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 schooloffering 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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