The ability to drive has itself to be a vital skill, especially with today’s automakers introducing whole new lineups of cars with each of them being the right choice for everyone. The possession of a car, paired with the ability to drive it, offers massive convenience to a household. This convenience comes in the form of flexibility in terms of going anywhere at any time, without the need to wait for the local bus or to go to the Underground.
These factors combined make the ability to drive a desirable skill. However, learning to drive isn’t a simple feat. Hours and hours of lessons and practice go into making a person eligible for a driving test. According to the statistics of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), it takes on average 45 hours of instructed driving and 22 hours of self-practice for a person to learn how to drive.
However, even then, there remains a possibility that you may fail the driving tests, having to enlist yourself on the waiting list for future attempts. Those future attempts might be scheduled from days to weeks and even months away, hence prolonging the period of your learning stage.
Things to Consider Before Taking Driving Lessons
Before you apply for any one of the tests, however, you apply for a provisional driving license, which can be acquired at a maximum of two months before your seventeenth birthday. Once you get your license, you are permitted to take your driving lessons.
Before we dive deep into how much time it will take you to learn to drive, we have to make an important distinction between the various types of vehicles you can learn to drive. Vehicles are divided into manual and automatic cars when compared on the basis of their transmission. What transmission you choose for yourself will affect your rate of learning.
The Time It Takes to Learn to Drive a Manual Car
The experience of learning to drive a manual car is highly different from learning to drive an automatic one. In a manual car, the driver has to keep changing the gears himself, depending on how much power the car needs. This makes the learning curve of such a vehicle more gradual in slope in comparison to its automatic counterpart, as more time will be invested in mastering it.
Even though learning a manual car is more time-consuming, it is still highly recommended to do so. A driving student can learn the fundamentals of gear transmission from driving this very type of car. Furthermore, shifting from a manual vehicle to an automatic one is easier and less time-consuming.
The Time It Takes to Learn to Drive an Automatic Car
Mastering an automatic car is less time consuming and easier than learning a manual one. The reason for this is that a big chunk of the learning, that is switching between gears, is exempted from this. Automatic cars can change gears themselves depending on how much power they require.
However, once you have obtained the license to drive an automatic car, you cannot commandeer a manual one. Furthermore, the learning-to-drive process can be made more time-efficient by driving smaller cars, with hatchbacks being highly recommended. Such is the case since smaller vehicles tend to be easier to control.
The minimum Time It May Take to Learn to Drive
A variety of factors contribute to the time you take to learn to drive, which include driving lessons, practice, and passing the theory and practical tests. But if you keep a fast pace, and pass all the required tests on the very first attempts, then you might be a licensed driver well within one month. However, this might involve enrolling in an intensive driving course, as it will greatly reduce the required period of time.
How to Learn Driving in the Least Time Possible
Follow the tips outlined below to learn to drive in the shortest span of time possible:
- Apply for a provisional license when there are exactly two months remaining to your seventeenth birthday. This is the earliest that you can get the license, allowing you to start practicing early as well.
- Pass your theory and hazard perception tests at the earliest time possible. There is no age restriction on appearing for these tests, as a person at the age of 12 is also eligible to apply. Clearing these will not only save time but also aid in the practical test since they include essential driving and road safety concepts.
- Schedule your driving lessons in a way that there is no considerable gap between two lessons.
- Practice hard so that you pass all your tests in the first attempts
- Book your tests as soon as you become eligible so that there is no considerable gap between your driving lessons and the test, ensuring fresh knowledge in your mind.
- As we have already discussed, do consider booking an intensive driving course, which saves time pertaining to driving lessons.
The Time Required to Learn with an Intensive Driving Course
Although this might vary from school to school, and also referred to as a ‘crash course’, an intensive driving course is one where there are 5-hour driving lessons daily, in an attempt to impart driving knowledge to the aspiring driver as quickly as possible. Taking this course would make you an eligible candidate for a driving test in 2 weeks’ time, give or take.
The benefit of enrolling in this course would be that when you appear for your test, the knowledge that you have gained, being recently acquired, will remain fresh in your mind. However, the driving lessons can prove exhausting with each lesson also being very costly.
How Much Does It Cost to Learn to Drive?
How much cost you incur when learning to drive will be determined by how much time you take in the learning process. Each driving lesson will cost you money and if you go the intensive driving course route, it will elevate your costs even further. Below, we bifurcate the various costs that you will be incurring.
- Provisional license:
- £34 for online issuance
- £43 for issuance by post
- Test of theory: £23
- Driving test:
- £62 on weekdays
- £72 on weekends
- Vehicle insurance: £1000 (if you are under 25 years of age)
- The average cost of a driving license: £24 (subject to change based on instructor and school)
It’s a Wrap!
Driving, as a skill, has proven itself essential over the course of many years, providing fruit to anyone learning it in the forms of flexibility and convenience. Read our guide on what those factors are and how they affect the timespan in which you learn the aforementioned skill. Also, learn the tips to pass your tests in the shortest possible time.
If you want to learn to drive as quickly as possible, get in touch with Training Day School of Motoring, the best in their class. We have a proven record of students passing driving tests on their very first attempts. Therefore, stop procrastinating and sign up with us!
