19 replies to this topic

[starletman]

Do it i did one passed first time too with 4 minors. i would only do it if you got the time and money to invest, a better idea is to take 3x2 hour lessons a week and in five weeks hit 30hours of driving lessons which is the average amount taken to pass a driving test. best to get your theory out of the way first

Is 30 hours really the average.I took my test 20 years ago,i booked 2 hour lessons every day and had the test on the friday,thats 9 hours and passed first time and no i do not think i am great i know many people who have done it this way.

[AVV IT]

I believe the pass rate for people who've been on intensive courses is higher.

According to the DSA the national first time pass rate is 43%, however some intensive driver training schools claim that they have a pass rates of up to 98%! This is very often a manipulated marketing figure based on the highest pass rate that a particular school has ever happened to have achieved on a given course (the phrase lies, damn lies, and statistics springs to mind!) In reality no intensive driver training school is ever going to advertise that it has a lower than average pass rate, as that would be marketing suicide. Some even provide a guaranteed pass, which of course is impossible in reality and all it really means is that the student will not be charged for a second test at a later date!

I'm not aware of any independent studies ever taking place on intensive course pass rates and therefore the only information available is that provided by the individual driving schools based on their own figures, which of course is hardly objective information. What I can say is that it is widely recognised across the industry that lessons involving over two hours driving per day become ineffective, as the pupil reaches a learning plateau and stops assimilating information. Most driver training is largely based around this theory, which makes the concept of intensive courses ineffective.

Is 30 hours really the average.I took my test 20 years ago,i booked 2 hour lessons every day and had the test on the friday,thats 9 hours and passed first time and no i do not think i am great i know many people who have done it this way.

Yes it can be, in fact the last figure I heard quoted was actually 35 hours! It's generally accepted that this figure can be significantly reduced if you have already mastered the cars controls before your first lesson though. Like you, I took my test 20 years ago and passed first time with 13 hours of tuition, but then I had been driving for a while before my first lesson and to be honest my lessons were really more about practicing and polishing than actually learning a great deal. In fact the last few lessons were more about filling in the time before my test than anything else. What you have to consider is that many students haven't ever sat behind the steering wheel before and often have no clue as to what the clutch is for, let alone how to use it! Those types of students often need the first few lessons to involve just learning to pull away and stopping again without stalling the engine, so there is little wonder that their total number of lessons soon "racks up" to 30 plus!

Edited by AVV IT, 17 February 2011 - 10:26 AM.

[lapider]

i did mine the week after my birthday 5 days of 4 hour lessons then 1.30 with my dad in the eavning in the mini. only problem was when i did it there was a rush to avoid having to do the new test so i could only get a test a month after doing thye course but my mate did the same and was passed within 2 weeks of turning 17

[Mini Cheddars]

I had 30 hours with only professional tuition because I didn't have anyone suitable to teach me privately.

Took me a year. Passed first time though!

[Spud_133]

I learnt with a 20 hour 'crash course' and didn't have a problem with it, but my instructor told me that it is better for people with previous driving expirences/people very aware of the rules of the road. Oh yeah, I do my theory test on my birthday, and my instructor had another test on the Thursday, and he cancelled that and swapped it with mine. So I managed to pass five days after my birthday, even sooner if I could've...