I’m looking at intensive driving courses, they seem to suggest that people should be booking up to 40 hours of lessons?

This seems a bit excessive to me or am I just being tight. I mean, how hard can it be?

DVSA average for a learner from complete beginner to test standard is about 44 hours.

Have you any driving experience ?

Driven a large unloaded diesel transit around the work carpark on the clutch. but no, not really.

So no road experience.

The intensive courses are just that – intensive and not for everyone. If you have a bad lesson having normal weekly lessons, you can start afresh the week after whereas on an intensive you can’t get away 😉

To me, 40 hours is about right. You wouldn’t start a new job with no training Monday morning and expect to be left totally alone Friday 5pm. That’s what you do with driving.

Make sure that if you pay for 40 hours, you get 40 hours and are not doubled up with another student. Also bear in mind that out of those 40 hours, at least 2 hours will be alloted to test.

If there are terms and conditions, read them carefully. On some, if the instructor feels you are not ready for test you will lose the £62 fee.

Have you done your theory yet ?

Why not book an hour or 2 as a starter lesson with an instructor and see what they think? Everyone’s going to be different.. I booked 10 hours which was 8 hours learning and 2 for test and passed with a couple of minors. I put that down to having a motorbike first though. I reckon the road experience is way more important than the actual learning how to make a car go in a straight line.

I passed first time, after an intensive course, about 10 years ago. I can’t remember exactly the hours, but 40 sounds about right, as it was a full day, each day, Monday to Friday. That said, a couple of hours a day were spent in a classroom, in a group of about 10 students, just going over theory, and the wednesday afternoon was set aside for the theory & hazard test. Because I’d never driven at all, before the course, the company I went with also suggested that I did an afternoon of ‘basics’ with one of their instructors, on the Saturday before the actual course started.
Intensive courses are a quick way of learning, but there’s no guarantee of a pass and it’s definitely not for everyone. Of the 10 or so people I shared a classroom with, on my course, at least a couple didn’t even pass their theory tests and I think about half didn’t pass their practical. I’m pretty sure I got lucky, as I’d done a mock test a couple of days before the practical and failed that, with 3 major faults!
Whilst previous experience of driving will help, it’s not something you definitely need. I’d never sat behind the wheel of a car, then 10 days later I’d passed my test! The one thing that did help though, is having spent years cycling to work. That definitely helped my awareness of hazards, road positioning, understanding junctions, etc.

I learnt in 4 weeks, with one lesson every lunchtime Mon-Fri, so 20 hours.

40! Bloody Nora.

I know the test has gotten a lot harder over the years, but when we were all learning at 17 “crash courses” (they really did call them that) would be 10 1hr lessons followed by a test!

One thing I can actually add that a bit more useful is that, I actually failed my test at 17 and didn’t go back to to until my early 20s – the hardest thing about it when I was a teenager was not getting all excited and actually paying attention – I would bet money that the stats for older learners would slow less time needed.

I found my attention wandered and I got bored on lessons longer than an hour, drive here, reverse around this corner blah,blah. 2 x 1hour lesson per week, worked for me

The advantage of an intensive course is that you can go for a test quicker. The traditional one-lesson-a week gives you plenty of time to forget stuff, and delays the test for 20+ weeks.
An intensive course gives you a chance to pass quicker.

FWIW, my daughter passed her test first time, 10 days after first sitting behind the wheel, just turned 17.

I did mine in 4 weeks, doing 2 hours per day, 4 days per week. I passed first time. It was all done and dusted in 6 weeks.

I know the test has gotten a lot harder over the years, but when we were all learning at 17 “crash courses” (they really did call them that) would be 10 1hr lessons followed by a test!

[quote]I actually failed my test at 17[/quote]so… more than 10 lessons is actually a good idea? 🙂

I have used this method of passing both my car and HGV tests. I found them to be better suited to my style of learning. I did have about 6 months driving on the roads when I did my car test as my Dad taught me, so it was more a case of practicing the manoeuvres. I seem to remember I had 5 1.5 hour lessons then the test straight after a lesson. That was 17 years ago mind you so probably different now.

Did the same for my HGV licence and again I found it beneficial to be out every day for a week. Probably did about 25 hours practice to pass Class 2 and 15 to pass Class 1. I had a couple of crap days on each but knowing I was driving again the next day helped me forget quicker and get the confidence back.

When I sat my bike test I did weekly lessons, did the CBT first then 6 1.5 hour lessons to get through both parts, I found this a harder way to learn as I had a couple of crappy lessons and I over analysed what I had done wrong and started doubting my ability or which way things had to be done, had I done an intensive course I would have put it behind me quicker and moved on.

I’d say go for an intensive course..

Did my lessons and test it 1 week. So 40hrs sounds about right to me.

I had 10 1hr lessons.

I give you 10 hours before you’ve

A) got destracted and tried to redesign something in the car to be better.

B) broken the car possibly as a consequence of A.

After 40 hours I expect you to turn up the exam in some last minute borrowed car. Or on the wrong day.

40 hours sounds a lot (unless it includes studying for the theory part). I had a few ‘lessons’ with my Dad for the basics (no more than 5 hours total) then 10×1-hour lessons with an instructor, OK I failed first time but on a stupid thing so 1 further lesson (for confidence mostly) and I passed. I’m far from naturally gifted (at anything…) so I would have thought the ‘average’ person would need 15-25 hours of lessons.