Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

AIBU to wonder if a 2 hour driving lesson is too long?

44 replies

Funkyslippers · 23/12/2020 11:53

Just that really. My friend said her daughter found it too long. Driving instructor who is obviously the expert recommended 2 hour lessons and don't do any shorter ones. Just don't want to waste my money if it's better to have 1.5 hour ones

OP posts:

Pashazade · 23/12/2020 11:55

I remember when I learnt I had 2 hour ones so you could really get some solid practice in and get in the habit of what you're learning, but then we reduced to an hour as I gained experience.

Womencanlift · 23/12/2020 11:56

Been a long time since I had lessons but I think 2 hours at the start would be too much. Far too much information to take in. Once I was nearer my test 2 would have been good as it would mean you could get a good run at driving ‘properly’

I’m sure I only had 1 hour lessons and so did most of my friends. Some had them during free periods at school so definitely wouldn’t have been 2 hours

Itsnotagazebo · 23/12/2020 11:58

Where's the test centre? That tends to be the area the test is taken so instructors like to get you familiar with that area. If that's a long way then 2hrs might be needed.

I did 1.5hrs, that was long enough tbh and test centre was 30mins drive away.

Lotsachocolateplease · 23/12/2020 11:58

My ds had 2 hour lessons and found them fine. It made sense for him but everyone’s different and if she’s finding it to too long she needs to speak up!

Enchantmentz · 23/12/2020 11:58

2hrs would have me thoroughly knackered especially in the beginning. 1hr is almost too little but ok for a beginner and 1.5hr is about right for all levels I think.

AcornAutumn · 23/12/2020 11:59

@Womencanlift

I’m sure I only had 1 hour lessons and so did most of my friends. Some had them during free periods at school so definitely wouldn’t have been 2 hours

I only had 1 hour. 2 hours to start would have been far too much. I learned in London traffic though.

Only did two hours after I passed and had a motorway lesson.

ShowOfHands · 23/12/2020 11:59

I only had 2hr lessons. Perfect length imo.

I couldn't have had shorter anyway as our nearest busy town was 30 minutes away so I had a nice pootle there and back with the actual teaching taking around 50 minutes in the middle.

It meant it only took me 7 weeks to learn too. I had 2x2hr lessons a week.

muddledmidget · 23/12/2020 11:59

2 hours was the norm when I was learning, was tough for the first few with so much to take in but you quickly get used to it even after a day at college. In 2 hours you get 40 mins driving practice to get somewhere, 40 mins practising manoeuvres and then 40 mins driving home, whereas in a 1 hour lesson you get 15 mins driving, 30 mins manoeuvres and 15 mins driving home, less a bit of time to fill in the handbook at home so you obviously get much more practice in a 2 hour lesson than 1 hour.

purplemunkey · 23/12/2020 12:00

I think 2hrs is good and is pretty common. If you only have an hour it can take 10/15 mins to get into it each time and then you only really have 45mins to practice. Most of the learning and confidence comes from just doing it lots and lots.

ExclamationPerfume · 23/12/2020 12:00

Two hours is perfect. Plenty of time to practice the test routes.

Thehawki · 23/12/2020 12:00

Most driving instructors around me have 45 minute slots so two would be 90 mins which works out well. I would start off with an hour and build up as soon as it's not just processing loads of info at once.

rorosemary · 23/12/2020 12:01

It helped me to do 2 hour lessons. It is a bit much at first but it taught me how to cope with driving that long and when I need to have a little rest. Once peopke get their license they tend to drive for more than an hour a day as well so it makes sense to practice it. Also, it goves enough time for the instructor to use a bigger area to teach.

Mammma91 · 23/12/2020 12:04

I’m currently doing driving lessons, i had a 1.5 hour lesson for my first and I had my second this morning, which was 1 hour. My instructor recommended to me 1 hour lesson a week so i could get the practice, get to grips with it and if i had no where to learn outside of lessons to bump it up to 2 - 1 hour lessons a week. I found today that a one hour lesson was more than enough for me!

RadGlags · 23/12/2020 12:05

They are all 2 hours round our way as we are relatively rural so it takes 30/40 mins to drive to a test centre. If you want to drive somewhere with big roundabouts and more than one lane you need a longer lesson to factor in the time to get there and back.

showmethegin · 23/12/2020 12:06

I used to have two hours lessons. I started with 1 hour but realised at the beginning anyway I was spending 20 minutes "getting back into it" if that makes sense. I also had a lesson right before my test so I was comfortable and in the zones

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 23/12/2020 12:06

The time I passed the lessons were two hours.
First lot... Could have been an hour. But never went far from my house.
Second lot... Intensive course... That was tiring
Third and final lot... 2hrs. That's where I really 'got it'. There were long breaks between the three sets of lessons (about a year each time)

With that final set, anything shorter would have been pointless. The first twenty minutes and final 20minutes were driving on the NSL country roads in and out of town.

showmethegin · 23/12/2020 12:06

*zone

bravotango · 23/12/2020 12:06

2 hour lessons will feel hard at first but well worth it. You don't waste half the lesson remembering how to work the car and actually have plenty of time driving around (which is what helps you pass!)

Nottherealslimshady · 23/12/2020 12:07

Sounds long to me, a 2hr drive would feel like a long drive and it's harder when you're learning.

Sycamoretrees · 23/12/2020 12:11

2 hours was the right length for me, I found the first half hour helped me remember what we'd done before and helped me relax into the lesson, then enough time to do maneovers and driving around. Before driving home, and debriefing etc. 1 hour just isn't enough if that's all you do, and it will take a lot longer to learn.

LindaEllen · 23/12/2020 12:18

My dad is an instructor and used to let his pupils choose the length of their lessons. He found however than an hour wasn't really long enough to properly get into it, whereas 2 hours meant they were losing focus - so now he only offers 1.5hrs to all pupils, apart from in the lead up to their test when they don't need so much instruction and he'll take them out for a couple of extra hours in the few weeks running up to it in addition to their lessons.

NotExactlyMrsCurrentAffairs · 23/12/2020 12:19

When I was 17 I started having lessons, 1 hour per week. It wasn't enough. I was forgetting things and making lots of mistakes. I gave up and started taking them again in my mid 20's, this time I had 2 x 1.5 hour lessons a week, Much better!
I had time to practise what I'd learnt and time for it to sink in. I passed within a couple of months, would have been sooner but there was a waiting list for tests.

PurpleDaisies · 23/12/2020 12:20

Two hours worked best for me. It’s an individual decision.

CrazyToast · 23/12/2020 12:28

I hated 2 hour lessons, but I was very stressed out by driving, 1 hour was enough for me. Depends on the person really. Try 2 hours and see how it goes.

Boxachocs · 23/12/2020 12:30

My husband is an instructor. 2 hours at the start as they have to be driven to somewhere suitable to start (if they have literally not driven before) and they make far more progress in a 2 hour lesson than 2 single hour lessons. 1 hour lessons later.

Flip

1 2

Swipe left for the next trending thread