Pass plus and subsidies

El Gringo · 2 Mar 2007 at 16:15

I live in Aberdeen & in London, and as far as I know the councils do offer money off the course, but I've just been off the phone with a nice lady at the AA who said that the price of the course was going to be £174 and that it wasn't subsidised at all and that it was a fixed price.
Who is right, or have I misunderstood something along the way?
Thanks

Berger · 2 Mar 2007 at 17:04

El Gringo said:
I live in Aberdeen & in London, and as far as I know the councils do offer money off the course, but I've just been off the phone with a nice lady at the AA who said that the price of the course was going to be £174 and that it wasn't subsidised at all and that it was a fixed price.
Who is right, or have I misunderstood something along the way?
Thanks

~They have having a laugh, i paid £50 for my passplus with my instructor, he only did it with people he taught so he knows their driving history and stuff though.

GFX707 · 2 Mar 2007 at 17:07

You have to apply for the subsidies first, phone the council and they will tell you.

You pay for the course upfront (cheapest in Aberdeen I have so far is £150) and then you send away the vouchers the council send you with the certificate to get a cheque for £120.

Ollie's Gadgets · 2 Mar 2007 at 17:14

The cheapest that I could find was around £100 I think. Did it in one day and the instructor skipped a few of the lessons e.g. snow and rain driving as the conditions were not appropriate.

Was quite tiring doing 6 hours in a day when i was a new driver, but I think it is better to do it all in one session.

El Gringo · 2 Mar 2007 at 17:24

GFX707 said:
You have to apply for the subsidies first, phone the council and they will tell you.

You pay for the course upfront (cheapest in Aberdeen I have so far is £150) and then you send away the vouchers the council send you with the certificate to get a check for £120.

Thanks for the replies

I haven't had lessons in something like three years, but i passed the practical in Summer last year, so I can't really go through any instructors. I rang the council some time ago and they may have sent me a form to fill out... Does Aberdeen City Council pay a flat rate of £120 whatever company you go with?

GFX707 · 2 Mar 2007 at 17:41

They send you out two vouchers, one for £75 from the Scottish Executive and one for £45 from the council.

argh, just realised I meant cheque, not check. Accursed yanks.

Macca · 2 Mar 2007 at 17:45

GFX707 said:
They send you out two vouchers, one for £75 from the Scottish Executive and one for £45 from the council.

argh, just realised I meant cheque, not check. Accursed yanks.

Is this for everywhere in Scotland? I was told here in Perth the council only pay £50-55, not the £75 from Scottish Executive and some from council.

*edit* It appears Perth council are paying for 50% of it, but currently paying 75% to promote it, with the usual cost being £130.

Dashik · 2 Mar 2007 at 17:45

Why not go thriough your instructor? Unless you no longer live near him.

In Fife its the police and the council who run the course, You attend an evening of driver awareness (pics/slides and a film or 2 etc) then you get a number to give the ADI and he claims half the fee back. Most reputable instructors give 6 hours instruction at there normal rate for the pass plus course. Discounts are up to the ADI etc.

If your not getting 6 hours driving tuition then its not a good thing. I also teach it in one day to give pupils experiance of longer duration driving etc.

GFX707 · 2 Mar 2007 at 17:59

Macca said:
Is this for everywhere in Scotland? I was told here in Perth the council only pay £50-55, not the £75 from Scottish Executive and some from council.

*edit* It appears Perth council are paying for 50% of it, but currently paying 75% to promote it, with the usual cost being £130.

Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire council are doing it, I haven't heard about anyone else. I think Aberdeen are doing it as a trial.

Macca · 2 Mar 2007 at 18:04

GFX707 said:
Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire council are doing it, I haven't heard about anyone else. I think Aberdeen are doing it as a trial.

Ok cheers, anyway just now my council are paying for 75% of it so lets hope they still are if i pass my test on the 5th of april

. As i was thinking of doing it but it will be so cheap so definately.

El Gringo · 2 Mar 2007 at 18:09

I did not know, iirc they said they would subsidise it by £45, I didn't know about the Scottish Executive one. I can't find any details on the council website, so I may have to call them I suppose.
So far I've only asked the AA andLDC Aberdeen, is there anyone you might recommend? Thanks again!

/Link
We have six months

GFX707 · 2 Mar 2007 at 18:51

Well I am still phoning round, Roadwise charge £180 but they take you out to the real motorway up at Stirling so if you want to learn properly rather than save on insurance etc. they are a good bet, the price is a bit steep though.

Cheapest is £150 from King Street Motoring.

Most people are around £160.

It's effectively £60 vs. £30.

El Gringo · 2 Mar 2007 at 19:02

I've doen a fair number of mway miles since passing, so I the Stirling thing (being mile and miles away) isn't hugely necessary, but I'll still take any advice they hae to offer.
I'll check out King St Motoring then, and I'll call the council asap. I was told it could be done in less than a week, which more than suits me.

GFX707 · 2 Mar 2007 at 19:43

Yeah, they can do all the modules on the same day apparently. I presume that's what the Stirling thing is, kind of a day trip up there to do it all in one go.