Ok, thats me licence upgraded on the provisional, hazard perception and theory out the way…
I’m now going to book an assessment drive, is this basically an hours lesson? Do you need to take an assessment drive or can you just book a weeks course with a test lumped on the end?
An assessment is not absolutely necessary but it depends on how you look at it and what your personal circumstances are.
An assessment will give the instructor an idea of how long you will need for training - 5, 6, or 7 days etc but if your personal finances will only go to a max 5 day course then the assessment has no value.
If it’s a free assessment do it anyway - it’s all experience 
An extra thought on this -
There is the financial balance of doing a 7 day course and test against a 5 day course and test.
The second is cheaper but may require more training if a retest was needed whereas the first may result in a first time pass as the extra training has been done.
You may be ready for test after 5 days but then get nerves and/or do one silly thing on that first test which requires a second test - no training required - just another test.
There are so many variables that you have to make the decision that you think will be right for you - you know yourself better than anyone else 
Maybe you need the assessment to be able to answer the above for yourself 
Thanks for the advise, decided to pop by today and book the assessment, its only £20 for the hour and will give me an idea how good/bad I am I suppose.
Going with Ritchies in Glasgow, should be good fun.
J35_T3R:
decided to pop by today and book the assessment, its only £20 for the hour and will give me an idea how good/bad I am I suppose.
£20 well spent IMO 
ROG is dead right - so many variables. I believe the value of the assessment is an opportunity for the new driver to have a good look at the training setup. Comfy driving the truck? Happy with the instructor attitude? Do you feel at ease? Admin system seems efficient? References from previous clients? If the answer is YES to all, then book. If there are any NO’s, carry on looking.
As always, recommendation is best if you’ve got any mates who’ve recently been through the mill.
Good luck with it all.
Well…!
That was an eye opener, having never driven anything bigger than a Sprinter van that Volvo FM7 was something else. Well worth getting a wee assessment, from what the instructor said I wasn’t as bad as some and if he can’t train me in 5 days to pass, he’ll give up teaching! Turning the thing was well, different and watching the mirror so I didn’t flatten anything but everything else seemed ok.
Gearbox was a right cruncher (or maybe that was just me?) Can’t wait till I get booked up to start in 2 weeks time.
J35_T3R:
Gearbox was a right cruncher (or maybe that was just me?)
Remember to say HELLO to neutral = out of gear - HELLO NEUTRAL - into gear
The SPEED differnce between the car and the truck when changing gears is like the 2 sorts of ■■■ 
The car is like having a ‘quicky’ and the truck is like ‘taking your time to enjoy it’ - bet you’ll remember that 
Nothing at all wrong with getting an assesment done. I got a free assesment drive of each of the local driving schools. First school said yeah 10 day course and you’ll be sorted. Next school asked me if i had been driving before as he said i would only need 4 days to pass lol. So it goes to show that just that 1 hour or so in the free assesment , can save you plenty of £££
However i cant do that over here, each school charges $100 for an assesment lol.