Cheap Driving Lessons: The Real Cost

Just like many others, in recent times, I find myself looking more carefully at the prices of things. Whether it is the cost of driving lessons, car parts or a litre of petrol – it's price, rather than anything else, which has become the most important factor in my buying decisions. Lately, the news seems to be full of financial gloom, with stories of how businesses and individuals are being forced to cut back on spending and tighten their belts for the difficult months to come. It's not a pretty picture. People and businesses alike feel the need to re-evaluate their budgets and separate the luxuries from the necessities. But where you draw the line between these two is a very personal decision, based upon your budgetary circumstances. If you are considering taking driving lessons this year, do you see these lessons as a necessity or a luxury, and how do you decide what price you should pay for your driving lessons?

Are Driving Lessons A Necessary Expense?

For many people, these days, knowing how to drive is a necessity rather than a luxury. According to the Office for National Statistics, the proportion of men aged seventeen and over with a driving licence was 81 per cent (17.9 million men), in 2004, and among women it was 61 per cent (14.4 million women). What's more, in Britain, over 70 per cent of households have a car and over 30 per cent of households have two or more cars. But these figures are not simply about car ownership. The number of journeys by car outstrip those made by both bus and train journeys together, tenfold. It's difficult to ignore the central role that the car plays in modern life, and it's difficult to view the ability to drive as anything but a basic and necessary skill, like knowing how to use a telephone, or computer.

So What Does It Cost To Learn How To Drive?

When we consider the number of cars that are being driven in Great Britain, and the variety of journeys they are used for, the need for a driving licence begins to look more like a practicality than a luxury. So, in difficult financial times, the cost of learning to drive becomes the main consideration when choosing a driving instructor. But what is the best way to assess this cost?

There are two main strategies by which you can assess the cost of learning to drive. They are as follows:

Strategy 1. Assessing The Price Of Driving Lessons

The first, and most common, approach to budgeting the cost of a driving licence is to make some enquiries and find out the price of individual driving lessons at a variety of providers. And then pick the driving school which offers the cheapest driving lessons. On a basic level this seems to make sense. We normally take driving lessons on a weekly basis, so our natural tendency is to estimate the expense as a weekly one. But this is a mistake.

Strategy 2. Estimating Cost of Learning To Drive

The second strategy is to estimate how many lessons we are likely to need, with a particular teacher, and look at the overall cost of obtaining a driving licence rather than the individual price of lessons. This second strategy has an entirely different focus to the first, and prioritises the quality of teaching over the price of lessons. By using this strategy, you approach driving schools not simply based upon the price of their driving lessons, but how many lessons you are likely to require. And whether those lessons will lead to a pass when you take your first driving test. Which is really a question about the quality of teaching. The reality which this strategy recognises is that not all driving schools are the same. And not all driving instructors are equal.

The Hidden Cost Of Driving Lessons

Driving lessons are rarely sold on a fixed cost basis. You do not pay a set fee to take lessons and pass your test: you pay per lesson. The Driving Standards Agency website declares that an average person requires 45 hours of lessons and 22 hours of private practice to pass their driving test. But some people pass in half that time, and others never do. There is no set price for the cost of learning to drive, and it differs from one learner to another, from teacher to teacher, and from one area to another.

The money you pay for a driving lesson pays for a range of expenses. It pays for the petrol used during your lesson, and for driving to meet you. It contributes towards insurance fees, vehicle maintenance, and other business costs not least the purchase of a dual control modern vehicle. It is also taxed. All these expenses are taken out before the driving instructor is paid their fee. When you choose the cheapest driving school and the cheapest driving instructor, your saving in the short-term may well become a greater cost in the long-term. A driving teacher who has cut their prices to the minimum is either in financial difficulties or very tired from working long hours. In either case, they may not be at their best. The reality is that you get what you pay for.

How To Really Get The Cheapest Driving Lessons

The only variable you can take control of is the quality of instructor. By engaging the best driving teacher you ensure that you have the best driving education you need. A good teacher will assess your skills, tailor your lessons to your unique needs, and ensure that you are fully prepared for your driving test day when it comes. By looking at the cost of driving lessons as a proportion of the overall cost of passing your test quickly, and on the first attempt, you will realise that the best money-saving decision you can make is to pick the best driving instructor based on their skill and experience, rather than the price of each lesson.

And finally, when you reflect upon the number of cars being driven in Britain today, and the frequency with which they are used, it's clear that many people see learning to drive as an essential skill, and not one that is limited to today. With 60+ year olds still making 70 per cent of their journeys by car, a driving licence is clearly an investment with lifelong rewards. If you learn to drive in your teens or 20's, you can expect to be driving for 50+ years. By learning under a good teacher, you become a good driver. And good drivers pay less for insurance and repairs – over a period of 50+ years, that can turn into quite a saving!

If you are looking for driving lessons in South or West London and would like to learn more, talk to Tony Phillips, at the Alpha Motoring School, on freephone 08000 88 74 02. Or drop us an email via our Contacts page.

The Alpha Motoring School is an independently owned, family run business, with more than 30 years combined experience, offering driving tuition across South and West London.