Learning to drive and taking driving lessons for the first time can be daunting. As a 17-year-old student in the UK, taking the driving seat in a car and taking to the roads can be overwhelming. Where to start? How do you go about finding an instructor, and an approach that works for you? In this article, we’ll look at some tips that will help when you start to learn to drive.
Which Driving Instructor?
A quick Google search for driving instructors, schools, or driving lessons in your local area will undoubtedly return many options and businesses. But which do you go for, should you read the contents of each and every website and make a comparison? It often doesn’t need to be that time-consuming and difficult to find the right instructor.
Firstly, take a look at business reviews from previous clients. These will be readily available for most reputable driving instructors. Look at Google, Trustpilot, and Facebook, as main sources as reviews. You’ll get a feel for the value for money available, as well as the driving instructor’s style, success rate and patience. As a nervous first time driving, finding an instructor that has endless patience helps to relax you before your first lesson.
Next, you need to confirm that your preferred driving instructors based on reviews are suitably qualified to teach driving. While it’s a reasonable assumption that these driving schools have the required qualifications, licenses, and accreditations, it’s always worth viewing their website to confirm. Some may list these certifications on the website footer, while others will have a dedicated page for these.
National Driving Schools vs Local Businesses
Many Google searches will return large, national driving schools, perhaps with local franchisees. While these larger businesses can offer significantly lower prices when compared to local businesses, often they lack the personal approach of a small business. This doesn’t necessarily apply all of the time, but it’s also good to know that your driving instructor truly cares about your progression, and will adapt their learning strategies to suit your own learning rate and style.
Again, it’s worth comparing the two options based on reviews, to see how previous clients have reviewed their individual experiences.
Discounts and Block Bookings
Most driving instructors and schools across the UK will offer discounts for driving lessons when booked in bulk. These are usually in the form of, buy 10 lessons and getting a reduced hourly rate.
If you are learning to drive for the first time, there’s a good chance that you will need over 10 lessons, often considerably more. So, these block booking offers to make sense to save money in the long run. If you are particularly nervous, or unsure whether completing a course of driving lessons is for you, it’s often worth taking a single lesson, perhaps two, before committing to a block of lessons.
Whatever you choose for your driving lessons and journey towards your driving test, it’s worth taking the time to research the right instructor for you. The right driving instructor will make you feel at ease and help you progress at your own rate.
