Why To Learn To Drive?

Having driving licence, will be life changing. Mainly because:

• it will widen up your work opportunities
• it will give you a personal freedom to travel and get to the places.

But with the freedom, comes great responsibilities. And the top responsibility you and every driver on the road has is to DRIVE SAFELY.

So, here I broken down 5 steps on how to get your driving licence. There is no a way around it but put hard work and time into it. But it is all worth it in the end.

STEP 1

PROVISIONAL DRIVING LICENCE

You need a provisional driving licence to take lessons or practice.

Provisional driving licence is a learner licence to drive. If you have one, you can start learning to drive. But note that you MUST have a supervisor person in a car with you at all times when you drive: it can be a driving instructor or a person who is at least 21 years old and has driving licence for at least 3 years.

You can apply for your first car provisional driving licence from the age of 15 years and 9 months old.

You can apply for your first provisional driving licence – https://www.gov.uk/apply-first-provisional-driving-licence?step-by-step-nav=e01e924b-9c7c-4c71-8241-66a575c2f61f

Due to COVID backlog, it is taken longer to get provisional driving licence.

STEP 2

Now that you have applied for your provisional driving licence, you can start looking for driving instructor.

Few things to have in mind when choosing your driving instructor are:

1. Be comfortable in your driving instructor’s presence – I have been in the situations, where siting in the car with your driving instructor can be uncomfortable and tense atmosphere. Saying that, there may be occasions when things may get a bit tense, but with good relationships, you should be able to talk about it.
2. Don’t allow to be shouted at – the minute that happens, you have two choices: to either stop the lesson then and there or let it finish the lesson but chose to never go back.

STEP 3

THEORY TEST

Theory test cost about £23.00. These can be booked on Government website. You have unlimited times to sit this exam.

My advice would be to ensure you are ready for the test. I know so many people who have failed theory test multiple times because went into the exam knowing they were not ready. But that way you waste your time and money. And during this last year, you contribute to the backlog of all the driving theory and practical tests.

STEP 4

BOOK DRIVING TEST

As soon as you have passed your theory test – congratulations by the way! – you can go ahead and look to book driving test.

It is good to have a driving test day as that way, you have a date to work towards to.

LATEST UPDATE – only attempt driving test is you are feeling truly ready. DVSA are working really hard in reducing the backlog. But it doesn’t help when people go ahead with their test ready or not, fail and then struggle to get another test.

When do you know you are ready for the test?

Remember, that the most important thing you will be judged on is how safe is your driving. So, the minute your driving because safe, no serious or dangerous faults during your driving lessons.

Another good factor is when your driving instructor stops using dual controls, that’s a good sign, you are becoming a safe driver.

What happens during the test

There are 5 parts to the driving test:

• an eyesight check
• ‘show me, tell me’ vehicle safety questions
• general driving ability
• reversing your vehicle
• independent driving

The test is the same for both manual and automatic cars.

STEP 5

Congratulations! You have passed your practical driving test!

The examiner would write a pass certificate (blue ish peace of paper), which you can then send it off to DVSA together with your provisional driving licence and wait for your new shiny pink licence in the post.

Safe driving!

Gitana Bulatova