I learnt in vehicles which were a long way past their sell by date . ( both buses and C &E ) . In my case it was not particularly important whether I passed or failed first time as I had no intention of driving for a living and worked full time in a profession . My trainer was a one man band with highly competitive prices and a thoroughly decent amicable person . Training in bits and pieces suited me but was probably not the best way to achieve a first time past .
It would be fair to say that the trainer which I used probably never had his teaching skills assessed . On one occasion he said to me " if you will not learn , I cannot help you " and on another " your reversing will be an embarrassment to me at the test centre " . A properly trainer instructor would not make comments such as this , not would they simply go for a walk when you were practising reversing . Whilst it may be good to practice un- supervised , I would have thought that a properly trained instructor would watch their candidate at all times , identify any faults made and give advice as to how to prevent them occurring again .
As reversing is probably the most dificult aspect of the C & E test , I would consider it to be a distinct advantage to use a trainer with their own reversing area and test centre . ( in addition to having up to date vehicles ) . I believe that one of the reasons I failed C & E on a few occasions was the difficulty of selecting reverse gear at the start of the reversing exercise . ( the instructutor even told me he had seen some candidates use two hands as the selection was so difficult ) . It is rather pointless handicapping yourself on the test by using a vehicle that is knackered . Prior to my tests I usually got the trailer into the garage ( and usually did not even need any shunts ) so doing a test in an area with which you are familar must be a considerable advantage .
For my Cat D I only had one lesson in reversing which was in an area full of pot holes and mud ( on this occasion it did not really matter as I had already passed C & E ) and reversing a bus is straight forward ( though the clutch was very heavy , the training vehicle being twenty years old ) .
I estimate that I spent about £4200 to pass C , C & E , and Cat D . Whilst I passed all the tests eventually ( and got plenty of driving experience ) with the benefit of hindsight I would have preferred to have used a trainer who was regularly assessed for his teaching skills ( and in addition have trained in a modern vehicle using a clearly marked out reversing area ).
While the initial cost ( or unit cost ) may have been more expensive , it would have been more satisfying to have obtained passes first time in all tests . ( in addition better quality initial ( but more expensive ) training would have been cheaper in the long term ) .