How much does it cost to get a driving licence?

Posted on June 4th, 2010 by admin, under Advice for Learner Drivers.

In our last post we were talking about getting a driving licence in the UK. Today we will look at a financial side of learning. I guess nobody would expect learning to drive could be cheap. Check out how much you will have to pay and how you can cut your tuition expenses.

Statutory fees

Your overall expenses can be divided into two groups. One group includes statutory fees. In other words, fees you will pay to driving authorities. Your first pounds will go to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for your provisional licence. You are not legally allowed to start learning to drive without provisional licence. So you will need to pay £50 to get started. The next fee is £31 – that much you pay to take your theory test. Be aware that if you fail to pass your test, the fee is not refundable. You will have to pay again to get a second chance. Finally, you will have to part with £62 before you can book your practical driving test. It works the same way as with your theory test. Failed test means you’ve lost your money. There is no way to cut on your statutory fees other than passing your tests with flying colors.

Tuition fees

It is this portion of your expenses that may greatly vary. The total of your tuition expenses will much depend on a driving school or driving instructor you choose and your driving experience.

Choosing the right driving school or driving instructor is crucial if you want to get value for money. Make sure you avoid two equally disadvantageous extremes – overpriced offerings from heavily advertised schools and underpriced bargains from self-employed driving instructors. What you need to search for is a driving school that is able to provide a combination of the highest pass rate and reasonable price for value. But what is that reasonable price?

We have done a research on the web, asking industry professionals and driving instructors about a basic cost of driving lesson. The cheapest you can find is about £10-12 and the most expensive may reach £25. Remember the extremes? Right! We are looking for a reasonable average, which is actually a fair market price. That average stands at about £17-19.

Having calculated an average fee for driving lessons, we now need to find out how many lessons you need to get enough practice for your practical driving test.  We will look at a learner who is between 17 and 25 years of age with no or little driving experience. Based on our extensive teaching experience we can say that a person from this group will need to get up to 25 lessons. With 25 driving lessons and £17-19 average, we arrive at £425-475 to complete your driving courses.

Note that more experienced learners will need fewer driving lessons so their expenses would be lower.  More lessons are required for learners who are too nervous or timid. Another thing that can add to the number of lessons is your age. Experienced driving instructors say that learners older than 25 basically need to get more hours of training.

Driving lessons are not the last thing a learner has to pay for. Obviously, you will need plenty of training aids to get ready for your driving test. It will depend on each individual learner how many aids he or she would use. The basic cost of training aids that you REALLY need is around £10-15.

Interested to have a look at the total?

Statutory fees: £143
Training aids: £15
Driving lessons: £425-£475
TOTAL: £583-£633

Cutting down on your costs

We said earlier that a key to saving your money is choosing a driving school offering a reasonable price for driving tuition. Instead of bombarding you with sales pitches, we invite you look at what Surepass driving school has to offer and think for yourself.
Operating a vast network of schools and employing its own staff of qualified driving instructors, Surepass is able to charge from £15.5 a lesson. That is almost £5 less than an industry average so you can save up to £125 with your entire driving course. For this money you are getting tuition from reliable driving instructors who are carefully assessed by the company. Instead of one-size-fits-all approach, each learner can get a tailored course based on previous experience and personal abilities.  School will also provide the training aides you need for your theory test for free. And, finally, Surepass uses the new air conditioned Vauxhall Corsa for their driving lessons, making your driving experience a pleasure.

The choice is yours!

Stay tuned to driving-instructor-trainings.co.uk for driving news and helpful articles for learners and driving instructors.

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Getting a Driving Licence in the UK

Posted on May 23rd, 2010 by admin, under Advice for Learner Drivers, Driving Test.

I guess one of the things lots of young people want to get out of their 17th birthday is to start learning how to drive. Our post will brief 17-year-olds and anyone wanting to get a full driving licence on what they need to do to make it happen.

Provisional Licence

For starters, you need to apply for a provisional licence. You are not allowed to take driving lessons until your provisional licence has been accepted and in your possession. Application process is easy. You simply need to fill out a driving licence application from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and pay a provisional licence fee of £ 50. Provisional licence, however, puts drivers under certain restrictions.

1. You must clearly display L-plates on the front and rear of your car.
2. You can’t drive a car alone. Learner driver must be supervised by a full driving licence holder aged at least 21.
3. Learner drivers are not allowed to use motorways.

Driving test

If you are not the Queen, who’s not required to have a driving licence in order to drive a car, you will have to pass the UK driving test before you can get your desired full driving licence. Worried about deteriorating road safety, Driving Standard Agency (DSA) continues its efforts to improve the ways learner drivers are tested. We have seen some changes introduced over the past several years and further revisions are on the way. Below we will try to clarify the driving test process and new DSA requirements. The driving test currently consists of two basic parts: theory test and practical driving test.

Theory Test

Your theory test will include two parts: multiple-choice questions test and hazards perception test. These are not separate parts. If you pass one and fail the other, that means you’ve screwed up the whole test and you will have to start again. A fee to take the theory test is £31. If you fail the test, you lose your money with it.

During the multiple-choice part you will be asked 50 questions in 57 minutes, which makes about one minute per question. To pass the test, you need to have 43 right answers. Since last September, DSA introduced one case study-style question to this part. There is nothing new about case studies as you’ve had plenty of them at school. The hazard perception tests starts a few minutes after multiple choice questions part. You will be shown 14 driving episodes with developing hazards. You task will be to identify the hazard as soon as possible. The highest score you can get for each hazard is five. The pass mark is 50 out of 75.

Practical Driving Test

Once you’ve passed theory test you are allowed to take practical driving test that is also made up of two parts. Before you can do that, you need to complete your driving lessons schedule and pay a fee of £62 (weekday fee). The first part of driving test was introduced in 2003 and is called show me/tell me. Your examiner will ask you some maintenance related questions. It is called show me/tell me because you will be challenged with one “show me” question and one “tell me” question. For example, your examiner may ask you to show him where to check oil level and then ask to tell him how to change a tyre. If you fail to answer either one or both questions, this would count as 1 driving fault. After show me/tell me challenge you will proceed to your practical driving test. What happens during the test? Your examiner will give you directions which you should follow. You driving will demonstrate to the examiner how safe you are on the road and how well you can read the road signs. You’ll be also asked to perform manoeuvres including reversing around the corner, turning in the road and reverse parking. A candidate is allowed to make no more than 15 driving faults while the test lasts 40 minutes. Here is important update for those are only planning to get their driving licence. As part of Learning to Drive Programme initiated by DSA, from October 2010, a new part will be introduced to the practical driving test, Assessment of Competence to Drive Independently. During this part, the candidates will be driving on their own without directions from examiner. DSA says the new part will not add extra time to the test.

This post covers basic steps you need to take to get your full driving licence in the UK. Follow updates on the blog to get some useful advice on how to deal with your theory and practical tests and ensure your first pass.

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Learner Driver Theory Test Revamped

Posted on October 26th, 2009 by admin, under Driving Instructor, Driving Schools, Driving Test.

Learning to Drive programme launched by Driving Standard Agency (DSA) is coming into its new phase with the introduction of changes to learner driver theory test. The Learning to Drive was planned as a long-term programme to overhaul learner driver test practices and regulations with the aim to strengthen the way drivers are trained and tested at driving schools.

From late September this year, learner drivers taking their theory test will face case study questions. As of now only one new question has been added in each theory exam for drivers, motorcyclists and moped riders. Instead of just choosing correct answer out of multiple-choice list, learner drivers will find a case study of driving episode. Candidates will judge by context and answer the case study question in the common way by choosing the right answer from a multiple-choice list using mouse or touch screen. Case studies are not something learners never heard about before as they are being extensively used in education.

DSA announced about the introduction of one new question based on existing multiple-choice questions so learner drivers could adapt to the concept. DSA officials, however, say they plan to include more case studies into exams in future. The reason for revamping the approach to the theory test was that case study can really put candidates into the context and show how well they understand what they have learnt during their theory training.

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Hazard Perception

Posted on August 28th, 2008 by admin, under Driving Test, Driving Tips.

Hazard Perception is the drivers ability to recognise a situation on the road which is either dangerous, or has the potential to develop into a dangerous situation in which some driver action will be required. Good hazard perception requires good visual scanning and anticipation, and a good understanding of how driving situations can develop.

Why the need for Hazard Perception

• Over confidence
  Young drivers rate their own performance as above average. They are more likely to equate “good” driving with the ability to master the controls of the car at higher speeds. However, vehicle control is only part of being a good, safe driver.
• Under-estimation of risk
  Young drivers take longer to develop the risk assessment skills required to safely interact with other road users. They detect and assess hazards more slowly, and they also under-estimate the risk of a hazard resulting in a crash and over-estimate their ability to deal with hazards.
• Age
  Young and novice drivers have a higher crash rate because they are inexperienced, their cognitive and perceptual skills are not fully developed and they take more risks. They also pick up bad habits quickly.
• Lack of driving experience
  Teenage drivers have less training and experience, which leads to more traffic violations.
• Poor attitudes
  The fact that violations, rather than errors or lapses, are associated with crashes suggests that they are caused by a poor attitude to road safety, rather than a lack of skill on the part of the drivers. While it is necessary to train drivers to a basic level skill, it is also necessary to persuade or constrain drivers not to violate. Therefore road safety efforts should be focussed on attitude change as well as initial skill training.

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