What Are Intensive Driving Courses? Should I Be Doing One?

An intensive driving course is a form of driving tuition that condenses a large number of hours driving tuition into a short span of time. They are usually utilised by people that want to learn in a hurry but not a lot of people know exactly what they involve or whether they should consider doing one. That is why we're here to break it down for you.

Is an intensive driving course right for me?

For some people an hour a week is just not enough tuition, particularly if you're not a very confident driver or you struggle to pick up certain skills. Intensive courses will allow you to spend numerous hours, each session, refining your skills. Before taking one there are some things to consider, such as; when is the best time to take your intensive course or, how much are you willing to spend.

Interview with Intensive Driving Course provider - Momentum

Momentum Driving School offers intensive driving courses, ranging from 5 -12 days (5 days contains around 20 hours of tuition). Momentum factors in your current level of driving ability with a preliminary test, which allows them to recommend a particular number of hours tuition you should have before taking your test. Part of the price you pay goes towards covering the driving test fee - which Momentum will organise for you. Momentum will then schedule your course to finish just before your driving test, the idea being you're now ready to pass - See full list of prices. We spoke with Mark Hall from Momentum Driving School to get a better insight into what intensive driving courses are actually like. 1) How many students take your intensive courses a month and why do you think people opt to take intensive courses? "We've helped around 2000 people pass their test after taking one of our intensive driving courses and we're currently busier than ever. The main reasons people take our courses are that they either don't have the time to take a 1 - hour lesson every week for a year or more, or that they've tried that and got fed up with how long it's taking and want a quicker option. Besides the fact that it can take so long to take your lessons this way it's also very inefficient as pupils find they are having to spend a large portion of their previous lesson recapping what they learnt last time." 2) Do you usually find that students are test ready by the time they have completed the intensive course, or is extra tuition required? "Yes by the end of the course the pupil will be ready to take their test. We insist on a 1 - hour assessment lesson (costing just £10) before a course is booked so that a professional instructor can evaluate the level of their current driving and recommend a suitable course length for them. It's also an opportunity for the pupil to meet the instructor they will be learning with and drive the car they will be driving so there's no surprises." 3) With a name like ‘intensive’, some learners might think the courses are harder than normal lessons. Is this true or just a myth? "Learning to drive is hard work and takes lots of patience and concentration. Our intensive courses are usually organised as 4 - hour sessions on consecutive days. That allows pupils to make quick progress without getting too tired." 4) Is there any special training instructors need to do before they can teach an intensive course? "No, learning to drive using one of our intensive driving courses (or teaching one as an instructor) is no different to any other way of learning to drive ... Any instructor can apply to teach our intensive courses as long as they are a qualified ADI with experience." We'd like to thank Mark for his insights. We would highly recommend trying out Momentum Driving School if you're interested in taking an intensive driving course. They operate across the UK, so you are bound to find an instructor close to you.