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

So, what is an intensive driving course?

Every person is unique and the number of hours training necessary to obtain the appropriate standard for the UK test will vary from person to person. In my experience, the number of hours required for the average candidate varied between twenty five to thirty five. Obviously, some candidates will do this quicker and others may take longer. A lot depends on any previous road experience (had driving instruction previously, driven a moped), their level of spatial awareness (the the skill of judging distance, speed and angles) and any personal practice in their own car they take. Some people take to driving like a duck to water, others do not!

Intensive driving courses are simply having that number of hours of driving lessons over a quicker 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, 40 hours of driving lessons done in 7 day’s, the week 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 speed 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, ten hours in a week (two hours per day). That way, as the driving lessons are spread over one month, they have more time to take in and digest the new information and driving skills they are learning. Still, 1month is better than 1 lesson per week over 40 weeks!

What Intensive driving 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 - who could guarantee that! At the end of the day, it is yourself and yourself only that will be taking the driving test. Mistakes can happen and nerves may play a part in that. If you see such claims, be wary. The guarantee could simply be that if you fail the driving test, they will provide another driving test at the driving school’s cost.

If you do need to pass your test fast, it is best advice to discuss with a number of driving schools to see what deals they offer and how they relate to you during your first conversation. Also, before booking and paying for your intensive driving course up-front (most training establishments will require this to confirm such a courses) you should have a lesson or two from your shortlist to see how you actually get on with them and that their teaching practices tie in with your style of learning.

The Driving Schools Directory offers an Intensive Driving Courses Pupils Enquiry Service that, after you have completed a few basic details, they will make contact with the driving schools in the area that you require to take your course in and those driver trainers will contact you. This takes out much of the leg-work for you and makes the process of inquiring about your driving crash course far easier.

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