No matter what level of learning to drive you are at, each one of your driving lessons should be a rewarding experience and there should be a purpose to each session with your instructor, even if you are at test level and only a few days away from your DSA appointment.
At the early stages of your tuition, it will be very easy for you determine what you have learnt, because you will be introduced to different driving skills be it moving off/stopping, turn in the road or other parking exercises, however this doesn't mean that once you have covered the DSA syllabus that your learning stops, and you just need to drive around the dsa test routes for you to pass.
I recently gave someone whose instructor was away on holiday for a week driving lessons in the Edgware area because they wanted to continue practising towards their test the following week and fortunately I had a Toyota Yaris diesel car, and after one hour of the lesson she mentioned that she had learnt more with me than with her instructor in the last 4 lessons, and the reason for this was simple. I used the time we had to prepare her for the test, not just drive around. I mentioned and got her to practise taking effective observations before moving off, not just moving head, but actually make sure she was aware of what was around. I made sure she was able to make decisions for herself at junctions, using simple tips to determine safe gaps for emerging, not worrying about vehicles behind as priority is safety in what we do.
Anticipation and planning was a weakness that I noticed immediately we started the driving lesson, so I chose a route that allowed us to practise and iron out the key skills required in this situation, so that by the time we had done the 2 hours that she had booked, her confidence had grown, she was aware of bad habits that need to be dealt with as well an increased knowledge of what the DSA examiner wanted from a test candidate.
For these various reasons, I'm not the cheapest driving instructor in NW London, charging £25 per hour so that I can offer the highest quality tuition to you without having to get you to take more lessons that necessay because 2 hours at £50 in the long run is better than 3 sessions at £20 to achieve the same results.
You should always ask yourself what did I learn today? Did I improve or gain more confidence in performing the maneuver I hate the most that left reverse round the corner? Can I now deal with Apex corner especially on the 10 minute independent driving element? If your instructor is not helping you to successfully address these weaknesses then you are not getting the best out of your lessons!
