Should I try a crash course in driving or go for individual lessons?

The inappropriately named “crash course” or intensive driving course, where you take all your lessons and your test in as little as two weeks, has increased in popularity recently as our hurried young people rush to get their driving licence sooner.

Here is a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of both crash courses and individual lessons:

Time taken –

A crash course can condense all your lessons into as little as one or two weeks, meaning that you can reach and pass your test very quickly.

Taking an individual one-hour lesson each week can take as long as a year.

Remembering or embedding –

In a crash course you’re taking your lessons one after the other or the next day, so there isn’t time to forget everything you’ve learned. It means that you don’t have to spend a portion of the following week recapping your knowledge and getting back up to speed. However, this means that you don’t have time to embed and assimilate the knowledge and skills or to practise with a family member or friend between lessons.

Breadth of Experience –

In a crash course you are going from being a complete novice to an independent driver in a very short time, but without the breadth of experience that somebody who has been learning for longer can achieve. Taking individual lessons across several months will mean that you have experience in varied weather conditions, in the dark and on different road types. You may well have had practice in between lessons too. In a crash course there is the pressure of a test booked for the end of the week, so it’s likely that most of your lessons will be focused on the test route and things that will come up in the test, rather than on developing a broad range of driving skills.

Concentration –

In a crash course you have all your lessons in a very short space of time, so you can fully immerse yourself in driving, reading the Highway Code, and driving DVDs and simulations for the duration of the course. However, it can be easy to become fatigued. Driving lessons are mentally tiring, and at the end of a five hour lesson you may be struggling to concentrate or take any more in.

In individual lessons you are only driving for one or two hours at a time, so come to it fresh and ready to concentrate.

Struggles –

Sometimes driving lessons are difficult and you can become demoralised. In a crash course your instructor can help you to work through this and overcome it, or it can be compounded and make learning for the rest of the course very difficult. In individual lessons you will have time in between your lessons to get moral support and perspective from friends and loved ones, so that you can come back to your next driving lesson ready to have another go.

It’s worth taking the time to think through these issues and choose the type of learning that will suit you best. If you are unsure, talk to people who have learned to drive, or choose your instructor first, and ask their advice.

To find out more about Intensive Crash courses in Glasgow call 0141 764 1213.