Training venue advice-narrowing down the candidates

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
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lads ‘n’ lasses

i have been through the midlands all this week going to various lgv trainers, had a few assesment drives also & i’ve narrowed it down to

my top 4 in no paticular order as follows:
british hgv cannock
data academy
peter smythe transport training
ATT dodswell ind est

all have plus’s/minus points but nothing to major or really any consideration, but i’m really struggling to narrow my list down further! all have decent trucks, two trainers have brand new trucks, the other two arent as new but they are far far far far far from old nails, so in my opinion all of the four have good trucks that should make training a decent experiance driving-wise,
yeah some trucks you feel more comfy than others but i came away from all feeling confidant in any of the trucks to be honest

with all of them i have to travel, all of them are in areas i dont know the inner city roads too well, so these two points i have are not part of the equasion in terms of where to pick, the four above i have had assesments with & they all compare there or there abouts on the amount of training i need to clean up to get through my test

out of the above four training venues the price is roughly comparable, but on the flipside some are offering more hours training for the £ spent & one venue in paticular has both cpc test in with the total cost which is great value & benefit

another consideration of mine is for the future, when i’m successful passing my class 2 i’m considering going for class 1, two of the above trainers as far as i’m aware have “proper” class 1 artics the other two have wag ‘n’ drag, one trainer out of the four has both!

i have visited & had assesments at other venues but the four above stand out to me personally as my favourites!

any input from all that have experianced any of these venues would be superb! AND also a bit of input regaurding test venues, there is some chitter chatter some test centres have easier test routes than others■■?

let me know all-very much appreciated

2

I think …
ATT only do 2 to 1 training unless they have changed recently
DATA do both 2 to 1 and 1 to 1 but mainly 1 to 1
Peter Smythe do 1 to 1 only ■■
Dunno about the other

3

as you say rog the all the above is true!
british in cannock is 1 to 1 training

data test from cannock road leicester
peter smythe has a big advantage as you test from there facility which is a big plus
ATT test from weedon-they are going through the system to test from dodswell in august though!
british in cannock test from featherstone & swynnerton i think its called

cor blimey govener its a tough one, these four in my opinion are defo head ‘n’ shoulders above others i have been around i can say that much…

i managed to sort out my funds this morning for my training, also my head is in the right place to get moving into my training & i’m ready to put down a deposit & book my training this monday, just gotta narrow the list down

i’m heading out to visit the test centre venues tomorow, obviously have been to peter smythes & know what to expect there!

not really sure if this is going to help my deceision making but ya never know, it’ll give me a feel for each area in a minor way

as you can probobly tell from my indecision i dont bet on the grand national as i can never bloody pick a horse :slight_smile:

4

Don’t forget to bear in mind the distance from training yard to test centre and reversing practice area. It makes a big difference as to which test routes you can cover and how much reversing practice you can get.

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to true dean, thats been on my plus/minus list also

i feel pretty confident in any of the trucks about doing the reverse exercise for the test,

peter smythes & ATT @ dodswell in est have there own area for on site reverse practice

i forgot to ask :blush: when i was at data academy & british hgv but either way i feel i could hit my mark fine i i was reversing on a ploughed field once i’m used to the truck LOL :laughing:

6

You seem to have weighed everything up, but perhaps a good indication of the training you can expect to receive is the pass rates for each of the individual trainers. I think one of the names on the list is second or third highest in the country, Peter Smythe Transport Training that’s where my money would go. Good luck.

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are pass rates available to get hold off at all for each trainer?

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You can get the pass rates for each test venue, not sure how to get them it was one of my mates that told me about Peter Smythe’s pass rates he said it was second or third highest in the country I don’t know how true that is, but I do know there reputation is well and truly deserved and there training is second to none.

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The only thing you can ask for is the first time pass rates from each and that will give you something to compare by … maybe

Remember this - no matter where you train or what testing place you do it from - being able to cope with all sorts of situations in any place at any time is the key to passing

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mfm:
You can get the pass rates for each test venue, not sure how to get them it was one of my mates that told me about Peter Smythe’s pass rates he said it was second or third highest in the country I don’t know how true that is, but I do know there reputation is well and truly deserved and there training is second to none.

Don’t think it will help you too much, but this page has some stats on it: dsbs.co.uk/driving-test-pass-rates
Scroll down to see pass rates by test centre.
For me, the figures are a bit pointless unless weighted by how many tests took place. E.g. go to the Isle of Wight which has 87% pass rate, but can’t imagine they do many tests a year! The national average is 48.39% pass rate, and that doesn’t mean first time, it’s over all tests.

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It’s a close call between four excellent training providers! So difficult to find a deciding difference. Two things spring to mind: where did you feel most comfortable - deep down in your gut. And then check for DSA accreditation if everything else is the same.

Whatever and wherever you choose, I wish you all the best with your training and test.

Pete :laughing: :laughing:

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ROG:
Remember this - no matter where you train or what testing place you do it from - being able to cope with all sorts of situations in any place at any time is the key to passing

+1
I would add to that, stay calm, relax as much as possible, if a particularly hairy situation develops mention conversationally some of the factors. Some will disagree but I think letting the examiner you are aware of the hazards builds his confidence in you.
e.g. I had a closed junction, left hand turn into a narrow road, and a motor cycle periodically appearing in alternate mirrors! As I was slowing down in plenty of time to stop in the hang back position I told him “there’s a motorocycle somewhere and I’m not turning until I know where he is” as knowing my luck he’d dive past as I started to turn and I’d finish him off with the tail swing! Luckily he stopped where I could see him, so I could say “THERE he is”, check the road is clear, check both mirrors, blind spot, both mirros again, turn left taking up the full road remembering to check the tail swing in the mirror and the kerb in the other mirror, congratulate myself then turn my attention to the TWO horse and carts in the distance. say “This will be fun” to examiner, and off we go again

Best of luck, SO much depends on what other idiots are out at the time and how you react!
Tim

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So much depends on what other idiots are out at the time and how you react!

Never a more true word spoken.

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Pass rates are irrelevant. Even if they have a 99% pass rate not much good if you’re the 1%.

Call Peter on Monday and get your dates booked up. It’s much easier taking the class 1 test in a vehicle you’ve already passed a test in.

This time next month you will be a truck driver. I have visited Pete more than once and believe me if there’s better I haven’t seen it.

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You originally said “some are offering more hours training for the £ spent”
If everything else is honestly equal (vehicles, instructors, convenience of location) then I’d be inclined to go for the most possible hours on the road.

My first test I definitely didn’t feel ready or confident, and my 2nd test with only about 6 hours more training was a different world. The flip side is that I have read that many have a “dip” point in the training and you don’t want the test to coincide with that, and I feel that my first one did!

Other factor to maybe consider (only if you are getting 1-2 training) is whether you will be paired with someone at same level. My first morning the other guy had a test, so he (rightly) got all the driving time. Half way through week got joined by a guy on a retest, so lost time sitting around during his test too. Even though I had a few spots of 1-1 tuition it all disrupted the flow and was left feeling I hadn’t got the total driving hours promised. I agonised over whether to go back to same place for retest and did in the end so I didn’t need to learn a different vehicle. I got a better deal this time as the other guy was late and missed the morning so got 1-1 tuition, and in the afternoon he turned up and I got to teach him the basics which helped re-enforce it all in my brain.
In other words, can you be sure you will actually get the hours they promise you if you opt for 1-2 training, and do they keep re-tests separate and with other re-test candidates. (I didn’t use any of your four shortlisted trainers BTW, which was probably my mistake!)

Best of luck, whatever you choose. Tim

16

^^ this.

You may be promised 20 hours. But if 4 of those are spent at the butty van over the 5 days then you are only getting the same 16 as others are promising.

I can tell you that one of the biggest costs of training will be the diesel. If the OTR hours can be squashed with classroom theory or simulators or butty van visits then the finance manager at the school will be a lot happier.

Just because more hours are promised, doesn’t mean they will be OTR hours.

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You originally said “some are offering more hours training for the £ spent”
If everything else is honestly equal (vehicles, instructors, convenience of location) then I’d be inclined to go for the most possible hours on the road.

… which is perfectly logical. EXCEPT, that the content of the hours, regardless of how many, varies so widely. And this is where using a DSA accredited centre, where these matters are established and monitored, can make all the difference.

Pete :laughing: :laughing:

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Being paired at the same level is not an issue on 2 to 1 because I instructed mainly 2 to 1 for a few years and rarely had both at the same level = no problems

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Being paired at the same level is not an issue on 2 to 1 because I instructed mainly 2 to 1 for a few years and rarely had both at the same level = no problems

As mentioned in another thread, I believe you must have been lucky. Look through the threads on here and note that some people have moaned about being paired up with someone of completely different ability.

I’ve only had 40 years practice - - and I know, without the slightest shadow of doubt, what works best for most candidates.

That said, 2:1 will always be the favourite of the schools as you end up, very often, with less training time due the the breaks that come round.

But the OP must make his own decision and shouldn’t be sidetracked by these issues.

Pete :laughing: :laughing:

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:question: :question: :question: Guess there is a site issue with some posts