Driving Lessons- How Many is Taking the Mickey?

[Fastchas]

My son, who doesn't live with me, started his driving lessons on 8th February. He has one each week and has missed one, so he has had (I think) 12 lessons. I text him about the lessons and got the below;

8th Feb - first lesson.
15th Feb - A text after his 2nd lesson said that he 'should be on the actual road within the next few weeks'.
9th March - he said that the lesson focused on mirrors and 'went for a bit of a drive' and that the next lesson they were going to go further away from home on more main roads.
29th March - he did more or less the same but with 2-3 hill starts.
2nd May - 'going to start manouvres next lesson but I've mastered the dual-carriage way part now'.

Now, I know its not the same as in my days (when it was all fields) but I had 6 lessons, and my instructor booked me in for my test. My son has (I think) done his theory but has no date for his practical test. Also, I'm baffled why he is taking so many lessons and why he isn't doing 'more' in each lesson. He should surely be more advanced in his driving. He isn't a bad learner and gets to grips with everything so I don't think it's a case of he isn't ready yet, but I understand the instructor is the one that sees him drive, obviously.

Is this what driving lessons are like now? Do they take so much longer than in our days?
Or is he getting fleeced?

[Krikkit]

If he isn't proficient enough they won't move him on, surely?

I'd also look at it in terms of # of hours spent rather than just lessons. I had my lessons in 2h blocks every week, and took about 6 weeks to get to a near-flawless pass proficiency (1 minor). By contrast my wife took 4x longer to get to the same standard.

[GetCarter]

Never trust anyone that gets paid by the hour to do anything other than stretch it out.

[rxe]

My son bought a package of 10, 2 were used for the test, so 8. However, he was able to drive before he started - he’d been driving tractors (and massive trailers) since he was about 14. Even so, despite being able to reverse a 20 tonne trailer though a farm gate, he failed on the parallel park because he tried to make it perfect and was marked down.

[BoRED S2upid]

Don’t ‘they’ recommend 24 lessons? I think this was the number back in the day. Took me 12 weeks with dad adding an hour or two a week.

Can you take him out OP?

[NickCW]

Sounds to me like he is getting fleeced or has a very long winded instructor.

I was out driving on my first lesson, and every lesson after that. For it to take weeks before he was even on the road seems odd to me.

I think the nationwide average number was 25 lessons to test, some doing 10/15 in my experience albeit that was 17 years ago now!

[akirk]

Fastchas said:

15th Feb - A text after his 2nd lesson said that he 'should be on the actual road within the next few weeks'.

This seems strange - in my day (ancient, so back in the 1980s!) you were on the actual road from the first lesson.
I was unusually speedy amongst friends (4 hours before the test + some but not much time with parents), but this sounds incredibly strung out - what is he being taught before he gets on to the actual road - surely to teach driving you need to be in the car and preferably in the context you are learning for?

Obviously dexterity / focus / ability varies amongst those learning, but over the years I have taught lots of children (10+) to drive off-road, and generally if reasonably competent they can get clutch control within about 1/2 an hour - another half hour to smooth things out and every child I have met could physically drive the car within an hour, (many far quicker!). I had one aged 14 driving a manual car around a race track - happily doing high speeds in a controlled environment - admittedly said child stalled 6 times from the pits to the track, but once the feel of the clutch was gained, no issues...

I know that road conditions have worsened in the last 30+ years, but control of the car takes no longer to learn - arguably it should be easier... sounds very stretched out

[vonhosen]

There's learning to simply move it around or there's learning to do it well.

What do you want for him?

How many hours required is surely entirely dependent on the individual & the level that they wish to be able to perform at consistently.

I still take lessons.

[RazerSauber]

The only way you'll ever know is to take a lesson with him and the instructor. It could be that your son isn't getting the knack of it and it is genuinely taking that long.

Of all the instructors that I've either used myself or my friends used, only 1 I thought was taking the proverbial. A friend of mine was in a different car for a single lesson because the usual instructor car was in the garage. He took 1 hour lessons too. I went to town and saw him in the car on my way out. 40 minutes later, I was returning and the car hadn't budged an inch. When I quizzed my friend about it, he said that his instructor was teaching him about all the ins and outs of the car. Imagine paying £20 for 40 minutes of how to use a car you drive for a maximum of 20 minutes. Just cancel the lesson and pick it up next week! 20 minutes of tuition will achieve nothing, other than line your pockets of course.

[Cascade360]

Fastchas said:

My son, who doesn't live with me, started his driving lessons on 8th February. He has one each week and has missed one, so he has had (I think) 12 lessons. I text him about the lessons and got the below;

8th Feb - first lesson.
15th Feb - A text after his 2nd lesson said that he 'should be on the actual road within the next few weeks'.
9th March - he said that the lesson focused on mirrors and 'went for a bit of a drive' and that the next lesson they were going to go further away from home on more main roads.
29th March - he did more or less the same but with 2-3 hill starts.
2nd May - 'going to start manouvres next lesson but I've mastered the dual-carriage way part now'.

Now, I know its not the same as in my days (when it was all fields) but I had 6 lessons, and my instructor booked me in for my test. My son has (I think) done his theory but has no date for his practical test. Also, I'm baffled why he is taking so many lessons and why he isn't doing 'more' in each lesson. He should surely be more advanced in his driving. He isn't a bad learner and gets to grips with everything so I don't think it's a case of he isn't ready yet, but I understand the instructor is the one that sees him drive, obviously.

Is this what driving lessons are like now? Do they take so much longer than in our days?
Or is he getting fleeced?

The average number of lessons is something like 45.

EDIT: 45 hour lessons plus 22 hours of practice away from lessons - https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/learning-to-dri...

Edited by Cascade360 on Wednesday 4th May 12:33

[Fastchas]

akirk said:

Fastchas said:

15th Feb - A text after his 2nd lesson said that he 'should be on the actual road within the next few weeks'.

This seems strange - in my day (ancient, so back in the 1980s!) you were on the actual road from the first lesson.
I was unusually speedy amongst friends (4 hours before the test + some but not much time with parents), but this sounds incredibly strung out - what is he being taught before he gets on to the actual road - surely to teach driving you need to be in the car and preferably in the context you are learning for?

Obviously dexterity / focus / ability varies amongst those learning, but over the years I have taught lots of children (10+) to drive off-road, and generally if reasonably competent they can get clutch control within about 1/2 an hour - another half hour to smooth things out and every child I have met could physically drive the car within an hour, (many far quicker!). I had one aged 14 driving a manual car around a race track - happily doing high speeds in a controlled environment - admittedly said child stalled 6 times from the pits to the track, but once the feel of the clutch was gained, no issues...

I know that road conditions have worsened in the last 30+ years, but control of the car takes no longer to learn - arguably it should be easier... sounds very stretched out

This is the bit that first raised my suspicions when he text me. Since then I've been monitoring it.
I'm not paying for it, my ex & her fella do but I'm still concerned that he should be eyeing up his test by now.

I'm not able to take him out, and all the road driving he does is with the instructor.

[Fastchas]

Cascade360 said:

The average number of lessons is something like 45.

Does this figure include any failed tests?

[Cascade360]

Fastchas said:

Cascade360 said:

The average number of lessons is something like 45.

Does this figure include any failed tests?

I assume so.

I passed first time and think I did somewhere in the region of 30 lessons. About 7 years ago or so. Wasn't an unusual amount compared to my peers (and I am sure many wouldn't admit to quite how many they required).

[SteBrown91]

I started lessons in the July and passed first time mid November (2008). There was a gap of 2-3 weeks where both me and my instructor were on holiday, and I was taking 2 hour lessons once a week. I guess at approx 30-35 hours I had. Part of that was also me not being quick enough to book a theory, so as soon as that was done instructor said book your test and that was about as early as I could get it. Still obviously did lessons until the test date to keep myself sharp.

Sounds to me that perhaps your son isn't quite as a good driver as you think, and perhaps your son is making it sound like he is smashing it all as he knows his dad is pushing him to be a driving god in 5 lessons flat.

[Fastchas]

SteBrown91 said:

I started lessons in the July and passed first time mid November (2008). There was a gap of 2-3 weeks where both me and my instructor were on holiday, and I was taking 2 hour lessons once a week. I guess at approx 30-35 hours I had. Part of that was also me not being quick enough to book a theory, so as soon as that was done instructor said book your test and that was about as early as I could get it. Still obviously did lessons until the test date to keep myself sharp.

Sounds to me that perhaps your son isn't quite as a good driver as you think, and perhaps your son is making it sound like he is smashing it all as he knows his dad is pushing him to be a driving god in 5 lessons flat.

I don't think that's the case at all. I've not said how many it took me to pass, only that I'm surprised of how much he's progressed by way of what they do each week. Especially when he said he 'should be on the road in the next few weeks'!
I'm also aware he may not be picking it up that well but I don't think it's that. He seems to pick things up very quickly.

[Muzzer79]

Fastchas said:

I'm not able to take him out, and all the road driving he does is with the instructor.

So you have absolutely no understanding of how good he is. He could be totally inept for all you know.

Some people take to it well, some people don't. Just because you only took a few lessons umpteen years ago, doesn't mean he will.

As a comparison - I passed over 25 years ago, first time. My instructor had 40 years experience and a solid gold reputation - he described me as a 'natural'. I still took 16 lessons and four months from first lesson to actual test.
The test is now longer and more complicated.

If you're that concerned, take your son out and watch him drive.

[Durzel]

Fastchas said:

SteBrown91 said:

I started lessons in the July and passed first time mid November (2008). There was a gap of 2-3 weeks where both me and my instructor were on holiday, and I was taking 2 hour lessons once a week. I guess at approx 30-35 hours I had. Part of that was also me not being quick enough to book a theory, so as soon as that was done instructor said book your test and that was about as early as I could get it. Still obviously did lessons until the test date to keep myself sharp.

Sounds to me that perhaps your son isn't quite as a good driver as you think, and perhaps your son is making it sound like he is smashing it all as he knows his dad is pushing him to be a driving god in 5 lessons flat.

I don't think that's the case at all. I've not said how many it took me to pass, only that I'm surprised of how much he's progressed by way of what they do each week. Especially when he said he 'should be on the road in the next few weeks'!
I'm also aware he may not be picking it up that well but I don't think it's that. He seems to pick things up very quickly.

You might have rose tinted glasses though, parents often do. Without actually being in the car with him supervising (which could in and of itself skew the measurement) I don't think you can really know whether he is having an "appropriate" number of lessons. It could be that the instructor feels that he is too skittish, or inconsistent?

Occam's Razor would suggest that perhaps your son isn't taking to it as well as you did, which is neither a failure on his part nor a conspiracy on the part of the instructor.

[Triumph Man]

He might just be taking a bit longer than others. An old school friend and I had the same instructor. He started lessons in September 2007 and had them for a year (averaging 3/4 hours a week) until he passed in September 2008. I turned 17 in August 2008, and passed in early December 2008. There was a month between my last lesson and my test. I think I averaged 3 hours a week

[hemidom]

Also around 30 hours for me around 2008 so I wouldn't say it is abnormal. The waiting to go out on the road was the same, the instructor would drive us out on the first few lessons (can't remember how many, maybe 3!) to quiet and very wide residential roads to get to grips with the basics before heading out myself for real experience in traffic.

[Chubbyross]

I spent my first three lessons in a car park learning to use the clutch and brakes properly. This was back in the 80s. I was dying to get out on the road but I look back now and realise my instructor was teaching me to drive, not simply pass my test. When my children start to learn to drive I will find a similar instructor for them. Getting out on the road too early without really learning how to drive a car limits the amount you’ll be able to learn about the environment and other drivers.