Hi all
I need to put my Brother-in-Law through his Cat C test,
Witham,Braintree area.
so far ive found “Essex Transport Training” with very little research,any views or suggestions would be usefull.
I thought i would ask the experts 
cheers Danman
Hi
Recommendation is always the best. Failing which you could check out dft.gov.uk/dsa/category.asp?cat=324 which will give the list of Driving Standards Agency Accredited Centres.
Sometimes it can be worth while going out of area. Whenever possible visit the centre. Ensure that you’re not talking to a broker.
Good luck, Pete 
You could always look at this
As Peter say if possible go & visit the training provider & talk to them & try not to go to a broker
Sorry I cant really help as you a bit far from me
Essex Transport Training can be found on www.hgvlgvtraining.co.uk as well as many other reputable providers.
Alwasy go direct and as Pete says visit the training co before you part with your hard earned cash.
hgvlgvtraining
C-Kay:
http://truckskool.com/ I used these, i have no complaints whatsoever., They are based around Chelmsford
Yes I did my class 2 with them under a different name (them, not me 
) I quite enjoyed it but it’s fair to say that style of training would not suit everyone. However if you can’t handle being abused and shouted at then you are probably looking at an unsuitable occupation.
Other names in the area include Flair (please be sure to search these forums and have a good long read in that direction).
Someone I know that has a good reputation is
based Maldon-ish area but has a list of big name clients and having occasonally crossed paths with him, he seems like a decent bloke.
Thanks for the info guys
I’m ringing round geting prices
8Wheels i will give Keith a call, i see him a lot myself in the aera, (maldon) i know what you mean about old school training, when i done my class1 it was a week of abuse but all good fun.
Anyway to give brother-in-law a head start regards theory etc can i buy book and disk online or book shop??
cheers Danman
Hello danman
We are also based in Chelmsford. This board is not for advertising so what I would say is ask your brother-in law to contact Keith Williams 01621 743246 (a very good family run school) also RSM in Basildon 01268 724979 (also good reputation) and ourselves 0843 289 8157 (another very good school). We are the only companies that use Chelmsford test centre. He should get the provisional licence sorted and book 3 assessment drives. That way he will get the feel for the vehicles, instructors and customer service.
For an LGV licence you only get 1 chance to get it right.
This is my best advice
LGVTrainer:
Hello danmanWe are also based in Chelmsford. This board is not for advertising so what I would say is ask your brother-in law to contact Keith Williams 01621 743246 (a very good family run school) also RSM in Basildon 01268 724979 (also good reputation) and ourselves 0843 289 8157 (another very good school). We are the only companies that use Chelmsford test centre. He should get the provisional licence sorted and book 3 assessment drives. That way he will get the feel for the vehicles, instructors and customer service.
For an LGV licence you only get 1 chance to get it right.
This is my best advice
Not true, i did mine at Chelmsford test centre with a different company…
C-Kay:
Not true, i did mine at Chelmsford test centre with a different company…
Hi C-Kay,
It’s possible that John might be using LGV instructor ‘speak’ when he said that.
Depending on circumstances, a training school might ‘normally’ go to one test center for all their tests, but that doesn’t limit them to always using that test center. One LGV training company that I used to work for used Bredbury (now closed,) Kirkham and Llay test centers quite regularly, but normally used Bredbury the most (for convenience) because the company is in the Manchester area.
Due to the availability of test booking slots at the time, it’s perfectly possible that both you and John are correct in what you’ve said.
I did not mean that no other school ever uses Chelmsford. As Dave says a trainer will have a centre they use most of the time but occasionally other centres are used.
The 3 companies I mentioned probably account for about 85% of all tests at Chelmsford but there some PCV and B+E and Driver CPC tests done by other schools as well as some private LGV vehicles on test.
Hope this clears that up
dft.gov.uk/dsa/Documents/FOI … 009-10.pdf
The above link shows the pass rates for each test centre for the last financial year.
Looking at it Chelmsford has the lowest pass rate in England by some margin.
So the reasons for this could either be:
The trainees are no good from that area of the country!
The examiners are not marking to the same standards as the rest of the country!
The trainers are either no good or not giving enough time behind the wheel to give the trainees the chance of passing!
My thoughts would be that the trainees would be no different, the examiners would be check tested to make sure their testing standards where ok which only leaves the trainers.
I would suspect that the local trainers are competing on price and to make them look cheaper they are cutting down on the number of hours the trainee is getting which may be the cause of the low pass rate.
The pass rates do vary from year to year however Ipswich always seems to get a much better percentage than Chelmsford. I took class 2 in Chelmsford and class 1 at Ipswich at found Ipswich a much better place for learning, less traffic and quite a lot of wide roads.
Also Chelmsford have one examiner who is reputed to not know what a pass form is (although I’m sure there are many the same)
There used to be a centre on the Isle of Wight which had a pass rate of about 85% but then they only tested about 6 in a year
highway one braintree