How this course works?
Your driving course is structured around the key skills set out in The Official DVSA Guide to learning to Drive as well as some typical exercises and manoeuvres that you would use in day-to-day driving.
The order in which you undertake your lessons isn’t necessarily going to match the order to which these topic are displayed on this website. The best way to see these pages is as a loose guide and a learning aid which allows you to gain some knowledge prior to your lessons and ensures that all the essential topics are covered. It will also help you to reflect on each lesson, take responsibility for your own learning and hopefully make it quicker and easier for you to reach your goals.
After your first lesson, where you will learn to adjust the drivers position, learn about the main controls and hopefully get moving by pulling away safely, you will go through 3 main phases when learning to drive:
Control skills - Using our hands and feet to operate the controls of the car. Using gears, clutch control, reversing & adapting to gradients.
Road skills - Using junctions, identifying speed limits, reading road signs, responding to traffic signals, anticipating & planning ahead.
Traffic skills - How to safely deal with other road users and situations, meeting other traffic, passing cyclists & safety distances.
How much of our attention we give to each skill depends on our driving experience and ability.
Someone just starting to learn to drive might apply 90% of their attention to the controls of the car and only 10% to what’s happening outside the car, whereas a very experienced driver may give 0% thought to the controls of the car and 100% attention to observing and responding to their surroundings.
When you start learning to drive, it’s important to spend time harnessing your control skills. The first part of the course will focus mainly on this element as well as dealing with some basic junctions.
As controlling the car starts to become second nature, you will begin to take more notice of your surroundings and turn your attention to improving your road & traffic skills.
During your learning journey, your instructor will take responsibly for the skills that you are yet to master, giving you the opportunity to practise them in a safe controlled environment. As you acquire new skills, they will slowly transfer those responsibilities to you.
As you progress through the control skills phase and tackle some basic junctions, your instructor will lead the way until you are ready to take on some more challenging topics.
As we approach the road & traffic skills phases, you’ll start to take on the responsibility for your own learning path, setting your own goals and deciding which topics you would like to learn or practise. Your instructor will always be there to guide you or suggest the next step.
Each lesson will be built around you and your needs and ultimately getting you 100% safe & confident for your driving test and for life!