Intensive Driving Courses

Mupette

My son has had the odd lesson a few years ago, but never got round to doing the whole hog.

He's 20 with just a provisional, no theory yet.

He's an apprentice who's future will be a lot brighter if he could drive, his manager has said the sooner he could drive the better, he works in IT

as he is 21 in February i have said that me and my husband would like to give him a gift that will be of use, and we all think driving would be the best thing for him.

I have asked my son to speak with his father to see if he will go halves with us, we don't have much money and if his father could help, we can both see our son (hope) to achieve something to take him far.

googling has given much varied amounts, some helpful information, guides would be great, cheapest would be great but we all know that's not always the best.

What recommendations do you have

TIA

hollie.weimeraner

There is no guaranteed pass with an intensive course. IMHO (my wife's a driving instructor) he will most likely benefit better from 2 or 4 lessons per week which are also likely to be cheaper than an intensive course. He also needs to pass his theory test before his practical test so even if he had an intensive course he would only be able to take his practical test at a later date and would need to keep practising until the test date to keep his skills up.

Speak to a couple of local instructors and get some advice from them to see what they advise.

Depending on his aptitude you are looking at about 40 to 50 lessons national average from the DVSA website.

Mupette

Thank you, I know there is no guarantee either way you learn.

His apprenticeship is coming to an end in a few months, its been hinted that driving would seal the deal as to say when it came for employment.

he has a week in September where he is free this was his choice but will talk to him about options of doing 2 hour lessons

forgotmyname

Evening lessons, weekend lessons, early mornings etc. Choose any of these
instead of an intensive course.

get an instructor who will pick him up from home and end the lesson at work?
or the other way around.

Mercdriver

He'll need to get his theory test out of the day incredibly soon if you are talking about September. There are intensive classes that will do the theory as well, but no guarantee of getting a practical test quickly (and no school can guarantee a test date). Many will talk of guaranteeing a pass. I did an intensive course just under two years ago in Chippenham. I passed in 8 days. The days are long and I got on with my instructors. If you don't then you can encounter difficulties.

Many advertise guaranteed passes, but what they mean is that they will take hime to further tests with minimal extra tuition until he passes. Many of them will only do it a few more times.

I did some lessons with someone more local to me before I started the intensive course so I hit the ground running. Beware of the big companies that advertise. One in particular does a lot of the teaching in a class, and if the pupil fails then they only get one further lesson before their free retest. They are encouraged to have extra lessons (which they have to pay for). Beware of any that say they will guarantee a test date. Mine would only confirm my course when they had a confirmed test date.

5day have a mixed review on the review centre, with some it can be weeks after the course that you get your test date, and you're bound to want to have refresher lessons in the run up to your test. Only book with those that will tell you what date your test is and so you can check the date at gov.com.

duggan1

I did an intensive course with a local chap and it was great. Felt I learned much more and retained it from day to day rather than the weekly lessons I was otherwise having.

All will depend on the instructor of course but I'd definately consider it.

Mercdriver

It definitely worked for me too, but it isn't for everyone. Try and get it done locally and have a go with the instructor to make sure they will get on....

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

I am dubious about intensive lessons purely because some of driving is absorbing the "muscle memory" of using the car controls. You need time for the mind to absorb what is going on and allow it to change from conscious effort to unconscious effort, and simply for the mind to absorb what is going on around the driver out in the real world.

So I would go for frequent lessons rather than an intensive course, there is too much to take in.

I suspect they might work better for someone who has taken a test and failed and needs a good push rather than essentially starting from near to scratch.

Mercdriver

IanMSpencer wrote: »

I am dubious about intensive lessons purely because some of driving is absorbing the "muscle memory" of using the car controls. You need time for the mind to absorb what is going on and allow it to change from conscious effort to unconscious effort, and simply for the mind to absorb what is going on around the driver out in the real world.

So I would go for frequent lessons rather than an intensive course, there is too much to take in.

I suspect they might work better for someone who has taken a test and failed and needs a good push rather than essentially starting from near to scratch.

How do you get muscle memory from doing something just once a week for an hour or two? Different horses for different courses. I combined some normal 2 hr lessons x 5 and then did the 8 days intensive a few weeks later.

scotsbob

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

Depending on his aptitude you are looking at about 40 to 50 lessons national average from the DVSA website.

40-50 hours?? When I and my contemporaries sat our tests, we were doing it in 10-12 lessons. Even allowing for changing conditions my own children and their contemporaries were passing after 15-20 lessons.


40 -50 hours must include a huge sample of female pensioners getting behind the wheel for the first time.


Either that or instructors stringing it out to claw in more cash.

davemorton

scotsbob wrote: »

40-50 hours?? When I and my contemporaries sat our tests, we were doing it in 10-12 lessons. Even allowing for changing conditions my own children and their contemporaries were passing after 15-20 lessons.

I was just about to ask the same. No disrespect to the OP who said it would take this long, as I know it does seem to take a lot more lessons now no matter where you go, but why? Why is it taking over double the amount of lessons, what has changed?