Before learning to drive, you need to get yourself a provisional licence and a qualified driving instructor. If you are planning to practice outside of these lessons, you’ll also ideally need access to a car owned by a friend or family member.
How many lessons does it take to learn to drive?
Every driver learns at a different pace and it’s not worth putting unnecessary pressure on yourself to pass your test. Research carried out by the DVSA (Driving & Vehicle Standards Agency) found the average driver needs around 47 hours of lessons with an instructor and a further 22 hours of practice with friends or family.
This means if you’re having one hour-long lesson per week with an instructor and two hours of practice outside of your lessons, you could be test ready in around five months. If you have the time free, you could increase the amount of extra driving you do with parents or other family members. Increasing your out-of-lesson practice time to just four hours a week could mean you’re ready for your test in three months.
What’s the quickest way to pass your driving test?
When you’re a learner driver and first get your hands on the wheel, all you want to do is pass your driving test as quickly as possible. You’re determined to gain some independence as you hit the road in your own car for the first time.
One way of passing your driving test quickly is to practice as much as possible in-between your instructed lessons. Driving with a family member or friend is a good way of doing this. Not only will you gain some extra experience, but you can also practice everything you’ve learned with your instructor without spending out on more lessons.
Tips to help you quickly learn to drive
Here are just some of the ways that you can quickly learn to drive:
- Apply for your provisional licence as soon as you’re eligible
- Download the DVLA theory test app to get in plenty of theory practice
- Revise for your theory test as much as possible
- Book your theory test as soon as you feel ready
- Get as much time behind the wheel as possible
- Practice new parts of driving in-between lessons
- Only book your practical test once you feel ready
Who can supervise a learner driver?
Unless you’re very lucky, it’s unlikely you’ll have your own car to learn to drive in. Most learners will need to do their extra driving practice in a parent’s car. This can help speed up the whole learning-to-drive process while offering more flexibility as practice will not be reliant on the instructor’s schedule.
Whenever you or your parents have some free time – even if it’s just an hour here or there – you can simply hop in the car and get that crucial extra practice. As well as the extra time on the road, this will help you save money.
If you are planning on practising with parents outside your lessons with a qualified instructor, you need to make sure you have learner driver insurance.
Save money by learning to drive with parents
With the average cost of a driving lesson in the UK costing £34 if you buy in bulk and possibly more depending on the area or offers available, increasing the number of private lessons you have per week can add up Getting extra practice from your parents can help you increase the number of hours on the road, without having to increase the amount you spend learning to drive.
This crucial extra time earned in-between lessons will ultimately help save you money and speed up the time it takes to learn to drive. With this extra practice, you will grow in confidence and skill over time before you have to pay for an instructor to finally prepare you for your driving test.
Learning to drive in your parents’ car is a great way to speed up learning to drive, but it’s important to make sure your parents or anyone else you want to practice with are eligible to do so.
If you only plan on having private lessons (which isn’t advised as instructor-led lessons are incredibly useful), you must make sure that whoever is teaching you is up to date with traffic laws and knows what will be required for you to pass your test.
If you’re learning with an instructor alongside learning to drive with parents, it is also helpful for the parent to communicate openly with the instructor to ensure you pass as quickly as possible.
What is the best car insurance for a learner driver?
It’s a legal requirement to have insurance when practising driving with family or friends in the UK. If you’re lucky enough to be practising in a car you own, you’ll need your own insurance and your family member or friend will usually be covered on this.
If, as is more likely, you’re practising in someone else’s car, you’ll need to either:
- Make sure you’re covered by the car owner’s insurance policy as a learner driver
- Take out your own insurance policy that covers you driving in the car as a learner driver
If you don’t have insurance, you can get an unlimited fine, be banned from driving and get up to 8 penalty points on your licence.
There are some other legal rules to follow… Anyone you practice your driving with (without paying them) must:
- Be aged 21 or over
- Be qualified to drive the type of vehicle you’re learning in
- Have had their full driving licence for at least 3 years
The benefits of temporary learner driver insurance
Tempcover’s temporary learner insurance is a flexible option that means you only pay for cover when you need it – from 12 hours up to 28 days.
Perfect for using while learning to drive – or if you want to fit in some last-minute practice before the test – this is an affordable way of honing your driving skills. It also gives you the chance to:
- Get some extra practice – extra hours on the road before the test can be valuable, especially in a car and with people you feel comfortable with. Get that crucial extra time behind the wheel with temporary learner insurance.
- Make you check out our tips on how to pass your theory test.
- Protect the owner’s No Claims Discount – many family members can be nervous about letting a learner practice in their car. With short-term learner insurance, you get complete peace of mind because it does not affect any existing policy and there’s no danger of losing any No Claims Discount.
- Take your test in whatever car you want – whether you prefer your own car, or you’re more comfortable in Mum or Dad’s car rather than your instructor’s, learner driver insurance will let you do exactly this.
What’s covered with Tempcover’s provisional insurance?
- Fully comprehensive insurance on policies ranging from 12 hours to 28 days
- Accidental and malicious damage to your car
- Cover for injury or damage to another person or their property
- Driving in the UK
The learner driver must be:
- Be aged 17-69 years old.
- Hold a UK provisional driving licence.
- Have been a permanent UK resident for the last 12 months.
- Not have any licence points or prosecution pending for any motoring convictions.
- Have never been disqualified from driving.
- Have never driven a vehicle that was involved in an accident that was considered your fault; whether partially or fully
- Have no criminal convictions
- Not have had a previous policy of insurance declared void by an insurer
The driver supervising must be:
- Aged over 25 (please note this differs to the legal requirement of 21 years old)
- Have held their full UK Driving Licence for at least three years
- Have been a permanent UK resident for a minimum of three years
- Have not had any DR coded motoring convictions in the past five years
What’s the most suitable car insurance when learning to drive?
This will depend on how you’re planning to learn to drive, but for many learner drivers, temporary learner driver insurance could be the ideal option, let’s look at the pros and cons of temporary learner driver insurance.
Pros
Flexible cover as and when you need it from just 12 hours at a time up to 28 days
You only pay as and when you need it with no commitments or long-term contracts
No impact on the existing cover, it’s a separate standalone policy
No impact on parents’ No Claims Discount
Changing which parent you want to practice with? Just choose what car you want to practice in each time you get a policy
Fully comprehensive cover as standard on all temporary learner driver policies
Con
Once you pass your driving test, your policy will automatically end. You will then need to look for ongoing annual cover
Tempcover IT!
Please note temporary learner driver insurance won’t cover you once you’ve passed your test.
Need to pick up a new car after passing your test and are in need of some temporary car insurance before sorting your annual insurance, why not request a quote for temporary car insurance from Tempcover?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the quickest way to learn to drive?
Everyone learns to drive at a different pace. It’s important not to put unnecessary pressure on yourself while learning to drive. Although there’s an average of around 70 hours of lessons (from a qualified instructor and privately with a friend of daily member) to pass, some people are quicker and some take longer. You can help make your learning go faster by having private lessons with a parent, family member or friend but make sure you have the correct learner driver insurance.
Where do I get my provisional licence?
Before you get behind the wheel, you need a provisional licence. You can order apply for your first provisional driving licence on the UK government website.
What happens if I pass my test while using temporary learner insurance?
Once you pass your driving test, temporary learner insurance will no longer be valid. You’ll need to take out a new insurance policy as a fully qualified driver.
What are the benefits of learner driver insurance?
Temporary learner driver insurance gives you the flexibility to only pay for the time you need. Although Parents Insurance and Full Annual Cover also offer positives, the flexibility of temp learner insurance means it can be tailored to your exact needs.
