Whenever people decide to learn to drive, like most things these day’s, they want it (their licence to drive) like, yesterday! There may be a lot of reasons for someone wanting to pass their driving test promptly; a new job, going abroad, during college/university holidays etc. These are known as Driving Crash Courses (Intensive Driving Courses).

So, what is a driving crash course?

Everyone is different and the number of hours training required to reach the appropriate standard for the UK driving test will vary from one person to another. Experience has shown, the number of hours necessary for the average candidate varied between twenty five to thirty five. Obviously, some candidates will do this quicker and others longer. Much depends on any previous road experience (had driving lessons previously, driven a moped), their level of spatial awareness (the ability to judge distance, speed and angles) and any personal practice in their own car they take. Some may take to driving like a duck to water, others do not!

Intensive driving courses are simply having that number of hours of driving lessons in a shorter period. That could be over a few day’s a few weeks or longer. “Great! My driving licence in a week!” – not necessarily so. If you try and get say, forty hours of training done in a week, the 7 day’s will be very intense and possibly stressful for you. Now, some people can cope with this and others not. If you are someone that would struggle with that pace of learning and stress, then you may not be ready for the driving test at the end of that week.

Most people adopt a ‘middle of the road’ approach and have say, 10 hours in a week (two hours per day). That way, as the training is spread over 1 month, they have more time to take in and digest the new information and driving skills they are learning. Still, 4 weeks is better than 1 lesson per week over 40 weeks!

What Driving crash courses are not

They are not a ‘magic pill’ to gaining a licence to drive on the public roads. There is no such thing as a guaranteed driving test pass – no one can guarantee that! At the end of the day, it is yourself and you only that will be taking the driving test. Mistakes can happen and nerves may play a part in that. If you see driving schools claiming this, be very wary. Their guarantee could just be that if you fail the driving test, the driving school will provide another driving test at the driving school’s cost.

If you do need to pass your test fast, it is advised to enquire of a number of driving schools to see what deals they offer and how they relate to you during your initial talk. Also, before booking and paying for your driving crash course up-front (most training establishments will require this to confirm such a courses) you would be advised to have a lesson or two from your shortlist to see how you actually get on with them and that their training methods accord with your style of learning.

The Driving Schools Directory offers an Driving Crash Courses Pupils Enquiry Service that, after you have completed a few basic details, they will contact all the driving instructors in your chosen area and those driver trainers will make contact with you. This removes much of the trawling around for you and makes the process of inquiring about your intensive driving course far easier.