To think I can drive 4 hours per day, 4 times a week as a newly qualified driver?

Are you allowed to park in the park and ride overnight? Occasionally you could drive to university and then get the train home and then the opposite the next day? I found driving to university during my masters was a great way to prepare for the day and decompress on the way home. I’d practice presentations that I had recorded and could rehearse out loud whilst sat in the car alone. I listened to relevant podcasts etc on the way home and would use Siri to make notes and set reminders etc. Once you start you might discover someone else would occasionally like to share the drive? For example someone in your home town might stay at the university location Monday- Friday so could car share with them on a Monday morning and Friday afternoon. I think it’s workable and if it becomes too exhausting then you could occasionally use an Airbnb or Premier inn to stay overnight. You’ll make it work. Congratulations on getting selected.

I don't really understand why you need to practice "lots"? Just continue driving and maybe do some motorway practice, getting off and on a few times.

Anyway - I agree with what everyone says. The getting to uni bit is going to be the issue - I have to travel 30 miles to work and despite it being mostly motorway, the shortest time it's taken me to get there is 50 minutes. I'm quite often on the road for 90 minutes, so I leave at 7 in the hope I'll get there for 8.

It's honestly soul destroying. I hate it. I would look into staying over, or even renting a room and moving. If you're a new driver, then buying a car is going to have a cost, but your insurance could be close to £2k and then you've got upkeep and fuel for several long journeys.

What's the route like? I do that twice a week, 2 hours each way without traffic. But it's up the A3 and round the M25, which is far easier than if it was county roads or through cities.
Also factor in traffic. Last time I did it the A3 was shut at the M25, then again at J4, which ment 2 diversions, and added about half an hour. I rarely do it without some sort of hold up.
If you can drive 30 minutes, you can drive 2 hours, driving is driving. It's just the boredom factor really, and how long it takes out of your day.
It's costs me £30 there and back, 100 miles in a medium size car. So you're looking at roughly half the cost of the train.

I don't think your driving experience is the issue. The route will become very familiar to you and you will become confident very quickly so I wouldn't worry about that. I do however feel really bad for you as that sounds very tough no matter how long you've been driving. I hope you fine a cheap hotel nearby and you could do a deal where you stay 1 night per week. I know someone who did this, it wasn't much more than the petrol and worth it for the extra rest.

As a new driver you might find it more tiring than an experienced one as you are still learning what to 'see' etc.

My husband has this drive occasionally to main office. I hate him doing it in a day, and I don't think I could do it myself and concentrate on lectures etc. Driving tired is unsafe, especially in the dark.

I would look into renting a room or Travelodge a couple of nights a week if poss. AirBnB for rooms in a house might be a good place to look. Talk to hosts about whether they would do a discount for a regular night or two per week. DH doesn't like to stay away but TBH by the time he's done that much driving and worked on top he doesn't have the energy to do much at home so I would rather he is safe. He works evenings when he is away, which means he can do more at home when he is here.

With the train you might not always get a seat, but sometimes you will, and whether you do or not it's still more of a mental break than driving. Some people like driving more than others of course. Also it might be worth asking station staff about tickets. There are some old school staff still around who are tickets geeks (it's a thing) and are next level at finding the best deals. The tech has caught up a lot now but I would still ask their advice - it can be hard to weigh up all the options on an app.

I had to drive 5 hours per day for a year due to SEN school runs. I've been driving over 20 years. It nearly killed me. It was awful and soul destroying that I'd go to bed tired, wake up tired, and have to do it all over again.

If the train is too expensive, have you considered commuter coaches? Assuming you are travelling into a major city.

Of course you should be fine but that is a lot of driving and probably lots of fuel costs. If it is a round trip of 250 miles per day four times a week that is probably going to be expensive depending on your car. Pretty tiring too. Do you have to go into Uni or can you do some online stuff?

I don't think the fact that you are a newer driver is an issue if you get in plenty of practice to feel confident on the road, motorways etc. However that distance 4 times a week would be exhausting. My son lives 2 hours away. When we go and visit for the day its a very long day and we are shattered after the 4 hour round trip. I couldn't do it 4 times a week. You could really do with some stopovers.

so i had to travel to a city for a few months by car. It’s about 50 minutes. Going was fine. The way back was frequently a problem especially when bad/dark weather hits and it would sometimes take 3 hours.

Do you need to be home? I would look at the costs of driving against hotels. You might be able to work in the library one evening instead and make good use of the time. If you are in the car you aren’t stuck just being in the city centre as well.
Or you could try university online notice boards and see if there is someone who wants an occasional lodger.

Your car will take a serious battering with that kind of use.

Have you factored in repairs, tyres and frequent servicing?

There WILL be delays and traffic also, so it will almost certainly take longer than two hours.

It's easy to underestimate the demands when we really want something and there's no guarantee an offer will come our way again. I'm very familiar with this training path and my advice stands.

That’s a crazy commute.

If you can, try and get an automatic with adaptive cruise control. That makes motorway driving much easier.

Agree. 4 hours a day is bad enough but you're unlikely to be that 'lucky' with the traffic being as it is nowadays. I reckon you can add an hour onto that per day easily.

A trip from one side of our town to the other should only take us max 15 minutes (4 miles) but 7-8am and 3-5pm are mental and it often takes 45 minutes to do 4 miles at those times.

Could you look at staying overnights at a premier inn or travel lodge, Air B&B or advertise to rent a room for 3 nights a week - some homeowners like to rent out a room just during weekdays. I don't doubt your driving ability, but as others have said that is a long journey to do 4 days a week on top of your coursework. I really think you should at least look at various options for staying close to the university.

I agree - I know someone who does a 4-hour commute to uni three days each week and they are exhausted.

I think you could look into the travelodge idea.

It’s not that you wouldn’t be capable of doing it, more that it is a long way and all the reasons other pps have given. I think you would be mad.

I have worked with people who did a ridiculous commute in my eyes but they seemed to manage. I used to do just half an hour each way and that was great and seemed short. I wouldn’t want to do more than 40/45 minutes each way personally and certainly not that often. Also depends on traffic of course and if it would vary at different times of the day. I used to do across town but friends who did motorway driving found it harder with hold ups sometimes.

I went from hardly ever driving to driving 3 hours a day 5 says a week for similar reasons. It was fine.

Another option, considering this is doctoral level training that might be intense, is to stay over one or two nights a week in a travel lodge maybe to break the journey up. Then you can stay at Uni later, maybe socialise or catch up with work and then drive home.

alternatively you could drive to a train station part of the way there and take the train, splitting the journey.

It's a doctorate - I am absolutely sure that to have got to this point the OP knows there will be a lot of reading and research.

Could you book into a Travelodge/Premier inn for 1 or 2 nights a week! This would cut down on the travelling and the time.

The train might be a good option for getting work done, however at the time I’d be travelling I’m worried that there would be no seats for me to get any work done

Well, if you're driving you definitely won't be getting any work done. Plus, at 4+ hours per day, you'll be exhausting your cognitive and physical resources, so you won't be able to work when you get home either. I'm a bit concerned about the lack of clarity in your analysis, tbh!