The Pros and Cons of Taking an Intensive Driving School Course

Okay, so you’ve managed to get your provisional DVLA driver’s license and you’re ready to find a driving school and start driving. Whats Next? Do you take regular lessons with a successful driving school or do you go to an intensive driving course provided by an approved Driving Instructor (ADI) from the Agency for Driving Standards (DSA)? Before I start, I can say that as ADI I don’t really like the term “intensive driving course”, I prefer the term “intensive driving course”. If someone calls me “crash course,” I have visions of them wanting to drive my car through Northwich on two wheels at breakneck speeds. It is not the measure of a successful driving school at all!

In this article we will deal with intensive driver training in its various forms. If you do a successful Google search for “crash driving school courses,” “fast pass driving courses,” or “intensive driving lessons,” you will be presented with a host of options, ranging from crash courses in your local area to residential courses, from courses where you can go from having no experience to passing an exam, or having had a lot of previous experience.

First of all, let’s break it down into residential and non-residential intensive driving courses.

Fast pass residential courses are provided by driving schools generally in an area with many hotels, a good example of this is Blackpool. Blackpool has become something of a mecca for intensive driving courses and has several schools offering driving lessons and accommodation at very reasonable prices. Many people from London and the South East opt ​​for this option as it is a very cost-effective way to obtain a driver’s license (driving lessons in London are much more expensive than those further north). Another advantage is that traffic volumes, especially in low season, are considerably lower in the Northwest.

You don’t need to have received prior driving training to take an intensive driving course, in fact, you don’t need to have passed your theory test to start learning to drive, however a little experience and knowledge goes a long way. It really is a huge request to come from having no driving experience to pass your driving test in an intensive 5 day driving course.

The courses can operate in different ways, but generally the first day of the week-long intensive driving course is devoted to studying theory and the second day of the course to taking the theory exam; If successful, the driving school can book a driving test with the DSA. .

This is sometimes a problem with this type of driving course, the driving test is reserved when a driving test is available. This means that although you will be taking your driving lessons in one area, for example Blackpool, it is possible that you will take your exam in a completely different area, for example Northwich. The downside here is that you won’t be able to get any local knowledge of an area and identify the “hot spots” where it is easy to be spotted on the driving test.

The next option is to go to a local successful driving school and have the intensive driving lessons and test in your own area (as long as the DSA hasn’t closed its driving test center yet!). The way I carry out the crash courses (and I have had a lot of success this way) is to meet the learner driver after he has passed his driving theory exam, then we connect to the Driving Standards Agency website and we reserve a driving test for the near future. The intensive driving course is booked backwards from the exam date, for example:

1. The driving test is reserved for Friday March 13 at 2.30pm.
2. The last driving lesson is reserved to begin the morning of Friday the 13th and end with the exam.
3. The fourth day of the intensive driving class is reserved for Thursday 12.
4. The third day of the intensive driving lesson is reserved for Wednesday the 11th.
5.etc, etc.

I encourage the student to practice as much as possible until the beginning of the first driving lesson, this practice can only be understood as driving around a parking lot or a small area of ​​private land. This is to try to develop the control skills as much as possible before the first driving lesson, it is easy to teach someone with control skills but little experience on the road, however for some the control skills can be a big obstacle and slow down all learning. to drive the process.

The right intensive driving course for the right person can produce excellent driving test success, I have had results of more than 90% of the intensive driving courses passed in their first two driving tests and more than 70% passed by For the first time, this far exceeds the national average.

As with all intensive driving courses, there can be no guarantee that you will pass and the intensive nature of emergency driving courses are not for everyone, remember that you are training your mind and body when driving, combining many skills in one and for some people this may take longer than others. If you lack coordination or find it difficult to assess hazards or speed and distance, then it may be best for you to take regular lessons and accept that it may take longer to succeed on your driving test. For most, however, a successful driving test can be helped by choosing a good driving school. In my experience, I have found that the right candidate with a little prior training can definitely meet the driving test standard and succeed on their driving test with an intensive one week driving course.

(If you found this article helpful, visit the author’s website: http://www.successfuldrivingschool.co.uk)

(c) Andrew Davies 2010