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.

I had one lesson a week (and drive no other car at all between) and passed 1st time after 24 lessons.

Nonsense, I had 30 weekly lessons with no practice in between and passed first time.

My son had lessons that lasted 2 hrs each time.
He figured that in a 1 hr lesson, he'd get maybe 45 mins actual driving time/tuition what with all the introductory chat etc.
And in a 2hr lesson he'd get 1hr 45mins

So he felt it was much more effective (and better value for money)
He passed first time

Pressed send too soon
He passed first time after 10 lessons

Though 1 hr a week didn't work for me (I would just be getting into the swing of things and starting to feel confident when the lesson ended) I took an intensive course which was what I needed and passed first time.

but family members have all done a hour a week and passed fine.

I repeat what a number of people have said, driving with others 'teaching' between lessons is a mixed bag. My instructor said half my lessons was him undoing the bad habits I had been taught.

It depends on the teacher and your ability to pick up driving skills.

One of my teachers (I think I had about 4 in total) said they couldn't do lessons for less than 1.5 (I did wonder if this was more to do with being paid...)

Also, outside of the lessons, do you have anyone willing to take you to an abandoned car park Sunday mornings to work on those skills you've learned?

I think it absolutely can be done but you have to ask yourself, realistically, how well you are picking up driving skills as you go along.

I agree with your friend to be honest. If you only have an hour a week, you'll waste 10-20mins of each hour, getting back to the stage you were at a week ago. Then there's traffic.

I highly recommend 2 hour lessons. More progress is made.

Remember, you're always going to get the odd person who will say "Well I did one hour lessons ever x number of weeks and I passed with flying colours" etc etc. However what I said above will apply to the majority of people

1 a week here too, For 9 months. Passed 1st time

One lessons a week is normal. P.s don’t know how long you have been learning for but look at booking your theory test now as wait where I live is 2 months and you can’t book practical until you have passed theory and wait for practical seems to be another 3 months from passing theory. Gives you dates to work to

But that was well over 20 years ago when there was significantly less traffic on the road.

Your friend is a dickhead. I learnt to drive on 1 hour a week and I passed my theory and driving test first time! Not sure what kind of person she is to be telling someone that.

I've not read the full thread but it depends where you live - when i was doing lessons i was in a mid-sized town but it didn't have a lot of complicated driving. I had to have a 2hr lesson in order to get to the town where the test centre was, to get to traffic lights, multi-lane roundabouts and a number of other things i'd have to negotiate in the test.

I learned by only having a lesson a week

Ex DP is a driving instructor who is currently teaching our daughter an hour a week. I did ask about more lessons or an intensive course but he doesn’t recommend it due to the amount of concentrating you have to do

I passed mine first go, no faults, with 4 lessons and a pre test (which I failed). This was back in a time when you didnt need a minimum number of lessons.

However, I did practice A LOT. My Mum took me out every single day for nearly a year driving in some shape or form; to the shops, home from school , to visit family. I practiced parking for hours around my estate, hill starts, all that. I do think you need more than 1 hour a week of driving to pass, but that doesnt have to be a lesson. If you have anyone who is a qualified driver to sit with you, you should be driving a much as possible.

I passed first time and only had one hour a week. I was also in my early 40's and didn't have any other practice apart from an hour or so in the car we bought just before my test. Husband taking me out in the car wasn't a great experience for either of us, mainly because driving advice had changed a bit in the almost 3 decades since he passed his test.

I had way above the average number of lessons, but not a ridiculous amount. I wasn't a natural driver and obviously learnt at a later age than most.

Whatever your reasons, mine was financial, you should be fine.

I did!

Don’t listen to your friend; listen to your instructor!

I learned to drive when I was 17. I paid for it all myself so one lesson a week was all I could afford. I think it took me 9 months?

My driving instructor did change the time of day and day of the week so that I could get experience of driving in lots of different traffic styles.

He wanted me to drive in peak, off-peak, dark, light, dusk and in different weather conditions s too.

After I passed I paid for a motorway lesson. That was a good thing to have done.

You'll learn more about driving after you've passed anyway.

You'll be fine. Good luck.

I had two hour lessons once a week and that was all I had. It took me about 5 months to pass my test first time. My friend who had her own car and had extra lessons etc. passed in about 3 months. I physically couldn't afford more than I had though, nor could I afford to buy a car or know anyone who could take me out to do extra lessons. I did pay for a couple of extra lessons a week towards my test to spend time on parking and anything I wasn't confident with. The quality of the lessons is what's important, and ensuring you get along with your instructor. I had a bad one for my first few lessons and it made me really nervous. I wished I'd switched much sooner when I met the instructor I passed with!

I'd actually say from my experience a two hour lesson was too long, especially at first. I wasn't really concentrating by the end. An hour and a half was about perfect. Problem with an hour in my location is that it takes 20 minutes either way to get to the local town so it didn't leave much time for actually practising the driving conditions I'd see in my test (and I knew the country roads like the back of my hand anyway). If you live in the town your test will be in and you won't be driving when there's loads of traffic that might be less of an issue though.

You won’t know OP until you start taking the lessons. Some people take the driving very easily, others do not. This is why some people pass first time with only a few lessons and others may fail and have had lots of lessons and practice driving

Take your lesson. See how it goes. It’s it is totally alien to you, you find it difficult etc. Why not then save up enough funds to have two lessons a week and do this within a few months if your test.

I passed first time from
One hour lessons a week. I did however ask lots of questions, go back over things that I wasn’t sure off and basically badgered the instructor. I was quite a demanding pupil I suppose haha.