Adept Drive now has a Face Book Page

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We have just launched our Face Book page for Adept Drive you can add comments and photos if you wish and become a Fan, we will still update this blog with use full information on a regular basis.

Adept Drive the 1st Time Pass Experts for our current pass rates just check out our website,we only use fully qualified Instructors with above average Pass Rates do check for the Green BADGE above when your driving Instructor arrives for the 1st Time, you have been Warned No trainees for us.
Our Face Book Page URL is shown below
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Letchworth-Garden-City/Adept-Drive-The-1st-Time-Pass-Experts/116265201717904?ref=ts&v=wall

Proof that Longer Lessons Do Improve your Chances of Passing 1st Time

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Our 1st time Pass Rate results for February shows how 1.5hr lessons do improve your chances

of passing 1st Time, we had 7 tests in February 5 Passed all of these passed 1st Time. This means our overall

pass rate for the month was 70%  national average is 43%, the 1st time pass rate was a staggering 100%

5 passed 5 passed 1st time the national average 1st time pass rate is 33% 1 in 3.So this is proof positive that longer lessons do increase your chances of passing 1st time the best length lesson we have found is 1.5hrs.

New Changes to The UK Driving Test, It justs gets harder.

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From the 6th of April 2010 pupils will be asked by DSA examiners if they would like their Instructor or Observer to sit in on their driving test, this is optional, but will encouraged by the DSA.

It will be up to the pupil to decide this, the reason the DSA say this would be better, is when pupils

fail or pass their test often they hear very little of the feedback on the debrief, however all pupils have to do is ask that their driving Instructor is present for the debrief this will achieve the same.

We do advise pupils if they wish we can sit in on the test, we leave it up to the pupil to decide it helps some pupils not others, we also do sit in on the debrief if the pupils request it.

One thing over looked by the DSA is the fact that pupils normally have only two people

in the car on a driving lesson, most pupils find it daunting enough to have an examiner in the car with them

let alone an observer, then add a senior examiner doing a check test on the examiner, now we have four

in the car, not a great idea for some one trying to pass their test for the first time.

The pupils will not be used to the extra weight in the car, which will mean they will not be aware that they will

have to break harder and earlier, and they will not be aware that it will take longer to pick up speed when emerging at junctions, therefore needing a bigger gap to allow for the reduced acceleration of the vehicle.

It would be far simpler and less daunting if Instructors were always asked to seat in on the debrief at the end of the test, the same end result would be achieved and not put the pupil under even more pressure.

The only saving grace is it is up to the pupil to decide, your Instructor will sit in on the test if you wish and I would suggest you do request your Instructor to sit in on the debrief at the end of the test.

Another change due to be introduced in October 2010 is Independent driving where the pupil will have to navigate their way to a set destination using road markings and road signs, with out directions from the examiner.There is an upside to this, to allow for the Independent driving scenario the DSA will cut the number of reversing manoeuvers to one, so if you sucked at reversing around corner you may still get a chance to pass your test.

To any one wanting to pass their driving test you will need driving lessons from a fully qualified Instructor,
do make sure they are fully qualified, do look for a green badge so you know they are fully qualified,
the driving test is not getting any easier.

I was recently asked to give some one a couple of lessons to take them round the test route before their test, hate to tell you there are at least twenty test routes at every test center which one do you want? gone are the days when Instructors just took their pupils around the five test routes so they new them like the back of their hand, gone are the 30 minute tests.

You must be able to drive the car using safe systems of driving in any road conditions and be able to deal with any road hazard for a period of 40 minutes, this is a lot harder to achieve than people think, so do your self
a favour do get some lessons with a fully qualified Instructor.

I did actually give the person concerned a couple of lessons, they did not check their mirrors once, they did not observe at all before moving off, and they did not know how to do any of the maneuvers. They actually had a test booked for the next week, you must be using safe systems of driving to pass your test and be able to carry out the maneuvers safely as well, this takes time to learn and be consistent around 50 hrs of on road experience to be exact according to the latest DSA figures so do get real.

Will longer Driving Lessons Improve my Chances of Passing the Driving Test

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Do longer driving lessons improve your chances of passing 1st time, yes they do around 25%
of people who fail their test fail in the last 10 minutes of the test, the main reason for this is lack of concentration. As most driving schools offer 1hr or 2hr lessons and most pupils will do 1hr lesson rather than a 2hr lesson, mainly because of cost, this means they never actually drive to test standard for the length of time the practical test takes, which is approx 40 minutes long.

With a 1hr lesson once you have done all of the maneuvers including the emergency stop your drive time
will be 30 minutes or less which means you never have to concentrate for longer than this period of time.
We have found the best length lesson to be 1.5hrs, a 1hr lesson is to short a 2hr lesson can be to long
for many people, with a 1.5hr lesson  this does mean  pupils will drive for periods of 45 minutes plus, so they do learn to concentrate for longer periods of time, which does increase their chances of passing 1st time.

This is one of the reasons our 1st Time pass rate is so high, the national average is only 33% but we consistently achieve a 1st Time pass rate of 50-60%, we do also suggest to pupils if they are doing private practice to drive for longer than 1hr session this does help as well.

The aim is to get pupils to drive to test standard for longer periods of time and to consistently follow the safe systems of driving they have been taught, if they can achieve this then this will greatly improve their chances of passing 1st Time.

All Approved Driving Instructors are Not Equal

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All driving Instructors who take payment for driving lessons must legally be registered with the DSA, they have to pay a license fee to be registered.

A fully qualified Instructor normally referred to as an ADI is issued with a green badge, this means they are fully qualified and have completed and passed all of their training, a trainee Instructor is issued with a pink badge
normally referred to as a PDI, this means they are training to become a driving Instructor but are not yet
qualified.

The current pass rate for trainee Instructors is only 25%- 30%  so most of these trainees will fail, the trainee
license is normally only issued for 6 months while they are training, both badge types must be displayed in the
training car when teaching pupils, this is a legal requirement.

Both types of badges are shown below, a Green Badge means the Instructor is fully qualified the Pink Badge means they are trainees and are not yet qualified.

ADI BADGE FULLY QUALIFIED INSTRUCTOR

PDI BADGE TRAINEE INSTRUCTOR

Be aware many driving schools use trainee Instructors, they are legally allowed to do so, just as long as they are licensed by the DSA, the driving school is not obliged to tell you this and may still charge you the same price for your driving lessons, in fact only one of the National driving schools only use fully qualified Instructors. They do promote this on their website and in their advertising many people over look this,

YOU SHOULD NOT.

Do not just ask price, ask if you will be getting a fully qualified Instructor you can verify this when the Instructor arrives for your lesson, ask to see their badge it should be on display. You normally do not get a discount on the driving lesson price if you are being trained by a trainee, so why pay the full amount for a trainee Instructor who more likely or not will fail their training.

If a driving school advertises for driving Instructor training they will more than likely use trainees, two of the major players do, in fact one of them does advertise extensively on the TV for driving Instructor training,

they do use trainees and are linked with driver training colleges, Think before you book.

You have Been Warned, don't just ask price ensure you get a fully qualified Instructor unless you can get a reduced rate.

How to Prepare for Learning to Drive

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The first thing you will need is a Provisional  Driving License without this you will not be insured to drive a car,

you will need to be 17yrs old, but you can apply prior to your 17th birthday, but do allow 2-3 weeks for the application to be processed.

You can get your application form from your local post office, you will need several passport sized photos for your ID card, then send the completed form, photos and driving license fee to the DVLA, the address to send it to will be on the form also the the fee for your Provisional License.

Next thing to do is to sort out a good driving school and start studying for your theory test, you can be studying at the same time as you are taking driving lessons, you can either get books on the theory test

questions and the hazard perception test or cd's for your PC what ever you find the easiest.

You must have passed your theory test before you can book a practical test, once you have passed the

theory test you will get a pass certificate number, which you must quote when booking your driving

test.

Both the theory test and practical test can be booked online on the DSA website this is the website address

http://www.dsa.gov.uk/

Please be aware of scam websites they are around they charge you a fee for booking the tests for you,
they all look very official, so make sure you do go to the official site, currently the theory test fee is approx
£30 and the practical £60.

I have had pupils charged £48 for the theory and £75 for the practical, they did book on a scam website
the additional cost was their booking fee, you have been warned.

You will need to budget for this training it will not be cheap,  for a complete novice with no previous experience aged between 17yrs-20yrs you  will need 40hrs of training plus 20hrs of private practice,
these are the figures currently quoted by the DSA, which you can verify on their website.

We have found that people with around 50hrs of on road experience can and do pass 1st time,you
could split this between driving lessons and private practice equal split 50-50 is best, this will save you
money and is the cheapest option so would cost around £400-£500 but if you do not get private
practice the cost will be £800-£1,000.

These figures are based upon a complete novice with no previous experience.

The 10 Hour Myth

www.adeptdrive.co.uk The 10 hour myth, the number of pupils that have said my dad only had 10hrs of driving lessons to pass his test, that was then this is now.

The driving test is far harder than when parents took their test, the introduction of the theory test including hazard perception, the practical test is harder because the test time is longer approx 40 minutes, greater number of test routes each test center has approx 22 test routes, examiners are also far more stringent and the  inclusion of show and tell.

No longer can Instructors just drive around the 5 tests routes with the pupil several times before their test, so they get no surprises on the day. You do have to be able to deal with any hazards and drive to a very high standard, using safe systems of driving, be aware of all of the rules and apply them to your driving at all times.

This takes time, the average learner aged 17-20yrs old will take at least 50hrs of on road experience to reach current test standards that,s fact not fiction.

This is based on a complete novice with no previous driving experience, the more previous experience the less hours you will need, but I would have at least 50% of your training with a fully qualified Instructor, but you must apply all you have been taught in your private practice, you must be consistent, that takes time.