Should I consider Intensive Driving Lessons?

Intensive driving lessons can be a brilliant way for you to get your driving licence very quickly. It can also save you money as the intensive experience means you spend a bit less time getting back up to speed on what you covered in the previous lesson. However, there are many disadvantages to learning to drive in this way, and it can be really hard work.

To help you decide whether Intensive Driving Lessons are right for you, answer these questions:

Do you need to learn to drive right now?

An intensive driving course is a lot of hard work, and there are other disadvantages too. If you have recently moved to a rural area, have recently had a change of family circumstances (the driver in the family is no longer around), or need to learn to drive for a job, then learning quickly on an intensive course makes sense. Just being impatient to get behind the wheel and burn some rubber isn’t really what it’s all about.

Do you have some experience?

If you already have some driving experience, even if that is only driving around a car park with Uncle Reg, or attending ‘young driver’ course or driving lessons a couple of decades ago, then you’ll have a head start. The first hours of any driving course will be focused on car control, moving off and car basics. If you already have a basic knowledge or some experience of this, then you’ll be able to move more quickly on to building confidence and experience on the roads.

Do you have great concentration and focus?

Driving, especially for a beginner, is hard work. Until it becomes an ingrained habit (which will not happen in a week-long course) you will need to concentrate on the hand-eye-foot co-ordination involved in observation, signalling and using the pedals and the steering wheel every time you slow down, move off or change direction.

Added to that you will need to learn new manoeuvres, learn what you need to do at roundabouts, traffic lights, different kinds of junctions and more; learn to judge what other road users are doing and react accordingly; be aware of potential hazards on the road; learn all the road signs and markings, rules of the road and basic car maintenance.

This is a huge amount to take on board and you are going to be overwhelmed trying to focus and learn it all in such a short space of time. If you can’t concentrate under pressure then an intensive course may not be for you.

Do you have time and money available to complete the course?

Learning to drive the conventional way you only need to find the time and money for one or two hours of driving lessons each week (though you may be offered a discount if you pay for and book a block of a few lessons at a time). You find the money for the Theory Test and the Practical Test when you are ready to book them. For Intensive Driving Lessons you will need to pay for the entire driving course, and the tests, all at once, costing anything from £500 up to £1000. You will also need to ensure that you have the time to block out an entire week (or more) in your diary for your course.

Will you be able to continue learning, getting experience, with support if necessary, after your test? One of the criticisms levelled at Intensive Driving Lessons is that there is no time in the course to build up experience of different road types or driving conditions. You may pass your test after only a few days of intensive driving lessons, but you are still a very inexperienced driver, so it’s really important that you are able to continue your learning and build your experience with a confident and experienced friend or family member.

Another way of continuing to build your experience after you’ve passed your test is by attending a Pass Plus course. Make sure that you build your confidence driving: at night; in poor weather such as rain, snow and fog; on rural roads, urban roads, motorways and dual-carriageways; in congestion and free-flowing traffic; with passengers and without.

To find out more about Intensive Driving Lessons in Glasgow contact TX Driver Training right now on 0141 764 1213.  

The best ways to make use of an intensive driving course

Before you start your intensive driving course, take time to prepare. You’re going to be learning to drive in a very short space of time, so the more groundwork you do beforehand, the easier things are going to be, and the more you’ll get out of the course.

First, clear your diary for the duration of the course. You’re going to be driving for several hours each day, and for a new driver that’s can be very tiring. Don’t try to do anything else in the evenings, you’ll want to relax.

Second, spend as much time as possible before your course as an observant passenger. This might be by sitting at the front of the bus, or in the passenger seat of the car. Watch the road ahead. What’s happening? How soon does the driver slow down when they approach a roundabout or junction? What do they do as they pull out from the junction? Watch the driver’s eyes as they prepare to overtake – are they looking in their mirrors? Which ones? While closely watching your friend or parent driving might make them a little nervous, you’ll find that you can learn patterns of behaviour and road-craft that will help you when you are behind the wheel.

Third, read the Highway Code. This is the rulebook of the road and offers clear guidance on all aspects of driving. Choose a section to read each day, and read it several times. Ask somebody to test you on the content, and then revisit again several days later. The Highway Code is not just there to help with your Theory Test, the guidance in there will tell you what to do in most circumstances in everyday driving. Having a good knowledge of all the rules of the road will never be time wasted.

Choose your course and instructor carefully to ensure that you get on well together and that the course is suitable for you. Choosing a professional, enthusiastic and experienced instructor will give you the best chance of passing at the end of your course. Most driving schools will give you the opportunity to have an assessment lesson before you commit to an intensive course. This will help the instructor to assess whether an intensive course is suitable for you, and what your baseline standard of driving is like before the course, but it also helps you to decide whether this instructor will be right for you.

During your course:

Turn up on time, being late wastes precious time on a short course.

Listen carefully to everything that the instructor tells you. They are there to help you to learn to drive safely and to pass your test, so everything they tell you has a purpose.

Equally, make sure that you tell your instructor if there’s something that you don’t understand, something that you want more practice with or something you are nervous about. They can then tweak the course to ensure that you get the learning that you need.

Get lots of rest and drink plenty of water to help you to maintain concentration and get the most benefit from your course.

Enjoy it! Hopefully this will be the only intensive driving course you’ll need to take, so savour it. It won’t be long before you are the proud bearer of a Full Driving Licence, and allowed to drive solo.

Book a course

If you would like to book intensive driving lessons in Glasgow then phone 0141 764 1213 now.

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.