To think driving lesson prices have reached a ridiculous new level?

[AngeloMysterioso]

Have been learning fairly intensively for the past couple of months while DH was off work (he’s back now) and reached the point of having mock tests etc. Was originally paying £80 per 2 hour lesson- instructor didn’t offer block booking discounts.

However, no tests are available in my area for months and months - I’m lucky that via an app I managed to get a cancellation slot, but it’s not til the beginning of September (and I booked that in April!)

Practice opportunities are going to be pretty thin on the ground now DH is back at work, there’s not enough time between him finishing and the DC’s dinner/bath/bed etc to go out during the week, so I’m limited to weekends to practice.

In order to keep myself at test level I really need to keep having lessons, however my instructor has now upped the rate to £90 per two hour lesson. There is a £20 discount if you block book 10 hours, however that’s still £30 more than I was being charged previously. I simply can’t afford to pay to keep having lessons at that rate for next three months, but if I don’t have lessons and end up failing then there’s going to be another ridiculous wait for a test during which time I’ll need more lessons, and it becomes a vicious cycle.

an increase in cost is to be expected to cover the increase in fuel.

its shit if you are learning but can’t be helped. The instructors have to have a viable business.

That's mad. Where are you? I would expect to pay more in London but I'm in Hertfordshire so not that far out and it's less than £35 an hour here.

Demand for instructors are sky high and coupled with the rise in the price of petrol, I'm not surprised to hear that lesson prices are going through the roof.

@TidyDancer I’m East Sussex/Kent border.

That's outrageous! £90 for 2 hours!

I’m learning and bought yet another block of 10 lessons this week and paid £240. My instructor has a policy of not increasing the price you paid when you started learning so what I pay hasn’t changed but he now charges £29 per single lesson or £260 for 10 to new students.
I’m in the West Midlands.

If they are doing 9 hours days 5 days a week that's over £2k a week!!

Fuel hasn't gone up that much.

My son managed to get a cancellation really quickly through an app, as did a friend's son recently. Keep looking.

I can imagine that a fair few driver instructors will be hedging their pricing at the moment to try and make sure they don't need to bump up the cost again in the near future.

Fuel is eye-watering as a private motorist, I can't imagine how much it must cost to run a car that has learners (who aren't the most fuel efficient drivers) for the majority of the day.

They need to make a profit to make the business sustainable, I've got to be honest though, those prices would make learning unattainable for us at the moment. Thankfully DD1 is a few years off being allowed to learn - that's a worry for tomorrow's money.

Beginning of the year I was paying £1.42 a litre - the cheapest I can get now is £1.68 a litre. That's a fair jump in my budget - an extra £10 per tank, so an extra £40 a month for me on top of the huge cost of living increases elsewhere. Must be nice to be immune to inflation.

That is a lot! I was learning last year, and paid £30 an hour in West Sussex, so not a million miles from your part of the world. As PP say, though, I expect it's to do with rising fuel costs.

I get notifications every time a cancellation becomes available in my local test centre, the one I grabbed was literally the only one that has come up in the last two months. When I originally booked through the gov website at the beginning of April the nearest test I could get (in terms of both date and distance) was in mid-September in a town 120 miles from where I live. You can’t book at my local test centre at all.

Yes, fuel has gone up, I'm feeling it myself of course. The instructor has put his prices (which are high in the first place) up by £5 an hour. That's an extra £225 a week - nearly £1k a month! Fuel hasn't gone up that much.

£90 for 2 hours sounds hefty

My son managed to get a cancellation for next week through the Testi app.

It sounds expensive but fuel has sky rocketed. Ask the previous poster what app has the cancellations on. If she posts it get on there and book a cancellation and bite the bullet and have lessons till you get one.

That’s the one I’ve got. The slot I booked with it is the only one that’s come up in the last 2 months

Get on a plane and come here!
(Italy)
Just booked an extra 5 lessons for DD who has her test on 16/6. €50 the lot.

But the rest of his bills have!

The instructors need to make enough money to live too - fuel is just one of their business expenses. They'll still have homes to run and food that will need to be bought. If they don't make a profit, there's no point in doing the job surely that's not difficult to understand

Oh - lessons are £36/hr or £330 block of 10

Ok, if he's doing 9 hours days, and fuel has gone up by 26p a litre I reckon he's spending an extra £14.04 a day on fuel. He's charging an extra £45 a day. So that's at least an extra £30 a day profit.

I am astounded that people can afford the start up costs (lessons, test/s, insurance) let alone be able to "afford to drive". It would be beyond reach for me.

But he'll already be making a profit by charging £40 an hour?

I paid £25/hr in 1992. 🤷‍♀️