How much driving lessons cost these days?

[CateTown]

DD is 17 in the summer and wants driving lessons as her present. How much is the norm?

@CateTown

Did you teach them from "scratch" or did they have lessons for a while?

From scratch, but will pay for a proper lesson before the test because, as others have pointed out, no doubt I have lots of bad habits I'm not aware of

When I look back, I paid £19 an hour nearly 40 years ago ( god that makes me feel old!). So relatively speaking it is probably better value for money now than it was then.

27 per hour,42 hour and half

Definitely go for the more expensive AA or Rac, I learnt with AA in the end £26ph Midlands 2013 instead of a local school about £20 an hour after spending a lot of money not really getting anywhere with the local school and passed and learnt a lot quicker with the more expensive school.

£30 per hour.

DS was 17 last week. We are paying £70 for a 2 hour lesson each week, and the instructor says his average hours to a pass is 24.

So in theory he should be able to take his test in 3 months time. Problem is that even if he passes his theory next month, you cannot book a practical test for love nor money.....

£30 for 1h, £58 for 2h here. As others have said...get your DCs name on more than one waiting list now. I’m on the west coast of Scotland and there’s maybe 15ish instructors that will take learners from my town - the best ones have HUGE waiting lists because of covid stopping things. I got half way through my lessons at the start of last year then found out I was pregnant and had to stop due to shielding (I hated the instructor anyway but he’s the only one that could fit around my work schedule) - have put myself on loads of waiting’s lists and have been told that there is little to no chance of me getting started again before January 😐😐😐😐

£30 an hour here in the Midlands.

@Panicmode1

DS was 17 last week. We are paying £70 for a 2 hour lesson each week, and the instructor says his average hours to a pass is 24.

So in theory he should be able to take his test in 3 months time. Problem is that even if he passes his theory next month, you cannot book a practical test for love nor money.....

Wow that's expensive!

Change of subject but can anyone help with insurance? DS and I are going to share a car initially - I'll take priority on my work days (3 days a week), then the rest will be left for DS to use.

Insurance wise - is it ok for DS to be a named driver on my insurance? Or does he need his own? Obviously it's much cheaper to have him named on mine, but I'm worried about the fact he'll probably drive as much if not more than I will.

I'm sure there was something about this years ago - rules changing maybe?! However I've researched and can't find anything..

@Panicmode1

DS was 17 last week. We are paying £70 for a 2 hour lesson each week, and the instructor says his average hours to a pass is 24.

So in theory he should be able to take his test in 3 months time. Problem is that even if he passes his theory next month, you cannot book a practical test for love nor money.....

I'm surprised your sons instructor has said 24 hours is his average, DS's instructor reckons 45!! Are you sure it wasn't 24 lessons?

We've got an 18 week backlog of tests in our area

Yes, very sure. He has a very good track record. He took DS on a dual carriageway and through a busy town centre on his very first lesson...!

£25-30 an hour here.

24 hours isn’t average, more like 60 hours.

We used Marmalade Insurance for learning - you just insure your car in blocks of time. I did loads of driving with my DD alongside her lessons - and had at least 40 lessons and probably about another 60 hours practice with me.

When I learnt I did a week long course took the test on a Friday. Did an hour on an hour off with another learner 9-5 - learnt so much from watching her mistakes from the back seat. My DH did 4 hours driving every morning - so still 20 hours and took test on Fri PM. No other practice.

@Sssloou

We used Marmalade Insurance for learning - you just insure your car in blocks of time. I did loads of driving with my DD alongside her lessons - and had at least 40 lessons and probably about another 60 hours practice with me.

When I learnt I did a week long course took the test on a Friday. Did an hour on an hour off with another learner 9-5 - learnt so much from watching her mistakes from the back seat. My DH did 4 hours driving every morning - so still 20 hours and took test on Fri PM. No other practice.

Wow that was good!

@Panicmode1

Yes, very sure. He has a very good track record. He took DS on a dual carriageway and through a busy town centre on his very first lesson...!

Crikey! DS and others I've known have only just managed the side roads of a quiet estate on their first lesson

@Isaidnope

24 hours isn’t average, more like 60 hours.

No, I said that was HIS (the instructor's) average.

I know @needadvice54321 - I was a bit taken aback, but his view is that every second not driving is a 'waste' of driving time, so they never spend more than 5 mins stationary at the roadside. Apparently he said that if you can handle the car at speed early on, when you come and do the more difficult town and slow speed bits, you are more confident....we shall see!! (I should add he did take DS to a quiet place first to check his car control first, and DS had already done 3 'Young Driver' hours so it wasn't the completely first time behind the wheel. )

@Panicmode1

I know *@needadvice54321* - I was a bit taken aback, but his view is that every second not driving is a 'waste' of driving time, so they never spend more than 5 mins stationary at the roadside. Apparently he said that if you can handle the car at speed early on, when you come and do the more difficult town and slow speed bits, you are more confident....we shall see!! (I should add he did take DS to a quiet place first to check his car control first, and DS had already done 3 'Young Driver' hours so it wasn't the completely first time behind the wheel. )

It's a good point really, I remember my first driving lesson, I didn't even move the car! Felt a bit robbed of the money really

£260 for a block of 10 hours. It was automatic though, so slightly more expensive

66£ for 2hrs and don't even get a discount if you book a block? This is with AA

Ds (18) passed his test at the beginning of December, I paid £30 for an hours lesson and if you booked 10 you got an extra 30 minutes,

He started taking lessons as soon as he turned 17 in Feb 20, only got to have 4 before lockdown was called and everything stopped, started again in July and paused again in November for lockdown 2.

It was such a relief when he passed as I really didn't want to keep paying for lessons as the test backlog is enormous.

@CamdenLurker

Ds (18) passed his test at the beginning of December, I paid £30 for an hours lesson and if you booked 10 you got an extra 30 minutes,

He started taking lessons as soon as he turned 17 in Feb 20, only got to have 4 before lockdown was called and everything stopped, started again in July and paused again in November for lockdown 2.

It was such a relief when he passed as I really didn't want to keep paying for lessons as the test backlog is enormous.

How many lessons did he have in the end @CamdenLurker ?

@needadvice54321 I've been trying to work it out, I think he had 34 lessons between July - end of Oct and then he had a further three immediately before his test as lockdown lifted on 2 December and his test was on the 7th, so a rough guess of 41 lessons in total, he passed with no minor faults though and is a very confident driver.