We understand that personal circumstances such as money, work commitment, exams or even the challenges of dyslexia, ADHD etc can determine how you learn to drive and its not always your preferred way but here are a few differences between the 3 main ways of learning to drive which are,

Before we start it is important to remember that what worked for your friends and family may not work for you so you need to consider whether you can concentrate for a reasonable amount of time, are there any medical considerations that mean you cannot be in a car for too long or do you need to get on the road ASAP due to an offer of work etc, all very personal reasons for picking a route to learning to drive. No way is better or worse than the other they all get you on the road legally. Luckily here at A Pass 4 U Driving School we offer all types of ways to learn to drive.

Regular Driving Lessons – These are exactly what they say they are, regular driving lessons in a manual or automatic vehicle that are normally 1, 1.5 or 2-hour driving lessons. Lessons can be taken once a week or more depending on what you need. It is advisable to take a 1.5 or 2-hour lesson as much as possible as not only will you get through the learning subjects quicker but it also gives the driving instructor a chance to take you out of the area you know and challenge you on new roads which ultimately make you a stronger more confident driver. If you have the challenges of ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia or just can’t concentrate for long regular driving lessons are possibly the best option for you as you can take your time learning to drive with as little pressure as is possible. The downside to doing regular lessons is that the process can take a lot longer than an intensive driving course but you may prefer that or things such as money or time may dictate this for you.

Remember that taking regular driving lessons that you will have the same driving instructor and car throughout unless you decide to change which you can using this method of learning to drive. You could should you wish also switch from manual to automatic or vice versa.

Having regular driving lessons does mean that you are in charge of booking your own driving test with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) which is easier said than done at the moment due to the 6-month backlog at this time.  

Intensive Driving Courses – A driving course with A Pass 4 U Driving School is normally 5 hours training per day but to make sure you do not get too tired we do build in a 15-to-20-minute break near the middle of the session. A driving course is normally over consecutive days with the last hour on the last day arranged as the DVSA practical driving test.

As we arrange the practical driving test for you will need to have passed your theory & Hazard Perception test, this is due to the DVSA not allowing anyone to book a practical driving test until this is passed. Unfortunately, there is no way around this.

There are various driving courses available from 10 hours for someone who has recently failed their test and only need a top up through to a 40-hour course for someone who has never driven before.  When looking at courses please remember to build in sometime for test preparation which is a few hours looking at the trickier parts of test routes, a funny shaped junction or an unusual layout of roads, these will be built into each test route and most driving test centres have 10 plus test routes so there could be a lot to look at.

During your intensive driving course, you will have the same instructor and car throughout and use of the same car during your practical driving test. Remember here at A Pass 4 u Driving School we have manual and automatic cars in lots of areas but not all.

The money & course booking process – We have a lot of pupils contact us telling us that they have been let down by another company and cannot get their money back for weeks if at all. To avoid letting a pupil own we start off by taking your details and going away to find a test, once we have secured a test, we will then ensure one of our fully qualified driving instructors is available for the course dates, which are arrange as the days leading up to the test date. Once these 2 parts have been organised, we will then contact you to see if the dates work for you then we will ask you for a 25% deposit to secure the course. If the dates do not work for you then we will simply keep looking but no deposit will be asked for until you have agreed the dates. The balance of the course is due 14 days prior to the course starting. Everything we do with you when booking an intensive driving course is backed up in writing and we use a secure payment processing system run by a major bank to process your payment which includes you getting an automatic receipt so everything is transparent.

Semi-Intensive Driving Course – If you do not have the time for a full intensive driving course or simply cannot concentrate for 5 hours then you may wish to break this down by taking a semi-intensive driving course which is normally 2.5 hours per day over a number consecutive days leading into a practical driving test. Its very much like a regular intensive driving course but is run over twice as many days so a 40-hour course which is normally 8 days is over 16 days for a semi-intensive driving course which is still a lot quicker than having regular driving lessons. The booking process is the same as a regular course.

Still not sure what would work for you? Then we would highly recommend a 2-hour assessment lesson during which you can discuss the best method for you with a fully qualified driving instructor and they will not only teach you during the lesson but will be able to advise you on what course is best for you based on your driving during the session. Please be honest with your driving instructor about things such as your nerves and challenges you may have; they are there to help you and cannot give you the best advise of they do not know some of the obstacles. Our aim is to help you by teaching you to drive properly which gives you the very best chance of passing your driving test 1st time which we have done 1000’s of times over the 25 years we have been running. If you would like to chat through any aspects of learning to drive then please give the A Pass 4 U Driving School office a call on 01702 308763 between 09:30 & 17:30 Monday to Friday or send us an email at apass4u@yahoo.co.uk, we’ll be happy to talk you anything you need.  

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