Welcome to 1st 4 Driving, your best choice for manual and automatic driving lessons in the South of England and Wales.
Your journey to driving independence starts right here 👇
Click your county on the map above to see if we’re in your town.
We’re all over the South of England and Wales, offering the best driving lessons from Penzance right up to Reading and almost everywhere in between.
We’re always gradually expanding these areas to offer the same unique and quality driving lessons you deserve from a driving school.
…But who are we to claim to be the best choice for your driving lessons?
✔️ We’ve got over two decades of experience in helping people pass their driving test.
✔️FULL, FREE theory training package for all pupils
✔️Expert office staff to take your bookings and questions
✔️ The best driving instructors equipped with the most up-to-date coaching techniques and lesson plans
✔️ Friendly and reliable instructors ready to offer fun, productive driving lessons
✔️Great first time pass rate
✔️ Driving lessons to suit all learning styles
Click here to book your driving lessons now
Having worked for several different driving schools in the past, it became clear to me that I had to help make a change in an industry that had frankly given up caring about its pupils.
So, I got educated. And with my Master’s Degree in Driver Training Education (as well as a whole host of other qualifications and research), I founded 1st 4 Driving with the core principles that I believed a driving school should be built around.
We’re committed to giving the best tuition using DVSA-approved coaching techniques to give people a skill for life
Dave Foster MA, Dip.DI
Managing Director and Founder of 1st 4 Driving
We’ve been helping people get one of these for two decades now
The best driving school for your needs
Choosing driving lessons should be fun and easy, but with so many driving schools to choose from it sometimes becomes difficult. Looking at the extensive list above, you can see we are the best driving school you can trust for your driving lessons. 1st 4 Driving is run by Dave Foster, the most qualified driving instructor in the country. Although Dave doesn’t teach learners anymore, his research and values cascade down through our instructors and on to our pupils. Our goal is to make 1st 4 Driving the best driving school in the country and we’re always looking for ways we can improve the school and offer a better service.
Not all driving schools were created equal
When choosing your driving school, it’s important to know that not all driving schools are the same. Similarly, not all expensive driving lessons are good and not all cheap lessons are rubbish. You need to assess your instructor and school carefully and ensure you are getting good value for money.
A good driving lesson will always leave you feeling like you have learnt something and you are moving closer to your goal, whether that is to pass your driving test or to look at improving your driving.
You must feel comfortable during your driving lessons too. We monitor our instructors to check they are delivering to the high standard that you deserve. Dave personally keeps them in the loop with business developments and regularly carries out additional training to keep them all up to date.
How many driving lessons will I need?
This is always the big question and hard to answer. Dave goes into more detail on this in his article, which you can read here.
In short, the Driving Vehicle and Standards Agency (DVSA) say that the average learner takes 47 hours of professional tuition and 22 hours of private practice to pass their test. Getting professional training that includes supervised time behind the wheel boosts confidence, along with the private tuition will help you pass more quickly. You’ll be in safe hands with our driving instructors, as they take pride in their work. Putting time, effort and pride into your driving lessons yourself will also help you pass more quickly.
Over the years, we have found that if a learner takes two-hour driving lessons each time, they drastically reduce the amount of lessons needed overall. On average, the amount of lessons needed drop to around 30 hours. It is also worth mentioning that the younger you are, the fewer driving lessons you will probably need.
Despite this, the days of having just 6 hours of tuition, taking a driving test that lasts 20 minutes and passing have long gone. Driving lessons have become more complex with additional cars on the roads, more complicated road procedures and the driving test itself being a lot longer.
Get our advice 24/7
You’re just starting out on your road to driving independence, but we are experts in the field.
It’s likely that you’ll have some burning questions about learning to drive. How much does it cost? How quickly can I get on the road? How about the theory test? We may have answers to your questions on our advice page. This is a dedicated page to helping YOU pass your driving test, with answers to questions being posted regularly by Driving School Dave.
Still can’t find what you’re looking for? If you are just looking for advice, then our expert office staff are more than happy to help. You can either call them or use the very handy chat widget to the bottom right of the website.
Find out how to contact us here.
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