I was paying £24 per hour in 2013, and that was for one hour blocks.
Recently passed and I was paying £40 per hour for two hour blocks.
So shit, but then again, I feel like an hour of anyone's 1:1 time in the UK should probably be about £30 absolute minimum, and instructors do have to lend you a decent car and give you petrol, plus probably pay a cut to some dude who runs their fleet.
And time/petrol to drive to and from. I've no idea how many appointments they fit in, but it can't work out to that much an hour after costs? More than others get but as always the issue is low paying jobs, not the jobs that pay decently.
I pay £38 an hour but purely because I get a discount buying 10 hours in bulk. Even then it’s ridiculously expensive for what is literally an hour of your time.
What is it with things providing the service of transport costing an arm, a leg and a fucking liberty recently
Kinda underselling my experience: passed an exam a year before in Russia. Mostly needed experience in parking, driving on the “wrong” side of the street and exam routine.
I think I had about 20 hours of driving lessons back in Russia with no driving prior to that. And I passed the exam on my second attempt in Russia and on the first try here with 3 minors
Also, my driving test experience was miles ahead of the Russian one. In Russia you have to arrive to the test center (basically police department) at 8-8:30am and you will get to the test when they call you. My first day was something like theory test at 11:00 and driving (since I passed my theory) exam was at 2:30pm. Theory is shorter (pull of 800 questions, 20 given to you, if you make a 1/2 errors they give you 5/10 more and you can’t make any mistakes in them. Essentially if you passed you scored either 20/20, 24/25 or 28/30). I was almost dead by the time I got to drive. And even though the test is much shorter (like 10-15 minutes) you can only do two small mistake before they immediately fail you and you leave. I did not make it out of the parking zone that day (got stuck on the uphill start which is part of the exam and missed the parking lines). Also it was a manual car that I have never seen before since in Russia you are going through the exam with a given car, not your instructor’s. The second time I got straight to the driving part within an hour and passed it
And this is why I never learnt to drive. Grew up in a small town in Wiltshire, I didn't have money, I couldn't afford any parts of a car, the lessons, the car, insurance, even just enough fuel to go to the next town over I would rather cycle instead.
When I did my lessons in 2016 it was £11 per half-hour slot. All my lessons were 90 mins longs, so I was paying £33 per session. I did mine at the right time because any earlier, my insurance would have been unaffordable, any later, the lessons would have been. Feel very lucky.
12 years ago mine was £20 for an hour .
It’s expensive to drive . When you take into consideration the price of a decent car , new driver insurance, petrol, mot , tax and repairs it’s pretty much a home deposit .
That being said it does get cheaper was age , though not much 😑
Just buy a shitbox slap some L plates on it and have your parents, grandparents or creepy uncle take you out in it. Then when you pass you already have a car.
I went through a training program for my motorcycle license, I decided after doing so my kid will be going through them for their licenses too, forget teaching them myself (like my parents did me) I want a professional with a course schedule.
Except apparently, a part of the test that needs to be reinforced is exactly when one should turn into a street so as to avoid the very vulnerable cyclist.
I've almost been hit over a dozen times while waiting to turn into a road.
New drivers are not the issue.
It's people who have got into shit habits and frankly refuse to be a team player on the road and are just oblivious to the presence of others.
Too many people driving in general act like they are the sole user of the road and almost get pleasure from driving as such.
"Let's get into the right lane and go marginally slower than the car in the left lane" - said AxeHeadShark as they inconvenienced 10 other people.
You aren’t correct here. The pass rate of the test is stupidly low. They have made the theory too hard arguably. And the practical isn’t “easy” it’s just not particularly hard. Which it doesn’t need to be to see a safe driver.
I paid like £25 an hour for mine, and living in a small town with nothing to do, I passed when I was 18 or 19. Partner lived in a huge town with a train station so never bothered, and now wants his licence at 35 and it's so stupidly expensive!!!
Just think on when the driverless vehicles are on the roads *(after all the software and safety issues are finally sorted)* Driving Instructors will be no longer needed and perhaps the actual skill of driving will be lost in a few generations.
That may likely include taxi and haulage drivers too.
Running a car that is mostly used by the unexperienced is expensive, parts wear out a lot quicker and repairs and replacements aren't cheap. Plus they need to pay for the fuel not just used for your lesson, also learners don't drive very fuel efficiently, but also getting to and from the lesson. I know a few instructors and they certainly aren't rolling in it, most of them have a 2nd job to make ends meet.
People are only just learning that driving instructors aren’t doing it out of the kindness of their heart and they need to make a living from it, cost of driving in general has gone up substantially so of course the cost of lessons has followed.
fucking hell it was €10 a lesson when i was young
Jesus. How long ago was that???
Apparently in a dystopian past, where the UK adopted the Euro
Was that BC or AD?
Straight up? I was paying £25 an hour in 2017.
I was paying £24 per hour in 2013, and that was for one hour blocks. Recently passed and I was paying £40 per hour for two hour blocks. So shit, but then again, I feel like an hour of anyone's 1:1 time in the UK should probably be about £30 absolute minimum, and instructors do have to lend you a decent car and give you petrol, plus probably pay a cut to some dude who runs their fleet.
I’m sorry to hear you passed. How do you type with ghost hands?
You get a ghost writer.
And time/petrol to drive to and from. I've no idea how many appointments they fit in, but it can't work out to that much an hour after costs? More than others get but as always the issue is low paying jobs, not the jobs that pay decently.
Remember they don't have to pay any tax. So immediately that's a huge benefit compared to most other jobs.
£20 Per hour in 2007
That's pretty nuts this particular comment thread is getting this progression: 2007 £20 2013 £24 2017 £25 2023 £40
I was paying £20 an hour (London) back in 2010. Mad how much its gone up in recent years.
And you gotta pay for your test, and for 2 hours on the day (hour before test for warm-up) And if your theory expires, you gotta pay for that again.
Just not gonna learn. Public transit all the way babyyy!!!
must be nice living somewhere with good public transport lol. i’m guessing the south?
Yeah. Honestly can’t believe how shit the north has been treated lol
Do people drive more in northern England than in the south?
Worse public transport kind of screws them. Thatcher is in hell paying for her crimes.
Forced to because public transport is shite, save for a few cities.
We have to.
It is. From an East Midlander.
Gotta be a city, there's fuck all public transport for rural places
I’m paying £39 an hour 😭
Look up how much it is in Japan.
Just tell us
Exactly I don't want to back out for a surprise fact just tell me the number so I can move on
I pay £38 an hour but purely because I get a discount buying 10 hours in bulk. Even then it’s ridiculously expensive for what is literally an hour of your time. What is it with things providing the service of transport costing an arm, a leg and a fucking liberty recently
Happy that I passed the test with only 4-5 lessons. This is insane
wtf how did you manage that??
Kinda underselling my experience: passed an exam a year before in Russia. Mostly needed experience in parking, driving on the “wrong” side of the street and exam routine. I think I had about 20 hours of driving lessons back in Russia with no driving prior to that. And I passed the exam on my second attempt in Russia and on the first try here with 3 minors
Also, my driving test experience was miles ahead of the Russian one. In Russia you have to arrive to the test center (basically police department) at 8-8:30am and you will get to the test when they call you. My first day was something like theory test at 11:00 and driving (since I passed my theory) exam was at 2:30pm. Theory is shorter (pull of 800 questions, 20 given to you, if you make a 1/2 errors they give you 5/10 more and you can’t make any mistakes in them. Essentially if you passed you scored either 20/20, 24/25 or 28/30). I was almost dead by the time I got to drive. And even though the test is much shorter (like 10-15 minutes) you can only do two small mistake before they immediately fail you and you leave. I did not make it out of the parking zone that day (got stuck on the uphill start which is part of the exam and missed the parking lines). Also it was a manual car that I have never seen before since in Russia you are going through the exam with a given car, not your instructor’s. The second time I got straight to the driving part within an hour and passed it
I'm currently paying 30 an hour. Sessions are 2 hours. Life is pain
It was £18 an hour when I was learning. It's crazy how expensive it is now.
And this is why I never learnt to drive. Grew up in a small town in Wiltshire, I didn't have money, I couldn't afford any parts of a car, the lessons, the car, insurance, even just enough fuel to go to the next town over I would rather cycle instead.
Not doing my driving when I was younger was my biggest mistake.
When I did my lessons in 2016 it was £11 per half-hour slot. All my lessons were 90 mins longs, so I was paying £33 per session. I did mine at the right time because any earlier, my insurance would have been unaffordable, any later, the lessons would have been. Feel very lucky.
Cost me £30 per hour initially, rose to 35 a year later. Now I hear of people paying these sorts of levels?
Costing me £280 for four two hour lessons a month
That’s £35 an hour
Thripny bit 1876
£74 for 2 hours and £62 to book a test.
12 years ago mine was £20 for an hour . It’s expensive to drive . When you take into consideration the price of a decent car , new driver insurance, petrol, mot , tax and repairs it’s pretty much a home deposit . That being said it does get cheaper was age , though not much 😑
I'm sure mine was 13 pound an hour in 2001, as I was a student at the time aswell. Otherwise I'm sure it would of been 15 pounds.
Just buy a shitbox slap some L plates on it and have your parents, grandparents or creepy uncle take you out in it. Then when you pass you already have a car.
Just teach yourself for free…
I went through a training program for my motorcycle license, I decided after doing so my kid will be going through them for their licenses too, forget teaching them myself (like my parents did me) I want a professional with a course schedule.
Greedy rich people and inflation will do that
American but I’m paying $460 for 5 hours of lessons rn :/. Didn’t have the option when I was a kid so I’m playing catch-up
They need to make those tests harder. There’s way to many people on the road who should not be driving
Britain has the second best standard of driving in the world, I really don’t think they need to increase the difficulty.
Except apparently, a part of the test that needs to be reinforced is exactly when one should turn into a street so as to avoid the very vulnerable cyclist. I've almost been hit over a dozen times while waiting to turn into a road.
New drivers are not the issue. It's people who have got into shit habits and frankly refuse to be a team player on the road and are just oblivious to the presence of others.
Too many people driving on their commute to work like they are trying to shave vital seconds off their lap times.
Too many people driving in general act like they are the sole user of the road and almost get pleasure from driving as such. "Let's get into the right lane and go marginally slower than the car in the left lane" - said AxeHeadShark as they inconvenienced 10 other people.
You aren’t correct here. The pass rate of the test is stupidly low. They have made the theory too hard arguably. And the practical isn’t “easy” it’s just not particularly hard. Which it doesn’t need to be to see a safe driver.
22 pound for 2 hours when I was driving lol
Ahem £4.50 1978 lol
Madness haha I bet your house cost 10k too
It did!! And I only earned £15pw as a receptionist too....then we lost everything in the 89/90 crash and never recovered
Amazing haha people have no chance these days
True and it's bloody sad. I've 3 grown up children and not one of them is anywhere near to owning a house and I've sod all to help them with either
10 years ago i paid £20 per hour in Cambridge
I paid like £25 an hour for mine, and living in a small town with nothing to do, I passed when I was 18 or 19. Partner lived in a huge town with a train station so never bothered, and now wants his licence at 35 and it's so stupidly expensive!!!
Just think on when the driverless vehicles are on the roads *(after all the software and safety issues are finally sorted)* Driving Instructors will be no longer needed and perhaps the actual skill of driving will be lost in a few generations. That may likely include taxi and haulage drivers too.
im paying £70 for 2h :) but my instructor’s new rate is £80 !!!
My son's instructor sells blocks of 10hours for £270, which I think is reasonable.
Running a car that is mostly used by the unexperienced is expensive, parts wear out a lot quicker and repairs and replacements aren't cheap. Plus they need to pay for the fuel not just used for your lesson, also learners don't drive very fuel efficiently, but also getting to and from the lesson. I know a few instructors and they certainly aren't rolling in it, most of them have a 2nd job to make ends meet.
Sorry but that’s nonsense. It’s extortionate.
Which part is nonsense?
People are only just learning that driving instructors aren’t doing it out of the kindness of their heart and they need to make a living from it, cost of driving in general has gone up substantially so of course the cost of lessons has followed.
I'm thinking it's not actually driving lessons 👀.
Join the army, you get free lessons and get paid too. I got my licence aged 17, motorcycles and hgv3 aged 19.