Driving lessons - is this normal?

Not normal, no. You've got a scammer.

I had lessons about 35 years ago. On the first one rhe instructor went over rhe controls, and rhe only place I drove was an empty car park and from there on to a side road. Other times the road would be busy due to the school, but it was an inset day so no one about.

I had the prepaid 10 lessons and chose to change to a different driving school/instructor. The new one gave me the choice of driving or letting him drive at first. I let him drive to the industrial estate ( no one around in the evening) and then we swapped so he could see what stage I was at.

Different instructors will have different teaching methods.

Well I learnt a bit before you and I was on public roads from the word go.

I passed my test a couple of months ago and I drove in my first lesson.

My instructor drove me to a quiet road about ten minutes away and then I drove up and down a few times and then I drove around some country roads.

I think he drove me home on the first day but after that first lesson I drove from home and back.
After that I gradually started to drive different routes and busier, faster roads.

At the start of learning to drive they need to take you to a safe place, they don't want people that haven't a clue driving along the roads where there are lots of cars and pedestrians. even when I had lessons 40 years ago it was like this.

First lesson my instructor parked up the car and explained all the parts (gears clutch etc) and what they were used for and some basics about the car and what you do every time you get in the drivers seat. Then we switched seats and I didn't drive but learned how to adjust my seat and mirrors etc.

Second lesson he drove to a car park I learned how to drive very slowly and brake etc and then he drove him. On to a proper road on the next lesson.

I learned about 6 years ago.

I learnt age 31 in 1989, in west London. Instructor drove me from work (I was a teacher) a couple of minutes to a quiet estate (describing what he was doing as we travelled), then stopped and got me to sit in the driving seat. Then he took me through the controls, etc and I was driving within about 10 minutes! I drove for almost all the first lesson and - obviously - from the start thereafter. He was a fantastic, very calm instructor.

Currently learning to drive. Have been driving through the whole 2 hour lessons from the get go. For the first 2-3 lessons it was on the housing estate I live in, but even then we were driving the whole time. We’ve pulled over to discuss things, as and when required but would then get right back to it.

I drove on my first lesson, but my dad had already taught me the basics in the local industrial estate on Sunday's so I could already change gear etc. Not saying I didn't bunny hop an awful lot...

my DD had one TERRIBLE instructor who did this And from lesson 2 she would make her take a bus to meet her ( fine with that) then drive round like an industrial estate and back roads then the instructor would drive her home as part of the lesson in teh lesson time - This kept happening and it would have been pretty much back roads back home. THEN she said that she didnt submit some paperwork ( she was qualified) it was some additional course - so she couldn[t teach for 2 months - but of course she never helped find another instructor so DD was beasically left high and dry. She never contacted us when this supposed paper work came though and we never contacted her again - If she had a website we would so leave a bad review... Thankfully DD has now a great instructor and has put in for her test .

Mine all drove from first lesson. DS1 was very shocked that only he had a steering wheel, he was under the wrong impression of what dual controls meant

DP is an instructor. That isn’t normal, no. That said, he teaches for 90 mins because they do need a few minutes to go through the basics, and he would usually take time during a lesson to stop and ask the pupil to reflect, so if you are only in the car for an hour, getting to a motorway or dual carriageway, and town driving and manoeuvres-doesn’t leave actually much time to drive. But most of his pupils drive from and to home on their first lesson. Just one other thing-a good instructor will teach to drive, not just pass a test. So to use a car park, get petrol, a drive through. And as things will have changed, if a pupil is driving with a parent or other adult, he will take the parent/adult out with the pupil so they can see what the pupil needs to do and the teaching can be consistent.

No not normal.

If they're a decent instructor they'll be receptive to the individual student and gauge whether they think its a good idea or if they need a bit more time, there isn't really a standard first lesson. I'd see how it goes personally, if more concerns rear their heads find someone else, but i wouldn't presume they're doing anything wrong as such. I always preferred 2 hour lessons otherwise you spend longer setting the car up in 1 hour lessons compared to just doing it once in a 2 hour one, they'd also probably have driven on the first lesson in a 2 hour one.

DD is heading towards 20 hours of driving lessons. She starts at 7am(!) and gets dropped at school for 9am. I usually take a look to see where she is to make sure she’ll be back to school for her first lesson (they are allowed to skip registration/free periods if having driving lessons).

Before we booked/managed to find an instructor we had given her 2 x 1hr lessons at a kids driving course (so on pretend roads at a showground/airfield).
She already knew a fair bit of the basics by then, so 1st lesson headed off to some backstreets about a mile away (it was always dark and usually wet).

We were encouraged to book 2 hour slots to ensure plenty of practice to reinforce each skill and she seems to prefer that. It gives them time to get across to the routes used by the nearest driving centre.

Actually getting a test is more of a Herculean task round here. (I am using Testi to hopefully get a better date and can sometimes see tests being released in batches about 70 minutes apart on the same day at some centres, so somebody must block booking).

Mine drove on the roads from the first lesson.

Hmm that's interesting - and dodgy. It's definitely piggy backing. He even let me sit in on a lesson to see how DS was going! He's a good instructor otherwise. DS had 3. One seems to have been useless, one DS hated after one lesson but this guy is a good teacher. He does have the dual controls obviously so not sure if that affects insurance.

I thought the same - I only passed two years ago, and my instructor said it’s called ‘piggybacking’ and it’s not supposed to happen anymore. I asked as it was the set up of my first instructor when I was 17

I got in passenger side had a 5 minute talk on where everything is then switched seats to start driving.

I passed 17mths ago and my instructor picked me up and drove a couple of streets away. We stopped had a chat about the car etc then we switched and I drove around town being instructed on what to do. Had one other lesson that was an hour long then we switched to two hours. Other than first lesson i drove from pick up to drop off

Depends a lot on where you live, and every instructor has their own way of doing things (to a certain extent).

Some people might want to spend a bit of time getting a feel for how much someone knows, how confident they are, what they're worried about etc, first... then get them driving from the second lesson.

If its only a 45 minute lesson, I can't see a problem with that. If they've paid for a 2 hour lesson and the instructor spends the whole two hours just telling them stuff.. then thats not great, no, they should be able to get the new learner sussed out in half that time or less.

DD drove straight away. Instructor didn’t drive at all. She had one off street junior driver lesson a week before so knew what are was doing though.

My eldest daughter was behind the wheel within minutes on her very first lesson, and also drove home.

Yah it’s normal. There’s no way on a second lesson my son could have driven the inbetween bit. He was collected from school and driven via main roads and a dual carriageway to a quiet place did some driving and then he was driven home. Again to come home it would have been a hill start and major junction etc. they need to get to grips with the basics first. He’s on about lesson seven now and drives the whole time.