My friend just told me I will never pass my driving test only doing a 1 hour a week lesson

[Evangeline1992]

Is she right? :( I am not in a position to afford any more than that right now and feel a bit deflated now. My first lesson is tomorrow and she said I might as well not bother as it isn't enough time.

"Thanks everyone. She actually told me that no decent instructor would even consider doing an hour lesson as it is a waste of time"

My god, she's full of shit and doing it to put you down. Most people only have an hour long lesson once a week around here.

Do it and prove her bloody wrong.

I had an hour a week, so did my children. We all passed first time with no other practice.

"You really need to be practising yourself in between lessons, otherwise you are going to be spending a hell of a lot of money on 'lessons'."

@ZombieFan that's rubbish. And can be counter productive actually. Believe it or not but driving instructors tend to be the best 'teachers' for this type of 'lesson'.

Go for it OP. Come back in 6/7 months and tell us you passed

What a shitty friend. Is she an instructor ??

The only week I had 2 lessons was the week of my test.

I had one a week and so did all my friends back when we were 17/18. Passed first time. Don't worry about it, especially if you're giving yourself a year-18 months to pass the test that's plenty of time. I think I may have had about 20 lessons but can't quite remember.

I had one lesson a week, 17 lessons and no extra practice and passed first time. Some people can have hundreds of lessons and never pass. I'd start like that and see how you take to driving, it's like any other skill, some people take to it easily and others it is harder for.

I started 1 hour a week in the July and passed in the September with 2 hour lessons in the week or 2 leading up to the test. It can be done. Confidence is key.

I had one hour a week for about a year but I was a bit nervous, passed first time. When it was coming up to my test I did do a few 2 hour slots just to boost my confidence. Her comments weren't nice, ignore her and do your own thing. There's plenty of posters here showing that it can be done! Good luck

Defo doable, I only drove in lessons, started at one a week, but went to two near the end. I had 14 lessons in total and passed first time.

Absolute horse shit.
Back in the day no one had more than one hour a week. Most of us passed the first time.
Your friend is a dick! Why are they saying stuff like this before you've even started!
Go for it! And good luck.

Ditch your 'friend' because she's not one!
It's very unlikely to take a year. More like 3 - 6 months.

I had one lesson a week, passed first time, and no practice inbetween.

This is actually how most people learn to drive. Any additional lessons in the week are a bonus, not the norm.

And I think that your 12-18 months timescale is certainly achievable. I passed in less than a year at that 1 hour a week.

A lot will depend on the instructor. Don't hesitate to switch if your initial instructor makes you feel uncomfortable with how they're teaching you. I didn't gel with my first, and got on great with the second.

I passed first time with one lesson a week . Only went to two the week before my test and on my test day . It took me 15 months because like you I couldn't afford to do any more but I had no deadline so it wasn't a problem at all . Go for it 😊

Friend?? I would dump any ‘friend’ who was so unsupportive.

If the friend said they wanted to do a degree but it’s going to take 6 years part-time, you wouldn’t tell them not to bother starting, would you?

It doesn’t matter how long you take to pass, but maybe view it as an opportunity to have an hour to yourself to do something that’s just for you, like you would with a hobby like running.

Honestly, just carry on and ignore the mean bitch.

Possibly it depends where you are based compared to the test centre.

I needed 2 hour sessions because we lived a far way away from the test centre. so if it was only an hour lesson by the time we got there it would be time to get back.

Could maybe have got away with having some weeks doing 1hr and other weeks 2 hours

Op have you booked your first lesson?
It might be worth saving for a few months so you can do double lessons to start, get you going then drop to single lessons before doing double lessons again as you near your test.

It's a long time since I did lessons but my instructor reckoned that people needed 1.5 lessons for every year of age, so an 18yo would need circa 27 lessons, and a 30 yo around 45 lessons

But it is doable with only one lesson a week. My mum and I both passed with only one lesson a week. I was in my 20s she in her 50s.

A friend of a dd passed after just 12 lessons, and AFAIK no in between practice. Mind you she was extremely nervous of driving for quite a while afterwards, but she’d learned and taken the test in a much quieter area, where her folks had a holiday home.

Many decades ago my DF did the same, 12 lessons paid for by his company since he needed to be able to drive for a new job. They wouldn’t have paid for any more, so what with 4 dcs + mortgage + money always very tight, he had a great incentive to pass first time.

@Evangeline1992

So how was your first lesson, OP?

Just do it you never know! Keep positive.

My DH thought the same about me so I started having 2 hour lessons but I got really tired after 1.5 hours and the instructor actually advised we reduce it by half an hour. 2 hour lessons just felt really long to me and dragged!

You definitely can pass doing 1 hour a week, a couple of my friends did.

I never had more than an hours lesson a week and I passed. It was certainly the norm back when I did mine. I went out once with my dad and returned crying after ten minutes because he is a shit teacher and I kept stalling so don’t get hung up on that either! Your friend is talking rubbish.

Good luck!

Going to guess she failed first time or more and had loads of lessons?

Just because it took her ages doesn't mean it will for you basically. The norm is an hour lesson a week, or at least it was when I was learning. Ignore her, she's an idiot.

Ds2 is doing driving lessons we booked a test in February and were told to bring it forward a month as we were wasting our money

He missed two lessons recently and we told him to ask her when to make them up and she said not to bother

We got him to ask whether he should up his lessons to twice a week and she told him he should be thinking of bringing them down to once a fortnight. He has an hour once a week

He is the 3rd child and they all had hour lessons, dbil is a driving instructor and he said when he took ds1 and dd out that it was 50/50 if they passed at that stage...so a lot of it is luck as well as skill

He has never been on roads with dh, he has driven round a carpark a few times (though he isnt keen because her car and his car are very different)

It was many years ago but i had 24 lessons, no practicing before i passed my test (2nd time)

I really think its how well you pick it up....someone might need a lot less lessons some may need many more

Good luck evangeline

I passed in 12 weeks doing one lesson a week and no practice after my instructor got a cancellation and though we may as well go for it - it would be good practice. I was very surprised and I think so was he!