how to apply for your provisional licence

In order to apply for your provisional licence you must be:

• A UK resident
• Not prevented from driving for any reason
• At least 16 years and 10 months old (there are some exceptions to this rule for disabled applicants)
• Able to meet the minimum eyesight requirement

Your can apply for your provisional licence online, please follow this link to find out more.

Alternatively, you can just visit your local post office branch and fill out the D1 application form available in every branch. 

Keep in mind that there is a section in the form that requests that a person who knows you well confirms your identity by leaving their contact details and signing your photo, therefore they must either accompany you to the post office, or fill out these details for you later. 

You will also be required to enclose your passport or another form of photo ID, a payment of £50 (admin fee, can be either a check or a money order issued to DSA, you can arrange for it at the same post office), and three proofs of address confirming your place of residence in the last three years (can be a bill with your address or your bank statement).

It usually takes DSA approximately two weeks to issue and send you your provisional licence; therefore remember to send your application early if you wish to start learning to drive as soon as possible.

www.borntodriveschool.com

P.S. I would really strongly recommend that you use the special delivery envelope available at each post office to send your documents, and enclose a special delivery return envelope with your address for when DSA send your documents back, just to be on the safe side of things. The cost is about £9 for two.

 

provisional licence explained

To start taking your driving lessons, or event to apply for your theoretical and practical driving tests, you first need to apply for a provisional driving licence. The provisional licence allows you to drive on the UK roads (excluding motorways) whilst under the supervision of your driving instructor or another driver (must be over 21 years old and have held a full valid drivers licence for a minimum of three years).

Your driving instructor will ask you to show them your provisional licence before you start your first driving lesson.

Once you have passed your theoretical, and then your driving test, your licence will be exchanged for a full drivers licence free of charge.

Call me if you need more information on provisional licence: 07595 428382 (Kirill, Born To Drive - East London Driving School)

www.borntodriveschool.com

how to find a good driving instructor

I am often asked about what are the things students are ought to be looking out for when selecting a driving instructor. I'd say that the most important things are:

1. That you instructor is fully ADI qualified, with a full, valid instructor's licence - this means that s/he is aware of, and meeting the DSA standards and therefore is able to teach you all you need to know to pass your driving test. Ask the instructor to give you their licence number or check their licence when you first meet them - it should be displayed on their windscreen.

2. Ensure that your driving instructor is a full licence holder - there are a lot of instructors who work with a trainee licence, meaning they have not passed all their tests yet, are still in training and lack experience. A trainee instructor will have a red triangle badge displayed on their windscreen, while a fully qualified instructor has a green badge.

3. Try to aim for an instructor who works in your local area - learning in familiar surroundings is reassuring, and will help you pass your test. Check the DSA website for registered instructors who work in your local area (postcode search):
http://finddrivinginstructor.direct.gov.uk/DSAFindNearestWebApp/findNearest.form?lang=en

4. Do your research - a reliable, established instructor will have a neat website, a phone number (can be either a mobile phone number or a landline number), and will be able to provide references on request.

5. Ask the instructor what car they are driving, as you should put your safety first. Ideally, they will have a relatively new car (0-2 years old), that is fully insured for the purposes of student instruction. Plus, a good driving instructor will have a liability insurance that will cover various eventualities. It may sound petty asking about these things, however, you don't want to end up with a huge debt should you be unlucky enough to have an accident.

6. Don't aim for the cheapest driving instructor possible - you get what you pay for. The average price for a driving lesson in London is £20-£25 per hour. When someone charges less, from ym experience, there is often something wrong with them - either they don't have enough students because they get no referrals and have to charge less, or they cut corners on insurance and their ongoing training and therefore are not able to keep their knowledge up to date, or for some other reason that doesn't agree with me. Very often, their students fail their driving tests repeatedly because they are not adequately prepared, and subsequently change the instructor. Keep in mind that it is easier to learn from a good instructor from the very beginning than to correct the ingrained mistakes once they become habit.

7. Ask your family and friends for advice, they may know a good instructor they are able to recommend.

I hope this helps!
Kirill
www.borntodriveschool.com

best test centres for your driving test in East London

My students often ask me what is the "easiest" test centre to take their test at. The honest answer is, it depends, and the best policy is to book your exam in the same area you are practicing with your driving instructor - the area will be familiar to you, which helps with your nerves during your driving test, and also your instructor will show you the tricky areas and signs before the test.

If I had to select one test centre where the everyone is friendly, traffic is reasonable and there are not that many pitfalls, I'd say go for Loughton, but after 9am (post school time). If you struggle with bay parking, I recommend that you take your test there after 11am (the parking lot is pretty full and it is highly unlikely you will be asked to do this maneuverer).

Keep in mind that the waiting time to book your driving exams for most test centres in East London is currently about 2 months, therefore you may want to start taking your lessons while you are studying for your theory test, and not wait until after you pass the test.

Every week starts with a Monday, and it's been a very busy day today, and still two lessons to go - a little bit of a torture in this heat I must admit. but at least I got to walk my dogs in the Epping Forest this afternoon, which was great. I have a cute yorkie and a laid-back cocker spaniel (both are girls - Chanel and Maxi), I will post some pictures of them later this week when I get a chance!

www.borntodriveschool.com

welcome

Thank you for visiting my blog. the blog is dedicated to providing (hopefully) helpful information about everything you need to know about selecting a driving school, applying for your provisional driving licence, studying for your theory test, and lastly taking (and hopefully passing!) your driving test. I am an experienced driving instructor based in East London, and I will publish here responses to your questions, as well as any other information that I think will be helpful. enjoy my blog, and good luck with your exams! Kirill from www.BornToDriveSchool.com