What Areas do you Cover?

I live in Ulverston and only offer lessons with pick up and drop off in Ulverston.

How long do lessons last?

All lessons are 90 minutes. That allows us time, around 45 minutes, to get to Barrow and back. Barrow has a much more diverse range of driving challenges than Ulverston and it’s also where Driving Tests start from. We’ll spend around 45 minutes in Barrow on each lesson.

What do Driving Lessons Cost?

In common with the majority of instructors in the area lessons are £44 per hour. Each 90 minute lesson is £66.

What happens on my first lesson?

I’ll pick you up from your home, work, 6th form or Ulverston Library (if you’re based outside Ulverston) and drive us to the start of the coast road (A5087). I will physically check your provisional licence. After helping you set up the car to obtain the most comfortable driving position, we’ll run through the basic controls. A 5 minute gear change exercise follows whilst we’re stationary and I’ll check that you can operate the hand brake.

Then we’ll turn on the engine, find the biting point, and were off!. You’ll drive down the coast road for around 8 miles where you’ll learn the basics of steering a car, using the clutch to change gears and using the accelerator and brakes to control speed. I will keep us safe and help with the controls as much or as little as necessary.

If you’re a complete beginner, we’ll head to Rampside and Roa Island where we’ll practice stopping and starting off along with gear changing and slowing down. Next we’ll head to Holbeck in Barrow where I’ll introduce left turns. We’ll then head back to Ulverston on the Coast road. On day one, you will, with my help, drive approximately 25 miles.

Will I have lessons every week?

Once you are allocated a lesson slot, it’s yours untill you pass your driving test, so yes usually you’ll have lessons on the same day and at the same time every week. Exceptions to that include: Bank Holidays, my own holidays, other pupils having a test that day and unforseen issues with the car.

How will I know when my lessons are scheduled?

I use the TotalDrive App. You’ll receive download and log in details. Once installed you’ll be able to see all your lessons. You’ll also be able to pay for lessons on the app, keep track of payments made and any lesson credit in your account. After each lesson I’ll update your progress on the app, so you’ll be able to track that too.

How many lessons will I need?

According to the DVLA and from the official Government website:

“How many lessons you need will depend on how quickly you learn.

Research shows that, on average, it takes people 45 hours of driving lessons with a driving instructor plus 22 hours of private practice to pass their test. But those who manage 100 hours of driving lessons plus practice are much safer on the road after their test.

Research also shows that people who combine their driving lessons with private practice are 50% more likely to pass the driving test.”

Source: https://readytopass.campaign.gov.uk/driving-skills/track-progress-learning/

For my pupils, the average number of HOURS (not lessons) is 35. Combined with my average pass rate that means that my pupils require fewer lessons and have a higher chance of passing first time. That also means lower overall costs for you the learner.

That said, everyone learns at their own speed. At either end of the spectrum one pupil, a garage mechanic, had 8 hours of lessons and passed first time. Another pupil who had anxiety and confidence issues (it’s common) took 118 hours.

What’s the Driving Test Pass Rate?

It’s always hovered around 48% – 49% so around half of people who take their test fail. The pass rate remains consistant across attempts 1-5 but people who take 6 attempts or more have a lower pass rate.

The pass rate varies hugely by test centre though. If you take your test in a remote area of the Scottish highlands, you may not meet another car on your test and consequently pass rates tend to be over 70%. In the cities, Manchester, London etc. there’s way more traffic and driving in general is more difficult. Pass rates reflect this and can be as low as 30%.

The Barrow in Furness test centre for a few years showed a higher than average test pass rate at around 57%. Those numbers were from 2020/21 though and the latest data for 2024/25 shows an average pass rate of 42.6% for both male and female candidates.  The official numbers are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/driving-test-and-theory-test-data-cars

So the numbers tell us that the driving test these days is quite difficult. The test is very specific and just one serious or dangerous fault will result in a fail.

What’s your pass rate?

Currently is just over 90% across 60 tests. That’s not statistically relevant though and I’d expect that to drop to around 80% over 200 tests, we’ll see. I did have a run of 42 passes in a row over an 18 month period which is unusual.