What is an intensive driving course?

Want to get behind the wheel quickly? An intensive driving course could help

The average learner driver has around 45 hours of lessons spread out over a number of weeks and months before taking their driving test, while around half of all candidates fail on the first attempt.

But what if you either want to speed up the learning process, or increase your chances of getting a driving licence? Well, an intensive driving course could help you do both of these things, and this guide explains the ins and outs of these courses.

What are intensive driving courses?

Ironically also known as a ‘crash course’, intensive driving courses give you the opportunity to prepare for your driving test – potentially with no previous experience behind the wheel – in as little as a week.

Intensive driving courses will often include concentrated preparation and practise for the theory test as well as the practical one.

How does an intensive driving course work?

Before being able to take an intensive course, you’ll first need to have got yourself a provisional driving licence.

Next, you’ll need to find yourself a course. Options vary, but one-week courses with around five hours of driving a day are relatively popular, though you can also find two-week intensive courses, while ‘semi-intensive’ courses that take even longer are also offered.

Some companies offer a number of intensive packages ranging from six hours over a day, to 45 hours spread out over three weeks, with numerous options in-between.

If you choose one of the more intensive intensive courses, you’ll clearly need to book time off work, school or college, and be prepared to dedicate yourself to little but learning to drive for the period the course runs for.

Intensive driving courses tend to be organised so that you take your driving test at the end of the lessons, so you’ll need to liaise with the provider to organise both the timings of the course, and the timings of your test.

How much is an intensive driving course?

Nothing about driving is cheap, so it will come as little surprise to learn that intensive driving courses can be rather expensive – anything up to £2,000 for two-week courses, with one-week ones costing somewhere around half that.

But while that’s a fair chunk of change by anyone’s measure, the average cost of a driving lesson in the UK is around £30 an hour, which works out at £1,350 if you take 45 hours’ worth of lessons (many instructors offer two hour lessons as a matter of course.)

Where can I take an intensive driving course?

Intensive driving courses are offered by a number of different companies, with RED driving school among the larger players in this field.

Some of the larger driving schools, such as BSM, do not offer intensive courses, though, with the organisation stating on its website: “We are sceptical that this will provide a comprehensive foundation for being a safe, competent driver for life.”

A few firms even offer residential intensive driving courses, where you’ll stay away from home in organised accommodation.

Are intensive driving courses worth it?

There are two sides to this argument. Some consider that intensive driving courses are an important tool for people who need to get their hands on a licence quickly – possibly for work-related reasons. On the other hand, some, such as BSM, are more sceptical.

Whichever side of the fence you come down on, intensive driving courses, as the name suggests, demand a lot of learners, and depending on how you respond to pressure, and how well you take in new information, you may or may not consider them a worthwhile endeavour.

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