It’s obviously been a strange 18 months or so for everyone, and those wanting to learn to drive have been no exception. The waiting time to book a practical driving test is quite long at the moment and our advice would be to plan ahead as far as you can if you are wanting you or a family member to learn to drive and pass their test in the near future. Some general advice:
- Apply for your provisional licence as soon as you can. You can’t take driving lessons or book any tests until you have this. You can apply for your provisional licence from 15 years and 9 month old (although can’t take car lessons until you are 17).
- Study for your theory test. You can’t book a practical test until you have passed your theory. Learning this knowledge will also help you on your driving lessons and beyond. Take your theory test around the time you are starting lessons so you can pass it and then be discussing when to book your practical test for with your instructor. Your theory test pass is valid for 2 years.
- Speak to driving instructors early. With the pandemic meaning there were another year of people turning 17 but lockdowns meaning no lessons could be given, demand for lessons is high. So it’s important to research into driving instructors in your area, choose which ones you think will be able to help you best and if they are gully booked then get on their waiting lists as soon as you can.
- Booking the practical test. Once you’ve begun learning to drive you will need to discuss with your instructor when to book the practical test for (assuming you have passed your theory already). Because of the long wait for tests at the moment, this conversation needs to happen much earlier in your learning than is ideal. Ideally we would want you to be ready for your test before booking one, but that simply isn’t practical at the moment and will likely result in you having to pay out for far more driving lessons than you need to pass and be safe. Your instructor should be able to guide you and give you an estimate on how long it will take you to be ready after the first few lessons.
- Be flexible. If you find you are ready for your test sooner than the one you have booked, you can look for cancellations or extra tests being added on earlier dates. You will of course need to agree this with your instructor to find dates that work for everyone. Equally, if you find that you aren’t ready for your test, you may need to move it back to a later date until you are ready. Again, you can discuss this with your instructor as you progress through your driving lessons.
Please feel free to Contact Us to discuss how we can help you.