what a nice place this is. I wish I’d have done more research and found this forum before booking my test. done the stupid thing of booking my training through a 3rd party, and has a result, less training for more money!! oh well,too late now. I started my training last Friday (8 till 12) with another 4hrs to come on Monday and Tuesday and then another 2 an half hrs before my test on Wednesday. That’s a total of 14 + half hrs training before the test!!! Its even less when you take away the coffee/smoke break.
I was all ready and pumped for it at the start of my first 4 hrs , even after being told I was being thrown in at the deep end? but unfortunately,I left the training centre with my confidence in tatters.
A couple of mistakes changing gears,an instructor trying to be inconspicuous on his mobile phone every 10 mins,and a knob in a corsa was what did it.
Half way through,I was told I was doing ok but during the briefing at the end,I was marked down on my progress sheet as being FAIR. FAIR is only 1 better than POOR.
is it really possible to get to test standard in the 14 + 1/2 hrs or is this unrealistic■■?
Keep us all posted on how it goes, hopefully your confidence will grow. When we had manual trucks before the automatics we had to give trainees 35 hours of driving time, thats 5 full days at 1:1 to get above 70% average pass rate (not success rate). I know that some drivers may manage with less but it seems too short and poor value for money. What I would like you to do is ensure that you tell people to avoid these 3rd party companies they don’t do the industry any favours.
Glad you found us now, we are all here to help, by the way your instructor using his mobile while instructing is against the law, not sure if you want to point it out, maybe all you can do is push for short tea/smoke breaks.
Your moment is coming up. Only think about the positives. It’s not about how long the training has been its all about that 1 hour on Wednesday.
Try to not think of it as a massive project. Instead take each hazard 1 at a time. Very few candidates lack the technical skills to pass. The main thing is having mental strength. Believe it will happen concentrate each moment throughout and importantly don’t think about the result during that hour. Every moment you think about something else is a wasted second.
Follow the above and I guarantee you will be smiling Wednesday night mate.
Having just passed the “C” test on Friday, i see where your coming from…but if your a good driver (a very good driver) you have got a really good chance with that much time. some do it in less time.
Ask yourself, am i good enough to go now, today, and pass the car test ?, would you pass ?
If so then you only need to learn how to move a vehicle the size of a double decker bus round a test route for an hour, (with out messing up)
after only one day of training its early to codemn the whole course, just concentrate on good driving.
learn the procures for pulling up and moving off.
lots of mirrors
the reverse is simple
a few easy questions
drive for an hour smoothly
I did my class 2 in 12 hours and test (inc cpc) and class 1 in 6 hours and test. Hours don’t mean anything.
Don’t get hung up on how many hours. Just concentrate on driving and picking up what you need. As long as you are competent, confident and have a good trainer, you should be fine.
Thanks for all the replies,it was a real confidence booster before today’s 4hr session.
Got to the training centre today,and was given a different instructor
only had one major hiccup, pulling off on a hill start and stalled,instructor immediately got irate about this and I went into panic mode, but I put that down to someone not explaining that the handbrake has a 1 second delay. I got the gearbox sussed now after almost 4 hrs driving, I was on my way back to the training centre with a smile on my face
At the end of the training session, the instructor talked about areas I need to improve on. Mirrors and blind spot, and road positioning.
I was marked as GOOD on my progress sheet,and B to B+ on the sheet with all the assessment areas on (sorry not sure what that sheet is) and the ‘C’ marked against the mirrors and blind spot and positioning.
Its a step in the right direction eh?
Will update this after tomorrows 4hr malarkey. Thanks for the great words of support!
The parking brake delay is a godsend on hill starts. As you release the brake give a gently blip on the throttle and slowly lift the clutch and away you go. Do all the mirror and blind spot checks before releasing the brake. That will allow you to fully concentrate on making a smooth pull away. Some candidates make the mistake of applying the footbrake as well as the parking brake. When they release the parking brake and continue to hold it on the footbrake, the problem is that there is no delay on the footbrake release and the vehicle starts rolling back as soon as they try to pull away. This can be overcome by very skilful use of the clutch but generally results in a rollback that can often lead to a serious fault being recorded.
I wont continue here to offer advice for all the other points you mentioned because I’m sure your trainer will be doing that tomorrow and Wednesday, but feel free to ask on here if you’re uncertain.
LGVTrainer:
Things sound a bit more positive today.
The parking brake delay is a godsend on hill starts. As you release the brake give a gently blip on the throttle and slowly lift the clutch and away you go. Do all the mirror and blind spot checks before releasing the brake. That will allow you to fully concentrate on making a smooth pull away. Some candidates make the mistake of applying the footbrake as well as the parking brake. When they release the parking brake and continue to hold it on the footbrake, the problem is that there is no delay on the footbrake release and the vehicle starts rolling back as soon as they try to pull away. This can be overcome by very skilful use of the clutch but generally results in a rollback that can often lead to a serious fault being recorded.
I wont continue here to offer advice for all the other points you mentioned because I’m sure your trainer will be doing that tomorrow and Wednesday, but feel free to ask on here if you’re uncertain.
Tockwith Training:
He could hold it on the secondary brake while finding the biting point of the clutch, before moving away.
Do you mean the parking brake? The reason I ask this is because that is what I do at roundabouts and junctions. I hold the stick down, just before it would click.
After a great start on Monday with the confidence boost and finishing the session on a high, Tuesday was a disaster!!
I woke up Tuesday morning in a bad way,flu like symptoms and bad head.I had started a course of tablets (Monday evening) for a chest infection I’d had a few days. one of the side effects was diarrhoea. There was no way I was going to be able to sit behind the wheel,concentrate,learn etc with the added danger of feeling rough and needing a toilet soon. My only option was to ring the 3rd party company and see if I could cancel/book for a time when I was well. I was told there would be no rebooking,and no refunds. I had lost the test fee and the remainder of my 6 1/2 hrs training fee.it was too short a notice.
please come book with us again when you feel better.
Being absolutely gutted is an understatement!!! Maxed out the credit card to get this done as well.
Any advice on what I should do next, I will NOT be going the 3rd party route again and I advise anyone against that option.Its the end of the adventure for now until sometime in the new year,but for now, I’m gonna stick around for a while,lots of interesting stuff on this site and I been made welcome
My test would of been 10.30am today, I wonder what the outcome would of been…
If I’d have been you, I would have turned up. I’m recovering from a grizzly chest infection myself, I still managed to drive though. Could have thrown the heaters on and started the process of sweating it out! Besides, if you had failed (which you might not) you could have always taken pleasure in infecting the test examiner with your disease!
Better luck for the new year. Find out which instructors are local and go direct to them yourself, not through a broker. A local training school may have been able to shuffle your training around.
wot a bad luck story, i too would say, i would of gone for test too even if i was ill,
but only the OP can judge what was the best way to do it.
best of luck for next time.
