I’m a relatively mature newbie. At 58 I had been driving cars and vans for almost 40 years. I considered myself a careful, considerate and capable driver. Then I met an 18.5t rigid. To say I found it hard to adapt would be an understatement. Adapting to the size, weight, handling, and (lack of) performance, or rather difficulty in getting the ■■■■ thing moving at roundabouts and adjusting my driving to suit was a real challenge. I passed first time, but only just. 12 minors in what was my best drive of the week. I thought I’d fluked it, I still do.
Going into the training I was mega confident, it was short lived confidence, but it was strong enough to make me pay for a C/ C+E package from the outset. So after just fluking my test I was a little concerned to say the least. I decided I needed to use the time between courses to good use. I did my mod4 and registered with an agency to get some miles under my belt. Driving without an instructor alongside when I felt my ability was so poor was scary, but to me it was vital to get the miles in. I only did 3 weeks but every mile was important.
I approached C+E with a lot less confidence but determined that whatever happened I was passing. If it took 10 tests I was getting through. However, this felt like no real massive jump. There were some different things to think about, and techniques, but the leap up was nowhere near as bad as jumping up to Class 2. I took to it almost immediately (obviously not without mistakes though) and I thoroughly enjoyed the training. Passed first time, still not a clear sheet, but this time no fluke. 5 minors, one of which in my head isn’t an error because I intended to do it for ease and to avoid a silly fail before I even got out on the road. Ie a shunt on the reverse, so I was overjoyed.
So to conclude, in my very inexperienced and humble opinion. Car to C is a huge leap, C to C+E much less so.