Everything you need to know

You can apply for a provisional driving licence when you're 15 years and 9 months old. You can start driving a car when you're 17. You can drive a car when you are 16 if you get, or have applied for, the enhanced rate of the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

Get your first provisional driving licence for a car, motorbike, moped or other vehicle from DVLA online. https://www.gov.uk/apply-first-provisional-driving-licence

It costs £34 when you apply online.

You must be able to read a number plate from 20 metres away.

You book both tests online: 

Theory: https://www.gov.uk/book-theory-test
Practical: https://www.gov.uk/book-driving-test

The theory tests costs £23

The practical test costs £62 on a weekday and £75 on an evening or weekend.

As soon as you are ready. It is advisable to start your theory training either before starting lessons, or as soon as you start lessons. Theory knowledge will help you progress on practical lessons.

You have 2 years to pass your driving test after passing your theory test. If you don’t pass it in this time, you’ll have to retake the theory test.

You’ll find out latest prices on the website, but how much it costs in total will depend on the individual and how many hours you need. A good instructor could significantly reduce the amount of hours you’ll need and the cost you’ll incur in achieving your target. 

Cost is always going to be a consideration but choosing the cheapest can often prove to be a false economy.  For example, 40 hours @ £40 an hour will lead to a total spend of £1600, whilst a cheaper instructor charging £35 an hour but taking 50 hours will cost £1750 in total.  We will always be competitive with our pricing but believe in what we do and the quality we provide and therefore may not be the cheapest you can find.

There's no set number of lessons required, but on average, learners need around 40-45 hours of professional instruction plus 20 hours of private practice to pass their driving test.

That decision is up to you, but there’s a few things to bear in mind, including what car you can afford after your test (if you learn to drive and take the test in an automatic, you can’t then drive a manual car unless you take the manual test).

The test is the same for both manual and automatic cars.  The driving test will last for approximately 40 minutes.

There are 5 parts to the driving test:

• An eyesight check
• ‘Show Me / Tell Me’ vehicle safety questions
• General driving ability
• Reversing your vehicle
• Independent driving

That will depend on whether you have any previous experience or are a complete beginner. The instructor will discuss this with you and then you’ll agree together what is the best way forward. You may have heard stories of learners spending long periods at the side of the road, but our objective at is to get you driving as quickly as possible on your first lesson. 

Yes. Most people are nervous about learning to drive, and many people feel the effects of anxiety. Most instructors will have plenty of experience in helping you to deal with and manage the effects or nervousness or anxiety.

The current top 10 reasons for failing a driving test are:

• Not making effective observations at junctions
• Not using mirrors correctly when changing direction
• Not moving off safely
• Incorrect positioning when turning right at junctions
• Not responding appropriately to traffic lights
• Not having proper control of the steering
• Not responding correctly to traffic signs
• Not responding correctly to road markings
• Poor positioning on the road during normal driving
• Not driving at a safe and reasonable speed

All driving schools, and / or driving instructors should have terms of business. These terms and conditions are for the benefit of both the instructor / school but also you the pupil.

They set out the agreement between the two parties on the commencement of driving lessons and outline such things as to what to do if needing to cancel a driving lesson.  You will be required to read these terms and to agree to them before starting your driving lessons.

Please read our full terms of business.