Driving Lessons

Driving lessons

When starting your driving lessons it’s important you feel comfortable with your driving instructor and they are able to adapt to your learning style

I offer a calm, friendly and patient learning environment and will make you feel at ease throughout your driving lessons. Over the years I have taught many different people of all experience levels and abilities and I will structure your driving lessons to fit your experience level and your learning needs.

Whether you’re getting behind the wheel for the first time, close to test standard or just taking some refresher lessons, I will tailor your driving lessons fit your requirements. 

You will have agreed learning goals at the start of each lesson; these goals may change as the lesson progresses.  Your progress will be tracked with the Total Drive app which you can update between lessons.

A Client Centred Learning Approach

A traditional approach to driving lessons would be the driving instructor giving direct instructions for the learner to follow, telling the learner what to do and when to do it. This would often be enough to get the learner through their driving test, but did not prepare the learner for post test driving and making their own decisions.

Client centred learning (CCL) is an approach to learning to drive that takes into account how you prefer to learn. It is important to speak to your instructor about how you learn best, see ‘Before starting your lessons’ below

It recognises that all learners will learn at a different pace and may prefer to learn differently from someone else. When people learn in this way they are more likely to retain information and skills. This approach completely changes the dynamics of conventional driving lessons.

The DVSA heavily endorse this type of training and we usually see a dramatic improvement in the willingness of the learner to keep learning.

By using good Q&A techniques, listening skills and effective feedback from both the learner and the driving instructor, the instructor is able to establish the learner’s temperament, personality, confidence and ability.

It will help the learner to understand, find and develop their own solutions to a problem, helping develop safe driving for life. Learners who are trained this way tend to be safer and better equipped for driving in the real world independently.

Before starting your lessons

Have you ever considered how you best learn? Research has shown if you learn through your preferred learning style, you will progress much quicker than using a one size fits all model. I’ve outlined below the three learning styles.  See if you can identify which style suits your learning preference and let your instructor know so they can tailor your lessons to your learning style.

Visual Learners , Learn through Seeing

• Learn through seeing, learn best from visual displays
• Like to make notes
• Don’t generally like to listen
• Talk fast
• Prefer written instruction
• Eyes follow to pick up information
• Visual language, ie. I get the picture, I see what you did there

(65% of the population)

Auditory Learners, Learn through Listening

• Verbal lessons
• Prefer discussions
• Listening to others
• Interprets meaning by listening
• May read aloud

(30% of the population)

Kinaesthetic, Learn through Moving, Doing & Touching

• Learn by doing
• Hands on approach
• Struggle to sit still
• Fidget during talk throughs
• Touchy feely
• Want to get on with it and try new things
• Need to have a go
• Kinaesthetic language, I feel that’s what I’d do

(5% of the population)

How many lesosns will I need?

The DVSA state that on average, learner drivers take 40-50 hours worth of lessons to reach the required standard to pass their driving test.  This of course is just an average, some people need less, some a little more.