"When do you want to pass your test?"

Generally speaking when people want to learn to drive, they want to learn well, and asap.  So there can be a slight conflict there.  At the start I will always ask when do they want to pass the test by, and some show great restraint and will calmly say something along the lines of ...... “Well I’m not too fussed on when, as long as I learn properly”.  And how can anyone argue with that as an approach?

But I find that approach is not goal orientated enough.  It’s an answer that whiffs a little bit of.... ‘let’s just see shall we Tom, what will be will be’.  And whilst that may come across as calm and relaxed, the potential problem is that once people realise I can get them driving the car in 4-6hrs, and it’s a nice feeling, and it gets addictive, then inevitably that answer of ‘I’m not too fussed’ goes and is replaced with a desire to pass the test quick sharp.

It’s all perfectly natural of course.  You can’t get overly excited about something when you don’t know how good it is.  I’m sure some of us think the latest gizmo ‘would be nice to get as and when’, but only when you get the thing do you realise how utterly brilliant it is and you wonder why on earth you didn’t get it earlier. 

This is why I do like to try and get some clear goal on timescales.  I’m not one for poodling around locally where you live, repeatedly covering old ground, I like stretching people.  So whilst I appreciate this may not be for some, I like variation and continually challenging people.  To get the the rate of learning steady and continuous, driving in new areas, on unfamiliar roads is key.   So lots of driving, and lots of driving on unfamiliar roads.  A chap who started with me this week, spent 6 hours getting familiar with the car locally, then he drove to a new town yesterday, and will go to a new City today.  It is that rate of learning that keeps things interesting, makes it an enjoyable experience.  As I say though, not for everyone, some people like slower rates of learning, ‘back burner’ learning as I call it – no problem with that either, it just takes longer that’s all. 

Looking at the variables of what you could experience, there are a few things you can control.  By setting the time of your sessions to say evening only, you are generally going to learn in quieter conditions as there will be less traffic.  May appeal in the short term, but is not a reflection of how you will be driving post test, and you can’t take tests in the evening either!

You can control where you drive around.  You are the customer, you control where you go – as long as you appreciate the connection between lack of variety and the longer it takes to learn.  If you want quiet roads, no traffic, no peds, no cyclists etc then that’s fine, but at some stage you are going to need to up your game when training if you want to train to be able to deal with what is coming your way after you pass your test.

You can control how long your sessions are.  1 hour may appeal as it is short and sweet, but it does limit where you can go to train (not great if you live a long way from a Test Centre).  The other thing is that a longer driving session generally is more efficient as the continuity enables progression, loads of short sessions makes it very disjointed.

You can control how often you train.  If you plan in regular and frequent sessions then you are never too long from your previous experience, so you tend to get back where you left off that bit quicker and then, off you go again.  Leave it too long, and recalling what you did last time is an effort, and getting to the same standard as last time is an effort.  By the way, I find this planning of sessions is absolutely key to the efficiency of your learning.  If you do not forward plan your sessions, book them in early with me, then what can easily happen is that you feel disappointed when you can’t get a session as soon as you would like, or at the time that you like.  A different mindset is required for learning to drive -this is not a timetabled event like at College, this needs planning by you, so that you get what you want.  That is a responsibility and I find some people embrace that better than others.

You cannot control the weather!  So learning in the Summer months means you are fairly unlikely to encounter fog, frost, snow, sleet, driving in the dark.  They all present their own problems and are good experiences when training.

The alternative is you don’t concern yourself with any of the above.  You simply say to me, ‘Tell you what Tom, you just organise it all for me’ and that’s your choice.  I will happily arrange for the opportunity to be there for you to learn efficiently.  I’ll stipulate when, where, how long, etc but just as long as that is not confused with who is responsible for the learning!  

I guess you could summarise by saying that the more focussed you are with what you want to happen from the outset, tends to dictate what does happen.