{"id":1426,"date":"2015-07-27T08:00:01","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T08:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktheorytesttoday.com\/?p=1426"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-07-27T08:09:13","slug":"learner-drivers-saving-money-by-ditching-driving-instructors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/learner-drivers-saving-money-by-ditching-driving-instructors\/","title":{"rendered":"Learner drivers saving money by ditching driving instructors"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new survey says that learner drivers are saving money by shunning driving instructors. Book Theory Test Today investigates…<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Just one in four learner drivers are relying on tuition from a qualified driving instructor for lessons. According to a new poll, commissioned by vouchercloud, many are relying on friends and family to help them with their driving skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why are learner drivers ditching driving instructors?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The top reason is cost, with lessons now averaging \u00c2\u00a322.50 an hour learner drivers deem lessons with a driving instructor to be too expensive.<\/span><\/p>\n

The poll found that of the 2,178 learners surveyed, who had passed their DVSA practical driving test<\/strong><\/a> in the last two years, just 26 per cent had been taught by a qualified instructor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Commenting on the research, vouchercloud said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Initially, all respondents were asked \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwho did you do take the majority of your driving lessons with?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost half of respondents – 46 per cent – stated \u00e2\u20ac\u02dca family member\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 had taught them, with remaining respondents admitting the majority of their lessons had been with either \u00e2\u20ac\u02dca friend\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (28 per cent) or a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcqualified driving instructor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (26 per cent).\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

Driving test pass rates not affected<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Despite the apparent move away from using qualified driving instructors, test pass rates appear to be unaffected. Figures for January \u00e2\u20ac\u201c March 2015 reveal that 46.5 per cent of learner drivers passed their test, a percentage that has seen little change over the past eight years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew Wood, vouchercloud\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s managing director, said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When you realise those who turn to their family and friends can save so much money, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually a wonder that more people aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just using instructors for a few lessons before taking their test.<\/span><\/p>\n

That saving of over \u00c2\u00a3600 could go towards the cost of a first car, an insurance policy or even treating yourself and those who have helped you to pass your test.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the Driving Instructor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Association reacted angrily to vouchercloud\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comments. Carly Brookfield, the organisation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chief executive, labelled the comments \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcirresponsible\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcastonishing.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/span><\/p>\n

She said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This may promote the idea that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good idea to cut the costs of learning to drive because so many other people are already doing it. According to the latest [UK] Department for Transport analysis, the statistics for people killed and seriously injured on the roads are up again, with newly qualified drivers being over represented.<\/span><\/p>\n

She added: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153One of the reasons could very well be poor driver training – people short-cutting on learning to drive by using unqualified, inexperienced and inexpert friends and family to \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcteach\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 them to save costs.<\/span><\/p>\n

What they save on not learning to drive properly, they pay out in terms of accident and repair costs, vehicle maintenance, insurance costs or, sadly, injury or loss of life.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Book Theory Test Today<\/strong><\/a> says: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no reason why the two can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work hand-in-hand. Take lessons with experienced friends and family, then take a few lessons with instructors to rid you of bad habits. Theoretically, when you factor in putting a learner driver on a vehicle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s insurance policy, then add fuel costs, it works out more expensive anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

The benefit of using a qualified instructor is that learner drivers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to worry about the insurance, the fuel costs or vehicle maintenance.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your view? Leave a comment.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Contact Book Theory Test Today<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Book Theory Test Today offers an intermediary service assisting clients with booking a UK theory test, or practical test, at test centres<\/strong><\/a> across the nation. The service also supplies resources to help you prepare for your theory test \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Ready to take your theory test? Book your theory test online today\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new survey says that learner drivers are saving money by shunning driving instructors. Book Theory Test Today investigates…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[111,158,117,174,188,79,116,214,134,126],"class_list":["post-1426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning-to-drive","tag-book-theory-test-today-2","tag-book-your-theory-test","tag-book-your-theory-test-online","tag-book-your-theory-test-online-today","tag-driving-instructors","tag-driving-test","tag-dvsa","tag-dvsa-practical-driving-test","tag-learner-drivers","tag-uk-theory-test"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}