Driving Lessons Warrington, Driving Test, Provisional Licence

We all know Learning to drive isn’t going to be cheap. The average cost can run into the thousands. Let’s see how much the individual parts of learning to drive actually cost.

Provisional Driving Licence

You will first have to apply for a provisional driving licence, before learning to drive a car, moped, or motorbike. This becomes a full licence for free when you pass your driving test.

Learner drivers can apply for the licence three months before their 17. You can apply online by clicking here or via the Post Office.

Cost of Provisional £50

Driving Lessons

According to the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) the average learner driver needs 47 lessons with about 22 hours of private practice before they pass their driving test.

Lessons average between £20 and £30. At Horgis I charge £23 per hour. Block-booking or having two-hour will get you discounts on your driving lessons. Text “4OFFERS” to 84433 for my latest offers.

Cost of driving lessons £957 to £1081

Theory Test

The Theory Test which looks at your knowledge of traffic signs and The Highway Code .This costs £31 for cars.

You need to book and pass your driving theory test before you’re able to take your practical driving test. The nearest test centre for your Theory is St Helens. You can book a theroy test by clicking here

Cost of the Theory Test £31

Driving Test

A Driving Test in Warrington will cost £62 and £75 at a weekend. Remember you will normally have a 1 hour driving lesson before the test and the car will be in use for another hour during the test, so you will need to budget for this as well. The average 1st time pass rate for the UK is 40.6%** so you may have to think about taking this a second time. Link to book a driving test

Cost of Driving Test & Use of Car £106

The approximate total cost of learning to Drive £1144

**Based on Widnes test centre as Warrington has not released figures yet 2013.

uSwitch-the online compassion site recently published their own report on the cost of learning to drive.

This independent report can be read by following this link. uSwitch reported that they found the cost to be

£1,333

Many thanks to Lou Walsh for this interesting insite. Driving-Instructor.TV

A lot of talk, research and writings have gone on over a number of decades into the 'sex differences' when it comes to learning to drive and teaching. The reality is that girls, as a group and boys, as a group are far more alike then they are different. And before we go any further it's important to emphasis that the difference between individual girls and individual boys within that group is far greater than those between the 'average girl' and the 'average boy' - yet we tend to generalise from the 'average girl' and the 'average boy' to individuals...And averages can be very deceiving!

In other words - similarities between girls and boys far outweigh the differences - and this has continued to shrink steadily over the last 2-3 decades.

However - let's review the facts.

There are unarguably fundamental brain development differences between girls and boys. The earlier development of the corpus callosum and cortical areas of the brain in girls allows girls to learn and remember sensory skills more effectively, hold attention longer, foster transitions between lessons better and multi skill more efficiently. This allows girls to use more 'advanced' developed areas of the brain associated with emotion. For example, a 17 year old girl will be able to explain why she feels sad in great detail, where as a boy remains in his 'primitive brain' and so the same emotion explained by a 17 year old boy would be equivalent to an answer from a 6 year old.

In boys the spatial-mechanical functioning part of the brain makes boys want to move objects... Trains, aeroplanes, cars.... The occasional little sister... But most importantly, themselves.

Boys are significantly more likely to do something dangerous as the adrenaline from doing so and the consequential 'fight or flight' reaction is enjoyed. They perform better when 'stressed' because of this. (when I say 'stressed' I don't mean 'distressed' - that's a whole different thing!)

Interestingly, about 15% less blood flows to the male brain than the female brain which results in the boys tending to structure or compartmentalise their learning, rather than the girls who learn as a whole and multi task their brains as they learn.

So now let's look at some of the other differences between boys and girls within the learning environment -

Despite evidence that throughout general education, regardless of subject and age, girls out perform boys these fundamental differences are evident and some of you may well recognise these within your driving lessons -

-Girls are far more excessively self critical in evaluating their performance.

-Boys tend to have unrealistically high estimations of their own abilities and accomplishments ( evident in their decision making and risk taking within crash statistics )

-Girls are more concerned about pleasing adults

-Boys are less motivated unless the subject interests them ( hence their motivation to learn, as putting them in a car satisfies their need to 'move' )

-Girls are interested in context and detail which enhances their learning

-Boys are bored by context and want to 'get on with it'

-Girls are better at hearing but find repetitive noises a distraction ( could this include engine noise or a continual verbal instruction ? )

-Girls are better at objective discrimination i.e. - "what.....?"

-Boys are better at objective location i.e "where....?"

-Girls focus on faces

-Boys focus on movement

-Girls enjoy relationships with teachers and are more inclined to ask for help if they feel comfortable in that relationship

-Boys avoid 'sucking up' to a teacher and are likely to ask for help as a last resort

-Girls respond better face to face

-Boys avid eye contact and are more comfortable at a distance

-Girls friendship is shared around people

-Boys friendship is focused on a shared activity rather than on people

-Girls deal less successfully with moderate 'stress'

-Boys do better because of it

-Girls use landmarks to give directions

-Boys use compass points and instructions

These are just the most striking differences and perhaps the ones that are most fascinating to look at within the context of driver education. Take a look at the above list and spend some time thinking about how these factors are reproduced during driving lessons.

I found it fascinating - and to give you just an example of my own thoughts - Isn't it interesting to think that purely our position (sitting side by side ) in the driving school car and so making less eye contact favours a boys learning over a girls! Go through the list and make similar connections between these factors and your lessons.

During my research into this thread I also concluded that although silence and seated is not a comfortable learning condition for a boy who's brain requires more physical movement, this is counteracted by the fulfilled need to move oneself!

It is also interesting to learn how important 'pecking order' and hierarchical positions are to boys and that the panic over status relates in stress and the production of cortisol and so increases their ability to perform. How does this manifest itself when a boy is placed in a position feeling like a learner driver in a confined environment with another person who by the very nature of being the driving instructor, is considered to be of higher status?

Just to make it clear - There is NO difference in what girls and boys CAN learn - but there is a big difference in the best ways to teach them.

So with this in mind, and to try and help further, let's have a quick look at what this means for us, as driving instructors.

Firstly, awareness is a good start! I'm sure, with some self reflection, it will be possible for all of us to see the relevance of the above observations to our own teaching styles and characteristics.

If we look specifically at those first differing traits regarding girls being far more excessively self critical in evaluating their performance and boys tending to have unrealistically high estimations of their own abilities and accomplishments -

Girls may need 'building up' with confidence and encouragement (of which we know that confidence, feedback and encouragement is far more effective if it comes from within oneself)

Girls may benefit from learning from role models and peers and would perhaps benefit from opportunities to learning with other girls.

Girls may benefit from being able to create their own challenges and be promoted as leaders within the learning environment.

And girls may make the best progress when given perceptual and symbolic reasoning within lessons.

Boys, on the other hand, will benefit from finding common materialistic/practical interests in the subject with their instructors. As well as benefiting from a reality check, a realisation of their own limitations and by being challenged to do better. ( of which we know that realisation and inner understanding is only true understanding when it has been discovered for oneself rather than being 'told' )

How's that for starters....??

Graham is one of my learners, he very kindly wrote this guest blog for me about his first ever driving lesson.

At the age of 25, I finally decided to learn to drive (a ripe old age to start, I know!). I chose Horgis School of Motoring for two reasons: he lives near to me in Warrington, and his lessons were a reasonable price. On the day, I was very, very, very, nervous. What would David expect of me? Would he put me in the driving seat and simply say ‘Drive?’ How would he react to my first ever attempt at driving? Would he laugh? Would he cry? Would he throw his hands up in despair and say ‘I can’t teach someone like you! You’ll never learn to drive!’ It’s far harder to learn new things when you reach my age, and by the time the driving lesson approached, I wondered if driving was the right thing for me.

However, my fears were allayed when the time for my first ever driving lesson arrived. David didn’t expect me to drive straight away! He explained everything clearly to me, and then he drove us to a nearby business park in Warrington. The road was a circuit punctuated by two long, straight roads. It was a perfect setting for a first time learner like myself. It was a quiet place as well, so the possibility of encountering other traffic was significantly reduced (therefore, less stress for me!). First of all David run through the basics of driving with me. He didn’t expect any knowledge at all of cars or driving from me, and didn’t rush through any explanations. After the first part of my driving lesson, I had a good understanding of how to start the car, how to accelerate, how to brake, how to change gears, the POM (Prepare Observe Move) routine, etc.

And after going through the basics and making sure I understood them I had a little more confidence that I was ready to drive. And drive I did! Obviously, it wasn’t the most perfect of attempts to start the car and drive in a straight line (it was harder than I believed!). But David never once lost patience with me, which was one of my fears coming into my first driving lesson. His calming state of mind and his words of encouragement helped me to concentrate on learning to drive the car. Soon after approaching an adequate level of moving off and stopping, I was soon taking on corners! As I mentioned before, this circuit was perfect for the learner driver. The corners weren’t too sharp, giving enough room for the sloppy turning of a learner driver. By the end my first ever driving lesson!, I had overcome some of my insecurities about driving, mainly thanks to David. Not once did he put me under undue pressure, or expect too much (or too little!) of me. Instead of being terrified of my next driving lesson, I was eager to carry on driving almost immediately!

His methods for teaching and his use of the latest training aids makes things so clear. He also updates me on each driving lesson we do with a report which shows what I have done, what I need to do and this gives me a realistic estimate of when I would be ready to take my driving test.

Graham is learning to drive with me. He also works in the Esquires Coffee Shop in Stockton Heath village, why not pop in and say hello next time your passing.

“My Mum & Dad said that they only took a few lessons and passed a months weeks after turning 17”

This statement may be true, but at a rough estimate most candidate’s parents will have taken their test 25 to 30 years ago in very different times and low volumes of other road users trying to use the same roads. A lot of people started on Motorbikes and then progressed to cars when they could afford to buy a car and take driving lessons. The volume of traffic on the roads has increased incredibly since then, just ask to see photos of the roads where your parents grew up and you will see very few cars parked on the roads, go back today and take a look. The number of complex junctions and road systems in busy urban areas has also increased. Look at Bridgefoot Island in Warrington for example, it’s only a few years ago that it was no more than a normal roundabout, then take a look at it today.

The DSA have also changed the driving test on a regular basis over past years. In 1991 they introduced the 2 parking manoeuvres into the test, so now candidates will need to be able to safely carry out either a parking manoeuvre on the road (Parallel Park) or in a car park (Bay Park) just see how many people can’t do this, even after years of driving experience. They also, to reflect the more challenging situations that drivers face on modern roads introduced the independent driving element of the test. You will be asked to either follow a map or road signs for at least 10 minutes. This and greater skill level in hazard awareness and anticipation, needed to deal with today’s busy roads makes the driving test considerably more difficult than it was even a few years ago.

The DSA suggest that in 2012 on average a new driver of 17-21 years old will take on average 47 hours of tuition along with around 20 hours of private practice may be needed in order to reach the test standard. To be fair though we all learn new tasks at different rates and while some people may take many more hours to pass their driving test, a good many learners take considerably less than this figure to learn to drive safely.

At Horgis School of Motoring, I am here to help you throughout all of this process and will help you to quickly reach the required standard.

Take a look at what I learnt to drive in!

This is a guest Blog from Paul Bridgman. Paul works in the car insurance industry at Only Young Drivers. He has kindly written the information below for me. One of the biggest hurdles to actually getting on the road after learning to drive and passing you driving test in Warrington, can be the price of insurance. At Horgis SOM I try to keep helping my customers even after you have finished learning with me. This Blog may help you save ££££ on your car insurance, so I would recommend reading it and give them a call to see if they can help. Don't forget to mention you learned to drive with Horgis School of Motoring in Warrington as you may get an even better deal.

Drive safe, see you next lesson.

David

New Driver Insurance for Horgis SOM

Many new young drivers are faced with the same dilemma and it seems to be one of the biggest hurdles to getting on the road – young drivers car insurance. You have spent time learning to drive and dedication to pass your test and then you get stopped right at the last point with car insurance. This blog is to help you out with some hints and tips, in a help to assist you.

Firstly, do not buy a car without checking the price of insurance. Many people fall victim of this to find that the car they want is unrealistic to insure. So the best thing to do is get a list of registration numbers from cars that you like and compare prices with insurance companies.

The next thing to consider is where you should look for insurance and which companies you should use. A good place to start is price comparison websites. Such sites give you the opportunity to compare multiple companies at the click of a button. It is worth trying a few of the price comparison sites as they all work with different companies. Advantages of such sites are that they are free, there is no obligation to take out a policy and you can check the prices in your own time.

Along with looking online there are some companies that do not use price comparison websites, as they believe that they can offer the best price if you contact them directly. So it is worth giving them a go too. And finally there are some young drivers insurance specialists that should be able to help you. These sorts of companies have different ideas top help bring down the price of your insurance.

Some will require you to have a ‘black box’ fitted to your vehicle, that can help track times that you driver and mileage that you cover and charge you accordingly. This works for some people as it can offer them a good enough price to get them on the road. And your young driver companies understand your frustrations and should give you more time and attention that you need.

Remember insurance is the law and if you get caught without it, you could be banned from the road in your first 2 years of driving, as it carries 6 points.

Here are a few tips to getting that best price.

- Choose your car carefully

- Add a more experienced driver as an additional driver

- Consider paying a larger excess

- Try your best to accurately judge your annual mileage

- Complete the Pass Plus course

- Resist temptation to modify your car

We hope you have luck in finding insurance, be patient with it, its not a 2 minute job, so set some time aside to sit down and find the best deal for you. Ask family or friends to help you, and make sure whatever product you purchase it is right for you.

Cost of Driving lessons in Warrington.

We have all seen offers on driving school cars, or on websites, but what’s the truth behind the seemingly unbeatable deals we see advertised.

Seen Driving schools advertising offer like this.

10 driving lessons for £99.00

5 driving lessons for £25.00

£1000 unlimited driving lessons

Looks fantastic! So let me open these offers up for you.

10 Driving lessons for £99

You have to pay the full £99 up front, you will then get 4 driving lessons to begin with, 2 hours which have to be used as a Mock driving test. 1 hour test with 2 driving instructors in the car, so you actually only get a 1 hour mock driving test and the final 2 hours used on the day of your driving test. Some driving schools will charge you a “Sit In” fee as well if you want your instructor to accompany you on your driving test. You normally have to take at least one lesson per month or you lose the offer and your money!

5 Hours for £25.00

This one is similar to the offer above and normally works this way. You pay the £25 and will get 2 hours of driving instruction to begin with; the next 2 hours will be saved for the day of your driving test. The final 1 hour is normally put towards a Pass Plus course or a Motorway driving lesson.

Unlimited Driving Lessons for £1000

This one is exactly as it seems to be. You will get unlimited amount of driving lessons for as long as you need them. You will however need to pay for your driving test and the use of the driving school car on each of your tests. This may cost you anything up to £112 per attempt at your driving test. You might not need to take that many driving lessons anyway and may be paying for something you don’t need. Or you might be subsidising someone else’s driving lessons.

So there you have it. It seems fantastic when you first see the offers, however, they all tie in to the end type offers. Pay up front but get the reward at the end. That’s great if you know you are going to like the driving school or the driving instructor you are given. What if you don’t get on with him or her? What if you find out they have only just qualified? Or worse still they are not qualified at all and they are operating under a trainee licence.

Makes you think! Shop round by all means, ask lots of questions and if you are happy with the driving lesson deal and you understand it then book it. Or maybe just pay for the lessons you need and end up saving even more in the long run.

A DRIVING TEST CENTRE will come to Warrington if a planning application is approved. Paddington House Hotel in Woolston has been selected as a tempory site for the test centre. It is then to move to Festival Avenue Orford later in the year, probably about April or May 2012.

At last some news about a Driving Test Centre in Warrington.

Horgis school of motoring today spoke with Warrington south MP David Mowat’s office about the problems faced when learning to drive in Warrington, and the extra costs involved with taking a driving test in other towns. They informed me that he had very recently spoken with Mike Penning, Secretary of State for Transport, about when the driving test centre will re-open in Warrington.

The latest information is that “It is due to open in Autumn 2011” so we should be hearing more in the next few weeks. As soon as I know more I will post updates to this blog.

Some more news...... I was told by a member of the DSA that we are waiting for the outcome of a planning application and that testing is hoping to start in the New Year (2012) Rumours among instructors seem to sugget February.

Remember the safest and cheapest way to book either you Theory Test or a Practical driving Test is to let me do it for you. I will book the test and ensure you pay the correct fee!! There are websites out there who will charge you a booking fee, normally this is £20-25 At Horgis its completely free (NO BOOKING FEE) and never any hidden charges when learning to drive with me