im looking at an offer sterling lgv training have sounds to good to be true wondering if anybody has heard or trained with them
If it sounds too good to be true then it most probably is!
Do a search on here.
Not very good reading.
BL
Also do a search on clearstone, same sort of thing.
When I did my training I saw a couple of their wagons on the airfield.
Class 1 - 10t iveco cargo with a very tiny flatbed drawbar.
Pass your test on that then you can jump into a fully freighted 44t artic 
Wouldnt waste your time with sterling, ive heard alot of stories from people i know & not very good ones either. I contacted sterling when i found out about the free artic course on completion of a cpc. I was put off by the fact that they seemed desperate. After i spoke to them i was always getting txts saying about new deals etc.& im talking 2-3 times a week. Every txt ended with something like, act now offer ends soon.
I got letters sent through the post aswell & even to this day i still get the odd letter or txt.
The other thing that put me off was the fact they use flatbed vehicles which are more like 7.5 ton trucks. A mate of mine passed using sterling & he said their wagons dont prepair you for the real thing in anyway!!
At the end of the day its upto you mate. I went for a more expensive training school in the end that used proper vehicles. I dont think the cost should come into it, cheaper doesnt mean its better. At the end of the day i wanted to know what driving bigger trucks was really like so pick a school that suits you.
Goodluck mate
I saw one of their class 1 rigs when I was doing my class 2, got to say that we thought it was hilarious that you could learn in that then drive an artic. I’ve seen bigger car / caravan combinations on the road !!!
G
Would have to say that you should avoid Sterling. I did my class 2 with them in Nottingham in 2004 and their ‘10 tonne’ rigid was smaller than my 4.5 tonne camper van!
The thing that I liked least was the arrogance of the company. I turned up on the first day to be asked where I had been on the previous day - I had been given the wrong dates in my letter and my test was a day earlier than I thought. Needless to say I failed. No apology or offer of recompense from Sterling, despite numerous calls to indifferent sales staff, AND I had to wait almost 3 months for a re-test!
The only positive factor was the instructor, Rog, who was excellent.
I did my Class 1 elsewhere…
I’m with all of the above re. the vehicle size thing, getting used to a full sized motor with an instructor is one less horror to face on your own.
I have noticed Sterling using a Eurostar with a full size curtainsider round here, but I’d still look elsewhere.
It would be worth asking training companies how much tuition you actually get for your money. £500 for 10 hours doesn’t compare to 20 hours for £650. You might be surprised at the difference between companies.
I too have noticed Sterling floating around the Leicestershire area. Don’t think much to the training vehicles.
I’m glad i went elsewhere.
I contacted them when I was looking for my HGV training, and as mentioned above they bombarded me with calls and txt’s. In the end I had to be very blunt with them to stop them contacting me 
Look around to see what other companies are offering.
Big company doesn’t mean best!!!
Its a lot of money to fork out, so be sure before you sign on the dotted line.
Good luck with whatever you decide 
I know Sterling LGV
Be careful and get every tiny thing in detail.
What you get for your money
how many hours training
If they offer ‘free’ class one after passing CPC tell them you would rather take it stage by stage and pay as you go. It will more than likely work out cheaper in the end,
Say no more
Dont do it man 
To all those thinking of training with Sterling my advice to you is THINK AGAIN!!! I did some training with them and quit the course in disgust half way through the second morning !and I feel I must share my experiences with you:
I decided to travel across the country to their training school in Basildon for my class 1 training mainly to get away from the distractions of Bristol which at the time I felt were responsible for me failing 3 times before eventually passing my class 2 test.I was to start training on the Wednesday and my test at Purfleet was on the Friday at midday, that only gave me two and a half days training before taking my test!!I cant remember the cost of the training but I remember it being quite expensive compared to other training schools in my area, but at least they were offering a guaranteed pass scheme which none of the others were.
I arrived at their Basildon depot on time and met the guy who would be doing his training with me,our instructor was over an hour late! When he arrived he offered no applogy for this, introduced himself, then led us accross the road to the"training vehicle" my training partner and I both looked at each other in wide eyed amazement! the vehicle was hardly any bigger than a pick-up truck and trailer-the sort that the travelling community carry their scrap metal on!! Ater being reassured that this was indeed a class 1 vehicle we commenced our training; I drove first and after driving for no more than an hour my mate took over, we arrived at what looked like an airfield to practice our reversing, emergency stop and coupling/uncoupling tasks. after briefly showing us this the instuctor then left us (unsupervised) to practice our reversing, he was gone ages! we were both useless at the reversing and certainly needed his help, but he didnt seem interested in us and was more interested chatting up the girl in the snack bar across the way. When he did eventually come over it wasnt to give us any tips ,it was to tell us it was lunchtime! After lunch (1 hour!)It was time to drive back to Basildon.At the end of the first day neither of us had actually driven any more than two hours and our reversing was no better than when we had first started.
The second day our instructor told us that we would be going back to the airfield to practice reversing etc then would be going to Purfleet to train on some of the test routes over there. That morning was the same as the previous morning and I was getting concerned that my reversing was still useless, I had only driven on the road for no more than 3 hours and my test was the following day! The final straw came when our instructor, after leaving us unsupervised again for most of the time announced that after lunch we would be heading back to Basildon because there was not enough time to go to Purfleet that day. but we would have a good practice at Purfleet the following day. My test was at twelve oclock for gods sake, how the hell was I supposed to pass ■■ In fact I didnt waste any more time on the course, I asked a taxi driver at the airfield to take me back to Basildon, got into my car,drove to the place I was staying and collected my belongings, drove to the training school, told them what I thought of them and demanded my money back ( I didnt get it).
I then drove home,a couple of days later I booked a class 1 course with the Lane group at Bristol where I trained in a full sized unit and trailer, had brilliant one to one training and passed my test first time! I got a class 1 job not long afterwards and have worked continously in this industry for last four years since passing my test -gaining valuable experience along the way , enough experience to know that if you were to actually pass in a Sterling training vehicle then went for your first driving job on your own in a full sized unit and trailer with split gearboxes etc not only would you look a complete fool trying to drive it and change trailer, you would be a dangerous liability on the road (or in the yard)!
The moral of this story is that unless you want a career as a scrap metal merchant, or simply want to learn how to tow a caravan behind your car then leave Sterling training well alone!!
P.S. Ever wondered why sterling training never show you pictures of their vehicles on their literature or on their website? now you know why!
MWJG:
To all those thinking of training with Sterling my advice to you is THINK AGAIN!!! I did some training with them and quit the course in disgust half way through the second morning !and I feel I must share my experiences with you:
I decided to travel across the country to their training school in Basildon for my class 1 training mainly to get away from the distractions of Bristol which at the time I felt were responsible for me failing 3 times before eventually passing my class 2 test.I was to start training on the Wednesday and my test at Purfleet was on the Friday at midday, that only gave me two and a half days training before taking my test!!I cant remember the cost of the training but I remember it being quite expensive compared to other training schools in my area, but at least they were offering a guaranteed pass scheme which none of the others were.
I arrived at their Basildon depot on time and met the guy who would be doing his training with me,our instructor was over an hour late! When he arrived he offered no applogy for this, introduced himself, then led us accross the road to the"training vehicle" my training partner and I both looked at each other in wide eyed amazement! the vehicle was hardly any bigger than a pick-up truck and trailer-the sort that the travelling community carry their scrap metal on!! Ater being reassured that this was indeed a class 1 vehicle we commenced our training; I drove first and after driving for no more than an hour my mate took over, we arrived at what looked like an airfield to practice our reversing, emergency stop and coupling/uncoupling tasks. after briefly showing us this the instuctor then left us (unsupervised) to practice our reversing, he was gone ages! we were both useless at the reversing and certainly needed his help, but he didnt seem interested in us and was more interested chatting up the girl in the snack bar across the way. When he did eventually come over it wasnt to give us any tips ,it was to tell us it was lunchtime! After lunch (1 hour!)It was time to drive back to Basildon.At the end of the first day neither of us had actually driven any more than two hours and our reversing was no better than when we had first started.
The second day our instructor told us that we would be going back to the airfield to practice reversing etc then would be going to Purfleet to train on some of the test routes over there. That morning was the same as the previous morning and I was getting concerned that my reversing was still useless, I had only driven on the road for no more than 3 hours and my test was the following day! The final straw came when our instructor, after leaving us unsupervised again for most of the time announced that after lunch we would be heading back to Basildon because there was not enough time to go to Purfleet that day. but we would have a good practice at Purfleet the following day. My test was at twelve oclock for gods sake, how the hell was I supposed to pass ■■ In fact I didnt waste any more time on the course, I asked a taxi driver at the airfield to take me back to Basildon, got into my car,drove to the place I was staying and collected my belongings, drove to the training school, told them what I thought of them and demanded my money back ( I didnt get it).
I then drove home,a couple of days later I booked a class 1 course with the Lane group at Bristol where I trained in a full sized unit and trailer, had brilliant one to one training and passed my test first time! I got a class 1 job not long afterwards and have worked continously in this industry for last four years since passing my test -gaining valuable experience along the way , enough experience to know that if you were to actually pass in a Sterling training vehicle then went for your first driving job on your own in a full sized unit and trailer with split gearboxes etc not only would you look a complete fool trying to drive it and change trailer, you would be a dangerous liability on the road (or in the yard)!
The moral of this story is that unless you want a career as a scrap metal merchant, or simply want to learn how to tow a caravan behind your car then leave Sterling training well alone!!
P.S. Ever wondered why sterling training never show you pictures of their vehicles on their literature or on their website? now you know why!
Here Here old boy,tell it like it is,but I must say I passed Class 1 and 2 first time with them,but I think thats down to my natural talent 
I did go for the CPC thing in my package which on its own was £199,so sterling sent me an A4 page with about 20 questions on, that they had written and a CPC manual (proper one mind ) that was worth £24.99 and charged me £199
I slate them at every opportunity as I have in my previous posts and I would never recommend them to anyone.
The brochure looks all tip top but tells you absolutely nothing about the crap inadequate vehicles they use, or there slopping training or the fact there is 2 trainees to the vehicles,and probably a day out of the 4 is spent drinking tea on North Weald Airfield