Being able to drive opens up a whole range of possibilities, from visiting your friends and family to taking that dream road trip around the country. However the cost of learning to drive is enough to enrage you before you’ve even sat in the driver’s seat. Learning to drive has been increasing over the years, so the sooner you start the better.
Before you can book your first lessons, you must be of the right age (17 in the UK) and you must be in possession of your provisional licence, you can apply for this before your birthday for it to arrive on the day, however a provisional will cost you £50, be sure to look after it, as the DVLA charges £20 to replace a lost or stolen licence. Ensure you’re happy with your photo too, as the £20 applies for renewing your portrait. When you pass your test, you can luckily upgrade to a full licence free of charge.
Once you have your provisional, you can then search around for driving instructors. Be sure to check to see if they are approved, as only approved driving instructors (ADI’s) can charge for driving lessons. It takes on average 45 lessons to be able to pass a driving test from no experience at all; of course the exact amount will depend on the individual. With lessons costing around £22 each, it maybe worth while paying for a block booking with your instructor, as you may be looking at a cost shy of £1000 just for your lessons. Just be sure that you have a couple of lessons or even a taster lesson with them first to see if they’re the right instructor for you. Ideally you can be practice with a family member or friend before your lessons to save some pennies, be sure that they inform they’re insurance company, and that they are at least 21 and have held a full licence for 3 years or more while accompanying you. It might be worthwhile for them to compare online for car insurance, with companies such as Money Supermarket offering free car insurance quotes, to keep costs to a minimum.
Once you’re feeling confident in your driving and your knowledge of the roads, then you should look to booking your theory test. This must be passed first before you can book your practical, and costs a standard fee of £31. The test consists of a multiple choice section of 50 questions, and hazard perception, where you’ll watch videos of recorded situations and you have to click when you see a potential hazard forming. To pass, you must score at least 43/50 on the questions and 44/75 on the hazard perception. When you’re successful, you’ll have your certificate handed to you the very same day, and you’ll have 2 years from the pass date to pass your practical before it expires.
Once you have your theory certificate in hand, you can then go ahead and book your practical. For this part of the test, you’ll be expected to pay £62 if you book for during the week or £75 if you opt for a weekend test. This may seem expensive as it is, however if your using your instructors car, he’ll also be wanting an hours worth of payment for using his car during the test, not to mention you’ll probably want to ensure you’ve got the best chance of passing by having a lesson or two before the test, bringing the total for the practical up towards the £106 for a test during the week or £119 for a weekend slot (based on estimated £22 price for a lesson and taking one lesson before the test).
All in all (based on the average figures), to pass your test on your own for the first time from scratch, will see costs of around £1177 for a pass during a weekday, £1190 for the weekend. When fuel and tax increases, you may well see price increases as well (prices correct as of 19/11/2010). If you want to get on the roads any time soon, get learning as soon as you can before prices rise even further. The cost of learning isn’t the only part of driving that’s costly, young drivers between the ages of 17 and 25 are also charged the most for car insurance.