Learning to drive - "intensive" course

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gameover

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Hey,

Gotta learn how to drive soon. I've decided (kinda...) that i'll do an intensive course and just get it out of the way as soon as possible, but most people i've mentioned this to say its a bad way to learn - even though you do the same number of hours, you learn less/less skill on road... whats your opinion on this?
 
if you really have to get a licence it can work but personally i would say that learning over a period of time will be a far more enjoyable and less stressful experience
 
Depends how intense .. if you do say 2 hours every day as opposed to 2 hours every week it would have roughly the same effect - doing 4 hour sessions instead of 2 hour ones would mean you do learn less though.
 
intensive or at least my understanding of it is 5/6 hours every day for a week and the test at the end of the week, at least thats what my friend did and failed first time, the pressure of 'having' to learn it all in a week as your test is set would have put me off (not that I even considered it tbh)
 
For some people it works really well, for others it's a nightmare. I know a few people who have tried it (mostly around the age of 20ish, if that matters to you) and the ones who passed were the ones who kept their head under pressure. I did my motorbike test quite quickly (over a couple of weeks) but I had already passed my car test and there was no pressure on me to pass first time. If you have the time, I'd recommend spreading the lessons over a month or so - especially if you can fit in practice outside of lessons.
 
I did my bike license in CBT one day, then little bikes for a day, then big bikes for a day, then a morning on big bike and my test in the afternoon, so... three and a half days of training. I liked it - you were kept in the swing of it, kept in practice, no wasted time getting used to it again.

With 1 hour/week you spend 15 minutes getting used to it again, then drive for 35 minutes, then talk to your instructor for ten minutes. IMO, the longer the period of instruction the better, all the wasted time is at the beginning and end.
 
i did mine 'intensively' because i was working away at the time and it was just easier for me to take a week off to do lessons than it would have been to faff about with different instructors everywhere i worked or doing them on my weekends off

didnt do a specific course though. i basically just rang one of the big learner companys and said ive got my test in a few weeks and i want a load of lessons

did 4 days of 4 hours on my week off and then had my test a couple of weekends later with 2 hours before it. passed with 1 minor which i still blame on vauxhalls annoying indicators :D :p

was lucky in that i ended up with an instructor i got on with though. certainly helped during those 4 days. ive heard of mates whove gone away on one of those proper courses and been with someone theyve hated
 
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PardonTheWait said:
I did my bike license in CBT one day, then little bikes for a day, then big bikes for a day, then a morning on big bike and my test in the afternoon, so... three and a half days of training. I liked it - you were kept in the swing of it, kept in practice, no wasted time getting used to it again.

With 1 hour/week you spend 15 minutes getting used to it again, then drive for 35 minutes, then talk to your instructor for ten minutes. IMO, the longer the period of instruction the better, all the wasted time is at the beginning and end.
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That's good to hear, i'm hoping to do a DAS course at the end of summer (turn 21 in august). Do you have any tips or advice?
 
That many hours in a day must be killer lol. One hour lessons are pointless in that you get nothing done by the time you get out of your own area,I did two hour ones once a week over a few months and I liked that because I learned nearly all the routes the examier could take,got to know the car better and it was more cost effective for me. I went into the test ~90% positive I could pass first time!

My mate wants to do an intensive course but I feel if he was to pass he would be even more of a danger than i view him at the minute,if you have driven before for any period of time then it may be better for you though!
 
I wouldn't even consider it, the first day would be hell. Seriously i felt so drained after my first few lessons just from having to concentrate so much. If I had to do a long old day of learning how to drive it wouldn't be good.

And you don't learn how to drive so good out of the box, one of my mates did an intensive course, and for the first few months of driving he was awful, his cars full of dents, he rear ended someone (not too badly though), he was stalling a bit. And tbh, he's not very confident on the road.
 
I wouldn't recommend it.

For one thing, things which you learn in a short space of time are much easier to forget than things which you pick up gradually including repetition. I think there would be a real concern that you could forget an awful lot after very quickly after passing.

An hour driving when you are learning feels like a very long time, let alone 5 or 6 hours solid!
 
$loth said:
That's good to hear, i'm hoping to do a DAS course at the end of summer (turn 21 in august). Do you have any tips or advice?
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Not really, just relax. If you go to a good training centre they'll be really good. I wouldn't sweat the new test too much either, it now appears it's been toned down quite a lot from what they intended, but that's only second hand info. Just enjoy it :)
 
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