I HAVE NOW RETIRED AND AM NOT TAKING ANY PUPILS

How Many Driving Lessons Do I Need?

This is the hardest question of the lot and dreaded by driving instructors because it is often very difficult to predict and if our prediction is large, you might go somewhere else for your driving lessons.

A Few Factors to Consider are...

Age

It seems to be generally accepted by educators in a variety of areas that the ease of acquisition of skills is related to age. The older you are, the more driving lessons you will need. In driving, the average aged male (say, in his twenties) will need at least thirty driving lessons and the average female forty.This doesn't mean men make better drivers than women but they do tend to be more at home when learning so they achieve the required standard quicker. The DVSA (the people who test you) say that the average successful test candidate has had at least 40 driving lessons plus 16 hours driving with friends and relations.

Natural Ability

Here I touch on the nature/nurture dichotomy. I work on the assumption that people are born with a certain amount of natural potential for driving.
I prefer the term raw ability. Personality, attitudes and life experience then interact with raw ability.

Personal Qualities

What you are like as a person affects your progress. If you are a confident person then you are going to learn to drive more quickly. Males tend to be more confident than females.
If you have a tendency to be anxious with anything new, then anxiety might hold you back a little with driving. Happy, relaxed people learn quicker. People who bring healthy, responsible attitudes to any learning process will always do better.

Personal Circumstances

If you can approach driving lessons from a 'money no object' point of view this will give you an advantage. Someone who cannot afford to keep regular driving lessons going will have inefficient learning and need a greater number of driving lessons in the long run. If you are suffering trauma in your life such as the break up of a relationship or a bereavement, then this will interfere with your progress. If you live a long way from a driving-test centre you will spend less time in the test area and therefore be at a disadvantage.
Previous driving experience needs to be taken into account but does not always work in your favour!

Other Factors

Driving conditions have become progressively more difficult over the years. This makes both learning to drive and the taking of a driving test much tougher than it used to be. In addition, the DVSA now require the completion of a broader driving syllabus to bring us into line with European community practice. They also operate a substantially longer driving test which is likely to cause increased stress and tiredness build ups with a corresponding increased likelihood of significant error.
This triple whammy effect makes the driving test much more difficult than it used to be - sorry!

kev stevenson