DD - learning to drive

Book it. When I was 17 I had 4 months of lessons. About 3 hours a week plus some driving in my older cousin's van (off road). And I passed first time.

I’d book it, but that sounds like a huge amount of lessons. DS had about 20 hours with the instructor then we started taking him out once the instructor said we could (after about 4 hours tuition).

Still irrelevant at DS passed test easily 10 days later. But yeah if a weakness was pointed out we could've practiced in his own car. Had to laugh when DS saw the instructor a few days after test as he parked his car with P plate on and called hello and pointed to it lol

I don’t think the instructor should have ditched your daughter, he or she should’ve taken the time to explain their reasoning behind why they didn’t want her to do the test. I’m just guessing from the many conversations I’ve had with other instructors who aren’t willing to take a student to test.

Had I been your daughter’s instructor you’d have known exactly why. You might not have agreed but it’d have been gently explained.

I’d agree with all that. Sending one of mine into test on Saturday who lives in a house with land, she’s mucked about in cars for years. She’ll have had 20 hours of tuition. Her test was moved nearer because she’s good enough.

If you’re anything like me at the moment you’ll have more than enough students. If I can get mine through fast then I will.

Pretty much every instructor I know would jump at the chance to teach your daughter.

It isn't the guaranteed income - filling a diary gap isn't difficult at the moment.

It's knowing that there are sensible expectations of the process and the timescales involved. Personally I would be advising you to get the theory done ASAP, get a practical booked because it will likely be March or something next year at most test centres if she passed the theory tomorrow.

I'm happy to teach someone who hasn't passed a theory yet, and as far as I am aware so are most instructors. I will avoid giving my honest opinion on the theory test, but it involves chocolate fireguards.

I would also mention that if in a month or two it looks like it will take longer the test can be moved back, but in reality as she already knows the basics of car control that seems extraordinarily unlikely if she found car control pretty easy on private land. In fact I would also be suggesting that we might well be able to scale back lessons down the line just to keep things bubbling along if progress is as rapid as I suspect it will be.

I did this, booked for feb and started lessons early Oct, and passed first time as a 36 year old geriatric learner!

Hopefully if they book they can get a cancellation for an earlier test by the sounds of it.

When I was 17 passing my driving licence was something I wanted as soon as possible and I got it a few weeks after my 17th.

6-12 months is a really long time to be stuck doing driving lessons especially if you can already drive on private land.

where we live my daughter can get a special licence where she can drive a car but it’s restricted to 30kph per hour at 15. And she will be doing this within a few days of turning 15.

I did this for both of my DC. We booked the theory test about four months before they each turned 17, for the closest available day after their birthdays and booked the driving test the day they passed their theory test. We got a test date for DS five months later and DDs six months later. I then used an app to swap DD's test for an earlier date as she was a fast learner. She passed 12 weeks after her 17th birthday!

You can also use the apps to swap for a later test if your DD isn't ready in time. They are quite cheap (I think it was £20 a month) and you can leave them to autobook a new date (you select the dates and times you want it to search for a test). We used Driving Test Now but all the apps are similar.

She won’t pass by this winter though, so may as well calm down slightly about such heavy pushing over driving. Evidently you have plenty of disposable income so she will have enough lessons to become a competent driver over the next 6 - 12 months. Rather than be yet another teen who rushed to be on the roads for whatever reason. The test itself is less than an hour and not reflective of how well she would take to the roads by herself, in a dark remote area. I’m sure you’d sooner make sure she was fully confident even with a pass paper saying she drove well enough for a tiny amount of time.

Honestly impossible to predict DS passed in 8 weeks. His girlfriend is a year in with 5 failed tests behind her. But you may asnwell book you can always cancel.

I will be pushing drive for my daughter too it’s such a vital skill.

1. well you can’t book it now OP because they need a theory number pass.
2. you would need an instructor that was also free on that date and willing to test her on that date. Most won’t be happy with a booked date before lessons even begin as it puts on extra pressure

Does she have the app on her phone for the theory test? It appears to use the actual test questions, mine used to play it like a game and try to get 100% consistently so they knew the answers and got no errors on the test.

As your DD knows already how to start and put in gear and drive a car, I'd get some cones or obstacles and practice the reverse parking, parallel parking moves etc at MILs - we had off road practice too, helps massively. Then I would see if you can add DD to your car insurance, and get her to drive you EVERYWHERE. The more hours practice she can do the better. Eldest had just 10 lessons and passed no minors, but did drive several hundred miles for us for practice! She'll be fine by February

It was the 90s in London I took my test. A d was said then. I think I had 20 lessons and 2 twsts

DS passed in May.
His instructor booked his test after his second lesson, so I would definitely book it.
I know a few driving instructors, apparently the average hours needed to pass is 40, so 3 hours a week is 13 weeks? Therefore I'd expect her to be more than ready by February

I wouldn’t book a Feb test now for someone who doesn’t already know how to drive. She is likely to miss lessons over Christmas and due to bad weather, so I would probably aim for Spring time. I could be biased though because I was doing lessons for a year before I passed.

That’s a lot and at the price per hour that’s a big £££- i had 24 hrs as an intensive course and that was more than enough.

Though it was a while ago.

@Gogogo12345 wrote: "There seem to be far far more driving lessons taken before tests these days. When I learned it was said an hour for each year of your age. Please tell me why it seems over double that now"

That was certainly what used to be said as long ago as the 1960s when my dad learned, but the roads are a smidge more complex and crowded than they were. So 40+ years ago if you had to change lanes for example, there was a good chance were that there wasn't anything alongside you, so all the examiner would see is a mirror check and a 'safe' lane change. Now chances are there is a vehicle you need to wrangle, so it is more likely that poor judgement of another vehicle's speed and position will be exposed whilst performing an identical task. Multiply this by dozens of hazard interactions per test, and you'll see why it takes longer. So luck was a more important factor in the past - many tests would have encountered few difficult to handle situations - essentially it is hard to fluke a pass these days.

11 years of teaching learners has taught me that very, very few people can easily pass with fewer than 30 hours experience from scratch. For the majority somewhere between 40 and 100 hours would be typical (not necessarily all with an instructor, but I would guess I spend somewhere between 30 and 50 hours with the majority of my learners if teaching from nothing, plus any private practice they get).

DH is an instructor & won’t take on someone that has their test booked & only wants a few lessons leading up to it & I believe a lot of other instructors do the same so I would avoid that OP.

Well I don't know about whether he had a " major " fault in one lesson but tbh why would that make any difference whatsoever and to ditch him 10 days before test is extreme. My DD did fail her first test with a major and her instructor seemed to think she was ready.

There seem to be far far more driving lessons taken before tests these days. When I learned it was said an hour for each year of your age. Please tell me why it seems over double that now

Instructor here, the issue is if we have too many test fails it creates triggers which means a standards check. So we have to be careful that people are ready because ultimately we could lose our licence and our livelihood. I’m wondering if your son maybe had a major fault on one of his lessons which made the instructor nervous about taking him. Of course that doesn’t apply to you taking him, parents can take along anyone at any standard without being penalised. (This is why being an examiner must be scary at times! You don’t know what you’re going to get.)

The system isn’t pleasant for instructors sadly.

I’m an instructor and would not be put off by that. If she’s had off-road experience it really helps, it drastically cuts down the amount of hours. We have a test swap group locally so if a student wasn’t ready we’d look to move the test, but after 60 hours I imagine she would be.

Is she practising outside of her lessons too? If she is she will probably be ready way before the test date. Then hopefully should get a cancellation. There’s nothing worse than lessons with someone who’s totally ready, you feel redundant!