Intensive driving courses in demand
Quick pass test courses - do they work?
Until recently, the intensive driving course was limited to a few companies in places like Blackpool who offered you a chance to pass your driving test in a week.
Most of the time, these “crash courses” were only taken by people who really needed to pass their test in a hurry, and due to the pressure they were often unsuccessful.
Recently however, many driving schools have started offering intensive and semi-intensive courses, and have found them to be one of their best sellers - often generating more interest than their “normal” weekly driving lessons.
This is creating it’s own problems - many people now feel that this is a good way to do things - just save up and throw a grand and a week at the problem and bob’s your uncle….! Unfortunately, this lack of respect for the challenge is often the reason for the very low pass rate associated with intensive courses.
Another problem is that people don’t realise that you need to pass your theory test before you can book an intensive course (the practical test needs to be booked at the end of the course and cannot be booked without a theory pass certificate), and though many schools will help you with this, it will extend the time by which you will need to book in advance. Currently, the waiting list for the theory test is around 3 weeks, and the wait for the practical test is around 5 weeks, so even if a company has lots of free space, the earliest you could do this is 8 weeks in advance - allow for more if you can. Phoning up to book an intensive course in a fortnight’s time is simply not possible.
Many rumours go around about what can be offered with intensive courses - guaranteed passes and more than 1 chance at the test on the last day of the course are just 2 that we’ve come across recently. Both of these would be lovely, but neither are true - no company can guarantee a driving test pass (not legally anyway), and there is a minimum waiting time in between tests which prohibits taking it again in the afternoon after a fail in the morning!
There are good reasons for doing an intensive test or quick pass course and in today’s busy society they can be a very useful tool, but they do need some sensible planning and a realistic view.
Not everyone can pass a driving test in a week (in fact if starting from scratch in a manual car - most people couldn’t), but by planning an assessment session with the instructor you want to take your course with you can get an expert opinion about how long a course you’ll need.
In the near future these courses could well become very popular as people try to avoid the new rulings about having to learn for a year before taking a test. Like anything, market forces will push prices high during this period.
By planning ahead for your driving test you could avoid some of the problems in the future, and you could get yourself a place on a good driving course, just don’t ask whether the instructor is available next week!
All content © Tim Manwaring