Latest news with #drivinglessons
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How much does it cost to become a driver in the UK?
It's 90 years since the driving test became compulsory in the UK. Back then it cost just 37.5p to sit the test, and around two thirds of people passed. Now it costs £23 for the theory test, £62 for a practical test on a weekday and £75 at the weekend — and fewer than half of people pass. But the cost of multiple tests is far from the only cost of getting on the road. It starts pretty cheaply, with £34 for the provisional licence, but then the costs start mounting. On average you need 45 hours of driving lessons and 22 hours of practice before you're prepared for your practical test. Assuming you know somebody who is prepared to take you out, 45 hours of lessons at a typical cost of £45 will set you back £2,025. If you need more lessons or they're pricier in your area, it'll cost even more than that. Once you've passed, you need to buy the car. On average people's first cars cost £5,500. Then there's insurance — the cheapest models can be covered for about £1,500, but beware, because you can easily find yourself facing a bill of around £2,500 for something that doesn't feel particularly fast or risky. Read more: How getting ahead on your tax return can help cut your tax bill Add on £195 for the standard rate of car tax, and before you've driven a single mile — and accounted for petrol, servicing and the MOT — it will have set you back £10,352. It means you need to consider how to cut the costs. These are in such high demand that there's not much haggling to be had, but check whether you can get a discount for block bookings. It's also worth considering the balance of official lessons and private practice. If you have a friend or relative who is a calm and confident driver, they may be prepared to take you out more in order to save on lessons. There are a variety of techniques that can help you negotiate a good deal when buying a second-hand car. Research the going rate before you start, so you know what's reasonable. Check the car's condition — if there are dings and scratches you can use this as leverage for a lower cost. Consider the deal you'll accept, and be prepared to walk away if they won't go low enough. If you get within touching distance of what you consider to be fair, you can ask for them to throw in a service or MOT to make up the difference. Picking the right car is key, so take the time to check what it'll cost to insure before you buy. There's no point picking up a bargain that costs thousands of pounds extra every year in insurance. Check if you can save money by adding a second named driver. This is very different from insuring it in someone else's name and adding yourself second — that's called fronting and is illegal. Putting an older and more experienced person on the insurance as a second driver can still shave hundreds or even thousands of pounds off the cost. Including it in a multi-car policy with other reliable drivers in the same household can also help. You could also consider a telematics policy, where you have a "black box" in the car monitoring your driving. If you drive carefully at safer times of day this can lower your costs — although riskier driving could see your premiums rise significantly — and you could even have the policy more: Real cost of a 2025 summer holiday as families priced out or fined How to tell if you're rich Who wears the financial trousers in your relationship?Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How much does it cost to become a driver in the UK?
It's 90 years since the driving test became compulsory in the UK. Back then it cost just 37.5p to sit the test, and around two thirds of people passed. Now it costs £23 for the theory test, £62 for a practical test on a weekday and £75 at the weekend — and fewer than half of people pass. But the cost of multiple tests is far from the only cost of getting on the road. It starts pretty cheaply, with £34 for the provisional licence, but then the costs start mounting. On average you need 45 hours of driving lessons and 22 hours of practice before you're prepared for your practical test. Assuming you know somebody who is prepared to take you out, 45 hours of lessons at a typical cost of £45 will set you back £2,025. If you need more lessons or they're pricier in your area, it'll cost even more than that. Once you've passed, you need to buy the car. On average people's first cars cost £5,500. Then there's insurance — the cheapest models can be covered for about £1,500, but beware, because you can easily find yourself facing a bill of around £2,500 for something that doesn't feel particularly fast or risky. Read more: How getting ahead on your tax return can help cut your tax bill Add on £195 for the standard rate of car tax, and before you've driven a single mile — and accounted for petrol, servicing and the MOT — it will have set you back £10,352. It means you need to consider how to cut the costs. These are in such high demand that there's not much haggling to be had, but check whether you can get a discount for block bookings. It's also worth considering the balance of official lessons and private practice. If you have a friend or relative who is a calm and confident driver, they may be prepared to take you out more in order to save on lessons. There are a variety of techniques that can help you negotiate a good deal when buying a second-hand car. Research the going rate before you start, so you know what's reasonable. Check the car's condition — if there are dings and scratches you can use this as leverage for a lower cost. Consider the deal you'll accept, and be prepared to walk away if they won't go low enough. If you get within touching distance of what you consider to be fair, you can ask for them to throw in a service or MOT to make up the difference. Picking the right car is key, so take the time to check what it'll cost to insure before you buy. There's no point picking up a bargain that costs thousands of pounds extra every year in insurance. Check if you can save money by adding a second named driver. This is very different from insuring it in someone else's name and adding yourself second — that's called fronting and is illegal. Putting an older and more experienced person on the insurance as a second driver can still shave hundreds or even thousands of pounds off the cost. Including it in a multi-car policy with other reliable drivers in the same household can also help. You could also consider a telematics policy, where you have a "black box" in the car monitoring your driving. If you drive carefully at safer times of day this can lower your costs — although riskier driving could see your premiums rise significantly — and you could even have the policy more: Real cost of a 2025 summer holiday as families priced out or fined How to tell if you're rich Who wears the financial trousers in your relationship?Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Safe or risky?: NZTA, driving schools at odds over car simulators
Driving schools that offer lessons in high-tech car simulators are at odds with the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) over safety risks they could pose for learner drivers once they hit the road. The agency argues simulators could encourage over-confidence, putting new drivers at greater risk of crashing. But instructors who own simulators say they are not dangerous and expose people to a wide range of scenarios. Excellence Driving Academy co-directors Wendy and Tony Green offered lessons in simulators, saying they could replicate different weather conditions, times of day and road types. Wendy Green said they also let drivers from smaller rural areas experience virtual big city streets. "That's where the simulator is kind of in its own, because it doesn't matter where you live geographically. You still have the ability to be able to be taught the skills you need to drive anywhere," she said. "[NZTA] don't know what they're talking about. Our simulators are not dangerous." Wendy and Tony Green. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Tony Green said roads were globally generic but had been "New Zealand-ised" to include familiar lines, signs and lights. Simulators could also generate hazards like vehicles running red lights. In a paper published late last year, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) expressed concerns about simulators, saying they could promote over-confidence, corresponding with a crash risk. "Any benefits that might arise through training are greatly out-weighed by the overconfidence imparted in those involved in these courses," the paper said. "There is no substitute for on-road training and experience. Learners do not acquire the same level of skill and competence and there are potential risks for increased over-confidence, and corresponding crash risk." While simulators had some advantages for drivers, such as exposure to different scenarios, they had limitations in teaching basic vehicle handling skills, NZTA said. "Owing to the difficulty in emulating on-road driving... simulator training could lead to incorrect learning of procedural skills such as reduced mirror scanning (due to learning on a simulator with a single screen and narrow field of view) or poor vehicle control (due to limitations in steering, braking or motion functionality)," the paper said. NZTA declined RNZ's request for an interview, but in a statement said driving schools increasingly wanted to introduce simulator technology to New Zealand. It did not support them as a replacement for on road-training or using them to increase familiarity with driving and would not fund or support driving simulator trials. The agency said its position was based on the latest available research and was peer reviewed by international road safety experts. NZTA did not directly address a question whether it would like the technology banned, instead saying it would monitor developments. "We would be happy to work with industry to help them shape scientifically robust studies that may further advance the current evidence base," the agency said. AA road safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen said the technology could help with real-world practice, but ultimately people still needed to learn on real roads. "If you crash when you're driving a car in a simulation the computer can just reset and you carry on driving. In the real world, the consequences of people making a mistake, having things go wrong, can be severe. People can be hurt. People can even lose their lives." Selwyn Driving School. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon The Greens had sold four simulators to instructors since 2019, including to Selwyn Driving School director Brad Mannering. Mannering installed the unit in a converted ambulance at a cost of around $100,000. He said simulators could let people experience virtual driving such as driving on ice or safely performing emergency brake training. "This way I can guarantee exposure to the top 25 reasons accidents that happen world-wide. They have at least a memory of that situation occurring for them and hopefully they'll be able to recall that a time they need it on the road," he said. "The thing that I most disagree with is they've picked and chosen which parts of those international studies they wanted to use in their document. There is actually a whole lot of stuff that supports the use of driving simulators and education and I think they've glazed over some of that stuff." Selwyn Driving School director Brad Mannering. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Oranga Tamariki funded Mannering for the past year to run weekly simulator lessons at Te Puna Wai ō Tuhinapo youth justice centre in Rolleston. Residential services youth justice manager Aimee Hunter said the defensive tactics taught in the simulator helped a teenager at Te Puna Wai get their restricted drivers licence. "It's things you can't teach in a classroom. Those are the points that when we get back to our young person, who was able to obtain a restricted drivers licence, their whānau is incredibly grateful, and have seen the change in that young person," she said. "They are now out in the community, independent, driving on a legitimate drivers licence and working a permanent full-time job. Some of the feedback we've had from whānau has been huge." In April, the government proposed the first major changes to the country's driver licence system in 14 years, under which drivers would not need to take a second practical test to get their licence. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Driving instructors say rising prices are fair - but learners can't keep up
Paige Williams is desperate to pass her driving test. Her three-year-old son sometimes has "meltdowns" on public transport, where he might scream, cry or throw himself on the floor, she says. She just wants to be able to visit family and go on day trips more easily. But the 28-year-old single mum, from Barnsley, is having to drastically cut back on how much she spends on food, gas and electricity to be able to afford her £35-an-hour lessons, which she's been having since September. "It's literally scrimping and scraping to be able to manage to get one lesson a week," she says. As the cost of driving lessons continues to rise alongside an already high cost of living, experiences like Paige's may be becoming increasingly common. The BBC has spoken to more than a dozen learners and parents of learners who say they're frustrated by how much they have to pay - and also to instructors who argue that the prices are justified. Driving instructors can charge what they like, and the DVSA does not release official statistics on average lesson costs. But a DVSA survey completed by more than 5,000 approved driving instructors (ADIs) in September shows how prices have shot up in recent years. In the survey, the most common price bracket for an hour lesson was £36 to £40 per hour. Just 31.5% of driving instructors said they charged £35 or less per hour - that number had halved since the DVSA's June 2023 survey. While 20.8% said they charged more than £40 an hour - nearly triple as many as in June 2023. For many people, driving is essential for taking their kids to school, going to work or carrying out caring responsibilities. Public transport might be unaffordable, inaccessible or simply not available for some people. Two-thirds of people in Great Britain who commute to work drive in, and 45% of five-to-10 year olds are taken to school by car, Department for Transport figures from 2023 show. Faustina Kamara, a 23-year-old in Birmingham, needs a licence for her dream job - being a runner in the media industry. But the £60 cost of her two-hour driving lessons means she's only having them once a fortnight, which isn't as frequently as she'd like, and means it will delay when she can take her test. She says she'd love to have lessons weekly but it would mean she'd have to cut back on spending money seeing her friends. Other people also say that the high cost of driving lessons means it's taking them longer to learn to drive. Rather than having the two lessons a week she would have liked, Sandra Onuora, a 30-year-old civil servant in Newcastle, had three per month until she passed her test in March. "That was all I could afford," she says. And even then, "I had to take a lot of money from my savings" for her £39-an-hour lessons, she adds. Because she had to space out her lessons more, she had to wait longer until she felt ready to take her test. She'd spend hours every week travelling between her home, her son's childminder's and her office, taking six buses every weekday. "It was a rough year," says Sandra. She would return home "so exhausted". And just as driving lessons become more expensive, some learners are also finding they're having to take more of them. That's because of a huge practical test backlog, which means learners are having to take lessons for longer to keep up their skills. Keith Rose hasn't been able to book a driving test near where he lives in Bridgwater, Somerset, for his 17-year-old son, Brandon. The best option he could find is an hour's drive away in Newport, Wales, and isn't until September. Keith says that his son is ready to take his test, but will need to keep taking lessons at a cost of £76 for a two-hour session to maintain his skills. "We're being forced into spending money that we don't need to," Keith says. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has acknowledged that waiting times for tests are too long and pledged to reduce the average waiting time for a driving test to no more than seven weeks by summer 2026. Instructors say that they have little choice but to charge these kind of rates if they want to make a profit. "Prices for driving lessons are where they should be, having been probably under-priced for many years," says Stewart Lochrie, the owner of a driving school in Glasgow and chair of the Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council (ADINJ). "I think the price was overdue a reset." Stewart notes that the UK's more than 41,000 approved driving instructors are having to pay more for the expenses associated with their jobs like buying or leasing a car, fuel, insurance and maintenance. "We have costs to cover as well and if the things that we need to run our business go up, then our prices will have to go up as well," he says. The rising price of lessons "isn't really translating to a pay increase in our pockets," adds Terry Edwards, a driving instructor in Ashford, Kent. His expenses include around £280 a month on fuel, £135 on insurance and £440 on car payments. Other costs include servicing, repairing and cleaning his car. Terry charges £39 an hour, but offers a discount for buying in bulk. While customers "don't generally push back" against his prices, some "try and be a bit cheeky" and ask for discounts, he says. For Amy Burnett, a pharmacy advisor in Glasgow, the prices are so high that she's avoiding learning for the time being. The only instructors she'd found with availability charge between £50 and £60 an hour, she says. "I'm living pay cheque to pay cheque as it is," the 22-year-old says. But she sees being able to drive as an investment in her future - she'd have more freedom and she's had to limit her previous job searches to roles accessible by public transport, she says. Amy hopes to pass her test by the time she's 24 - if she can find a more affordable instructor with availability in her area, she says. Paige, the mum in Barnsley, is sure her frugality will be worth it in the end. Being able to drive would make it much easier for her to return to work, she says. And it would make journeys with her son much less stressful, she says. Most of all, she wants to take her two children to the seaside. "It'd be so good for my son Ronald, with his sensory needs," Paige says. "Getting to go on the little arcade rides and seeing his little face would be lovely." 'I was 11,000th in the queue': Learner drivers struggle with test backlog 'I passed my driving test at 74 - it was now or never' Driving instructor gives car to pupil with new son
Auto Car
18-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Car
All Minors, no majors: Learning to drive in a 57-year-old Morris
Learning to drive in a classic car can be a very shrewd choice – and it could well make you a better driver too You can keep your Fiestas, this is a far cooler car for learning to drive in Close There's a Morris Minor fan near where I live. He has a Traveller on his drive and a saloon on the road outside that doesn't appear to have moved for some time because there's an eco system developing underneath it. Then a few weeks ago, while cycling past Hampton Court Palace, I saw what looked like the saloon motoring along the A308 in the direction of the M3. An impressive turnaround in fortune for a car that, I suspected, might never run again. Except this wasn't that Morris Minor. This one was being driven by a young-looking lad who, from the presence of an L-plate front and back, appeared to be learning to drive in it. A few days later, I spotted the car parked outside the local doctor's surgery. Further detective work revealed that the blue 1968 Morris Minor 1000 is the pride and joy of father Ed Wilson and his son Patrick. Patrick is 17 years old and has been learning to drive over the past four months. First, if you believe the mass media, no youngsters are learning to drive these days, and second, if they are, they're not likely to be learning in a 57-year-old classic. I found the sight of young Patrick in his Morris Minor rather heart-warming. So, Ed, why isn't junior learning to drive in something more modern? Something a bit more conventional like a Volkswagen Polo or Ford Fiesta? 'Money,' says Ed. 'At least that's the primary reason.' I'd heard via word of mouth that insuring young people to drive a classic car was far cheaper than for a modern car. That turned out to be true because Patrick, who is the policy holder on the Minor, with dad as a named driver, pays only £120 per year. "That's for limited mileage, and only 1000 miles at that, but that's adequate for us as we don't go very far from home,' says Ed. 'And although the premium will rise once he's passed his test, it will still be far cheaper than for a modern car.' Why a Morris Minor? 'Well, my grandfather had one,' says Ed, 'which added some appeal. We looked at a Traveller but the woodwork was really rotten so we gave that one a miss. Then we spotted this saloon that was for sale for £1500. "As you can see, the paintwork is very dull and there is some surface rust in places, but structurally it's pretty sound. The other advantage of this car is that it's ULEZ-exempt, which is an important factor when you're on a tight budget.' Ed learned to drive at the age of 25 in a Ford Fiesta, a rather more sophisticated car than the Moggie. 'It took me a while to adjust to driving the Minor,' he says, 'but Patrick picked it up quicker than me.' Patrick says: 'Most of my friends are learning to drive, but nobody is driving a car as old as ours. They haven't commented much on the Morris but my sister Poppy reckons that it's a really cool car.' Even for Ed, the Morris has features he had not encountered before. Such as a foot-operated dip switch. 'I've never owned a car with a manual choke,' he says, 'which has taken some mastering.' But it's not what the car has: it's what it hasn't that makes it interesting for a learner driver. Like synchromesh on first gear. 'I've had to learn to think ahead,' says Patrick. 'I only drive the car in town but even so I have to think carefully when I'm coming up to a junction or making a manoeuvre. I don't think I'd like to drive it on a motorway as it's not fast enough and other traffic would be intimidating. I'll be taking my test in a modern car.' There's no question in my mind that Patrick will be a better driver for learning in such an analogue car with no distractions. He'll be picking up skills that will be of great use to him throughout his driving life even if he does migrate to a modern car that will help steer and park for him, spot pedestrians and carry out emergency stops. What did I learn in? A Morris Minor 1000 Traveller. Join our WhatsApp community and be the first to read about the latest news and reviews wowing the car world. Our community is the best, easiest and most direct place to tap into the minds of Autocar, and if you join you'll also be treated to unique WhatsApp content. You can leave at any time after joining - check our full privacy policy here. Next Prev In partnership with
