpool, he passed at the end.

I did a pass in 6 weeks course from home where I did 3-6 hours per week dependant on my timetable & passed.

They're a really good way of learning to drive in my opinion. Much better than 1-2 hours a week for 3-6 months! Get it out the way!