Hi guys, looking for some thoughts/experiences on the pros & cons for shared training. Really not sure whether to book with my local training school who do 2 to 1 or go further afield & have 1 on 1 training. I have no problem either way but would be interested in people’s thoughts & what, if any, difference it makes to a companies pass rate. Cheers. Bryan
Depends if you’ve done the job before and are used to a full driving day. If you’re not used to an 8 hour driving day, you probably won’t get the best out of 1 on 1
The advantage with 2 to 1 is that you get to relax but still learn when the other trainee is driving
1 to 1 = half days
2 to 1 = all day
1 to 1 all day … that I would not recommend
claretmatt:
Depends if you’ve done the job before and are used to a full driving day. If you’re not used to an 8 hour driving day, you probably won’t get the best out of 1 on 1
Are you sure thats the right way round? If your not used to an 8 hour day then you will be better off doing 1 on 1 as it will be a half day normally 
claretmatt:
Depends if you’ve done the job before and are used to a full driving day. If you’re not used to an 8 hour driving day, you probably won’t get the best out of 1 on 1
Think you have that round the wrong way.
1 on 1 tends to only be half day.
2 on 1 is generally a full day split between the 2 trainees.
I managed to get 1 on 1 all day for four days as they didn’t sell the other seat. I have to say I went home knackered every day even though I do silly mileages every day with work. I certainly got my moneys worth and by Friday we were driving off test routes just for the sake of it to experience different roads. I passed but be prepared for an intense time if you choose 1 to 1.
I on 2 is just as valuable, you can learn as much from watching another
driver learning as you do from driving yourself and it saves you the trouble
of making all the mistakes on your own.
I passed after five three hour sessions as one of two student drivers, so only
seven and a half hours actual driving.
Just to make you sick, it cost £55 including the test for a Class 1 licence.
(In 1974).
Regards,
Nick.
I did C and CE training doing it 2 to 1, I was glad after doing 1.5 or 2 hrs intense driving/learning to be able to sit back and think about the mistakes i,d made 
and also learn from the mistakes the other guy was now making !! 
. Think i would of found 4 hours of intense training maybe a bit much 
Good luck with whichever you choose
It is difficult for trainers to give their views about this as people tend to think they are just promoting what they sell. However we provide both options, including the 8 hour 1 to 1 experience although I would strongly recommend against this except in exceptional cases.
Training 1 person AM and the other PM means a lot of time is lost as detailed explanations have to be repeated twice in an 8 hour day instead of 2 people learning at the same time. Experiencing a lot of different scenarios is important throughout a course to prepare a candidate for more possibilities. It is obvious you will see more happen in 8 hours than in 4, even if not actually driving the whole time.
Unless you are short of time and have other committments each day I really cannot see many benefits for 1:1 over 2:1 but as i said we offer both so I am not dismissing 1 to 1.
Some trainers however have no option as the vehicles may not have 3 seats fitted. Many that do have 3 seats still offer only 1 to 1 because it makes the trainers more versatile to be able to train different vehicle types AM and PM. Other just think 1 to 1 is better.
I have analysed our pass rates by the options chosen by students and honstly there is very little difference. It is down to personal preference.
I pretty well agree with John. I have no evidence to suggest that either method has a better/worse pass rate. We offer 1:1 as standard but we do 2:1 if requested. eg couple of mates, workers from the same company etc.
Personally, I prefer 1:1. Cabs in most (not all) training vehicles tend to be smallish and so not particulartly comfy for 3 well built people. I have also experienced a total mis-match of trainee. This can have the effect that eg 1 guy can reverse and another is struggling. Difficult to put the time into the guy who needs the attention when the other one is getting bored. Also had it where one candidate sorts out the gear change/mirrors/road positon (ie all the basic jobs) in 10 minutes and the second candidate still needs a lot more time before he can move on to more interesting stuff. With 1:1 these conflicts don’t happen.
On the other hand 2:1 can be encorouging if the second candidate is screwing it up a bit more than you! Can be embarrassing though if you’re the one doing the screwing up!!
The discussion is endless and, truthfully, has no final answer IMO.
All the best, Pete 
I have found one to one training whilst being better for the trainee can be mentally and physically draining. My last instructor (CE) said that after 4 hours the trainee is unwilling to accept new instruction and I would agree.
When I trained for my C first off it was 4 hours in one truck with 2 and 1 instructor. Which didn’t work out and cost a lot. For my D it should have been the same, 2 to 1 but the other guy had problems with getting up in the morning and so rather than have 8 hours with 2 trainees, I was getting about 6 hours of one to one training and it paid off (no minors, one pass). Subsequently my next was C on a one to one and I passed that.
With my last one I had 14 hours of training spread over 3 days and yet, after each of the 5 hour training slots I was knackered! However, clearly the trainer knew his stuff and for that I am thankful
I have just done my c+e 1 to 1,and when I did my c that was also 1 to 1.
Go with which ever you feel best with, but the only way I would consider 2 to 1 training would be with a mate. I would not feel i was getting all the training i was payiing for sharing with some one with a more dominant personality than me, or who was stronger or weaker in certain aspect of the training.
class 2 had 2-1 not a problem both of us same standard of driving and worked on class 1 did 2-1 on first attempt and I had problems with reverse and other guy had problem driving forwards so both needed extra time on different things I failed then did 1-1 on class 1 with another trainer who was far more superior in my opinion and he got me that much coverted pass , PTS also had the disadvantage of getting me out of driving an artic to driving w&d which takes a different angle on turns etc as I tended to take turns too wide with the w&d , but with the 1-1 training my instructor was able to concentrate on my bad points and get me to test standard without having to worry that was taking training time from another candidate result pass with only 2 minors so I think for class 1 1-1 is a better option but it depends how you feel and the shorter training day you did not get as tired
Hope this helps
Jx