How many driving lessons did you take?

I know it's different for everyone, just kind of wondering what the average was so I could estimate how much the lessons might cost.  I'm thinking £200-300 for lessons is probably a fair estimate. What do you think?

I took approx 44 hours' worth of lessons...that included the 2 hours with the Jehovah's Witness lady (complete waste of money!), 2 hours with the instructor I went with to see if I liked him at first, then 40 more hours with him.  Initially, I hoped to do only 10 hours' worth, but 10 went to 20, then 30, then 40, until I felt ready.  The final 10 hours included allowing 2 hours for test day - warmup driving, nerve calming, and the test itself.  So if you take that off (test day), then 42 hours' worth of regular lessons.  It cost a fair bit more than £200-300 for me, but I'm sure you'll be a much faster learner!  Also you have been driving, and I left it for 5 years.

I started lessons toward the end of March & just finished (as you know) this month.  

I had lots and lots of lessons, but I was a teenager starting from scratch and was also a pretty nervous new driver. I think I must have had well over 50 weekly lessons (some were two hours each) and the whole process cost me at least £1,000. I think the estimate for new drivers to learn to drive is about 40-45 hours of lessons, but of course everyone is different. It took me 15 months to pass my test (third time lucky) but my little brother passed first time in just 4 months  . If you already have a lot of driving experience, you hopefully won't require nearly as many hours of lessons.

Yeah, I had lots of experience driving in the US - but not here.  Took me ages to get the MSM, PSL routines down - in the right order.  Plus I found the road signs and road markings very disorienting (compared to the US), and so on and so forth.  I also didn't really practice (with DH) apart from the lessons as much as I should have - but as practicing with DH was rather fraught, it's just as well.  I know on a lot of my lessons I was really tired and had trouble concentrating on just getting it all together, but that was all still fairly soon after my mom had died (when I started taking lessons).

Something that might play into how many lessons you end up taking, is also the wait-time for test appointments.

Depending on your area and how backlogged their system is, come the time when you have passed your theory test and can book your practical test, it can be as long as six to eight weeks before the first available date is open to book, leaving you either hanging or taking many more lessons that you at first figured on, or even need, possibly, unless you luck into a cancellation.

Just to remind of the time factor that may effect how many lessons to plan or keep having.

Jewlz, are you learning how to drive manual as well? Because if you've only driven an automatic before, that could add to how many lessons you'll need.

I drove an automatic in the US and took my test on an automatic here, so only needed about 8 lessons. And, in retrospect, I probably could have taken the test sooner but was nervous and worried I was unprepared. I think 4-5 would have been sufficient.

I took a total of 20 lessons. Took 10, failed, took another 10, passed. Well, 22, as the first two hours were non-obligatory.

Rates would vary I guess, but mine came out to 25 GBP per hour.. this is if I purchased 10 lessons in bulk. I'm in Central London, and this was w/Red driving school.

All in all I spent around 700 or 800 GBP (provisional licence, study materials for theory test, theory test, practical test twice, driving lessons and day of the test twice).

But having the pink licence in the wallet... priceless! It's one girly colour I don't mind having in my wallet 

Rates would vary I guess, but mine came out to 25 GBP per hour.. this is if I purchased 10 lessons in bulk. I'm in Central London, and this was w/Red driving school.

Wow, they've certainly gone up in price since I took my lessons - back in 2000, I was paying £14 an hour at normal price or £13 an hour buying lessons in bulk.

Jewlz, are you learning how to drive manual as well? Because if you've only driven an automatic before, that could add to how many lessons you'll need.

Yes, that's a good point as well.  I kept thinking it would have been so much easier to get the automatic licence, but as we had a manual car...  I had driven manuals in the US before - but it had been awhile, and also getting the knack of the left-handed (instead of right-handed) shifting took a little getting used to as well as learning that all those years I had been driving a manual 'wrong'...i.e., coasting too much, etc.  It was challenging to break those old habits, I tell you what!  (I have a feeling that I'll probably slip back into them somewhat, but hopefully I've learned something because apparently the way I drove before wears the clutch out faster.  )

Nobody really ever taught me good technique for manual driving in the US - I just sort of learned it on the fly!

(Hearing my driving instructor..."No!  Don't go for your clutch yet.  Leave the gears alone." . . . "And clutch up - clutch up - clutch up.  You're coasting!"  )

My lessons were £20 an hour if I bought them in 10 hour blocks.  All told - with the lessons I had plus test fees, etc...this interesting endeavor cost us somewhere between £900-1,000 over the past 5 months so thank god it's over!

I had 6 or 8 hours (can't remember if it was 3 lessons or 4), but I'd been driving for 20+ years in the states, and I'm a car guy, so all I really needed to know was what techniques to use to pass the test.

I took lessons in North London, and it was around £25/hour.

Good luck!

I had 6 total lessons (12 hours) the first one was free to see if the instructor and I got along. I paid a total of £150 I think. 

Jewlz, I'm sure my experience is an extreme example for a variety of reasons - not the least of which was that I was just really thick when it came to driving here!  Lol!  I was just so used to driving on 'autopilot' so to speak - it was really hard for me to have to actually think about how to do it all over again at my advanced age. 

But Mrs R. I'm sure you find it worth it now!

Jewlz, are you learning how to drive manual as well? Because if you've only driven an automatic before, that could add to how many lessons you'll need.

I drove manual all the time in the states, for years and years, and we have a manual car, so I will be doing that. I've driven a few times here (not always successfully!) and while shifting with my left hand isn't ideal, I can cope with it. It's really the narrow streets crowded with parked cars that do my head in. I've been studying the road signs, etc., on my own for months now, and feel fairly good about that, plus bookgrl sent me a CD-Rom with the hazard practice tests and theory practice tests on it (thanks again!), so I intend to study that on my own and try to take the theory test pretty quickly.

Another question: do you always pay for blocks of lessons, or did any of you just pay as you went - £20-25 once a week or something like that? I'm thinking weekly might be better (although I know its cheaper to buy in blocks) just because it would be hard to let go of that much cash in one go. I'm thinking one hourly lesson per week on average, and practice with DH on weekends (if we can manage not to stress each other out too much.)

Jewlz, I'm sure my experience is an extreme example for a variety of reasons - not the least of which was that I was just really thick when it came to driving here!  Lol!  I was just so used to driving on 'autopilot' so to speak - it was really hard for me to have to actually think about how to do it all over again at my advanced age. 

You probably could've taken your test sooner, C, but you just wanted to make extra sure you were ready and there is nothing wrong with that! 

Another question: do you always pay for blocks of lessons, or did any of you just pay as you went - £20-25 once a week or something like that? I'm thinking weekly might be better (although I know its cheaper to buy in blocks) just because it would be hard to let go of that much cash in one go. I'm thinking one hourly lesson per week on average, and practice with DH on weekends (if we can manage not to stress each other out too much.)

You can pay as you go...as you say, it was just a little cheaper to buy a block.  Like here I think the hourly lesson (by itself) was £23, so when I bought a block of 10 hours for £200, that was a £30 savings.

Thanks for what you said (and phatbeetle too)!    Even with all my lessons, I was shaking like a leaf throughout my entire driving test.  I get kind of panicky anymore about stuff like that - I think I used up all my crisis management brain cells when I was a child.  

ETA:  The driving licence BS was definitely the hardest thing for me in the whole move over here!  I wasn't phased at all by the whole fiancée visa --> FLR --> ILR --> Citizenship stuff at all.  That was just a lot of money & paperwork and counting down the time.  But I found learning to drive here not only costly in ££££, but also really hard work - maybe it was just the timing for me (as in, what was going on in my life) but I had put it off so long, I just felt I couldn't put it off any longer.