Hello there. i have just passed my test 4 weeks ago and when i rang up to book my test the ■■■■■■■ the other end of the phone was like, nooooo you want to do it in a wagon and drag not a artic because its easy to pass your test in one than an artic. I told her no and did my test in an artic. The point i want to make is, this is not the only training school that trys and forces people into a wagon and drag than an atric. they both drive so much diffrent. So i would do your test in what you want to do it in not the training school, and which one are you most likey to driver after you pass 
the reason why training schools have wagon and drag as its less cost than to buy a unit and trailer just for people who are doing there class 1 (c+e). where as they can have a rigid for class 2 then just hook up to a drawbar which then becomes class 1. Just using one truck for both tests, dropping and hooking up to a drawbar when required.
I failed a few in a proper artic, waited a couple of years then passed in a W&D BUT I would’ve stuck with the artic if I’d never done it that way.
The point was, I knew what I was doing with an artic so wouldn’t have a problem when I turned up to drive one for my first day in one - so I took the instructor’s advice and did the test in a w&d (school had both), it was marginally easier I think but, as you said - train in whatever you’re likely to be driving.
This has been said many times over the years on here so nowt new
Also the advise I would say ( again been said many times) go & visit the training providers in your area & speak in person with them not just over the phone & get a break down of the price ( if in doubt have an assessment with said provider )
I’d say learn in an artic as on roundabouts you need to take things a little wider than W&D. W&D is easy to drive but if you get one with an A frame (one with a front steer axle) then learning to reverse one of those is trial and error as you never know where it’s going to go to start with, but also you’d never want to learn in it as I believe you would fail your test on the reverse.
I think it is unlikely that you will drive W&D unless you get a job trunking.
I drove rigids for about ten years before I trained to drive and passed my +E test. I learnt in a drawbar and passed first time then paid for a day’s training in the training company’s artic. I actually found the artic easier to drive than the drawbar mainly because you can turn a unit much later to go round a tight corner than rigid. Also an artic is easier to reverse imho as they react a lot slower than the shorter wheelbase drawbar. I stongly recommend taking the test in a drawbar then having a couple of hours behind the wheel of an artic with an instructor, I’ve never driven a drawbar since but it’s nice to know that I could. I don’t know about those turning A frame jobbies though, I’d love to have a play in one, just with no one around to see!
The Saxmachine:
I’d say learn in an artic as on roundabouts you need to take things a little wider than W&D. W&D is easy to drive but if you get one with an A frame (one with a front steer axle) then learning to reverse one of those is trial and error as you never know where it’s going to go to start with, but also you’d never want to learn in it as I believe you would fail your test on the reverse.I think it is unlikely that you will drive W&D unless you get a job trunking.
Back when they changed the law to make w&d’s the same licence class as an artic, I got stopped by a driving test examiner who asked me if I could take the A frame draw bar I drove to the local test station.He explained that since the law had changed someone could feasibly turn up for a test with an A frame set up and they had never tried one on the test pad. Well I took it on the same pad set up for an artic, I did do the reversing through the cones but it was a close thing, I found it difficult after driving one for a few years, the examiner had a go and failed ! He agreed with me when I said anyone attemping a test in one would be insane when you could get the licence with the centre axle type trailer.
I often wonder whether anyone has taken a test with an A frame?
Can I ask here, how much is it now for your +E licence now?? I’ve been quoted ‘around’ £900.
I passed my class C in 2007 and was wondering whether to go for this, now that I have some experience on rigids.
I would agree that going forwards a wagon and drag can be easier than an artic, however in reverse you have to wind the lock off much earlier than you would first think. You need alot more room for the wagon when reversing. You canot u turn one like an artic. I would say they are as difficult as each other just in different areas.
Goldfinger:
Can I ask here, how much is it now for your +E licence now?? I’ve been quoted ‘around’ £900.I passed my class C in 2007 and was wondering whether to go for this, now that I have some experience on rigids.
Depends where you are but that sounds about right as the test itself is £115 (weekdays) but have a look in the “Newbies” forum on here as there are some instructors in there that may be able to help
The Saxmachine:
I’d say learn in an artic as on roundabouts you need to take things a little wider than W&D. W&D is easy to drive but if you get one with an A frame (one with a front steer axle) then learning to reverse one of those is trial and error as you never know where it’s going to go to start with, but also you’d never want to learn in it as I believe you would fail your test on the reverse.I think it is unlikely that you will drive W&D unless you get a job trunking.
That’s why nobody uses A-frames for learners. 
The principles are exactly the same whether you drive a wagon + drag or artic. Stop complicating the issue for the learners to be who read this stuff.
Goldfinger:
Can I ask here, how much is it now for your +E licence now?? I’ve been quoted ‘around’ £900.I passed my class C in 2007 and was wondering whether to go for this, now that I have some experience on rigids.
I’ve been qouted £1100ish cash for artic
I would say that about 80% of what is needed to pass the C+E test is learnt during the Cat C course.
Generally the candidate’s priority is passing the test and getting the entitlement for the least cost and hassle. In this respect the drawbar option is better. Once the Cat C test is passed just hook up the trailer and basically take the same test again.
Differences are the reversing technique and learning the coupling / uncoupling. We would generally expect 2 candidates together to master these in about 4 hours.
Other differences include taking left turns slightly wider and waiting for bigger gaps at roundabouts / junctions.
The advantage of passing the test in a semi trailer artic is that it is most likely what you will be driving afterwards.
The earlier advice about passing in a drawbar then booking a half day training in a conventional artic does make a lot of sense and seems to cover all angles.
Tip: Take an assessment drive in both types of vehicle and compare both ease of driving and price. We very seldom recommend a full length course during a C+E assessment. This obviously saves the candidate money.
Regards
John
Flair Training
LGVTrainer:
I would say that about 80% of what is needed to pass the C+E test is learnt during the Cat C course.
I agree with that statement. I personally trained in an artic and everything was still fresh in my mind from learning in cat C so it was easy. Driving an artic was alot nicer to drive than the rigid i found. Only real difference was the reversing and once you get your head around that it’s pretty simple.
matblackpool001:
Hello there. i have just passed my test 4 weeks ago and when i rang up to book my test the ■■■■■■■ the other end of the phone was like, nooooo you want to do it in a wagon and drag not a artic because its easy to pass your test in one than an artic. I told her no and did my test in an artic. The point i want to make is, this is not the only training school that trys and forces people into a wagon and drag than an atric. they both drive so much diffrent. So i would do your test in what you want to do it in not the training school, and which one are you most likey to driver after you pass
I did my class2 in an up-rated 7.5 tonner, the same firm did their class1 with the same truck with a wheelbarrow of a trailer, about as far from reality as it’s possible to be. The thought of someone passing their test in something like that, and, next day off into the wild blue yonder with a fully laden artic makes the mind boggle to say the least. Needless to say, I chose a different firm to do my class1, and did it with an Actross and a 45’ curtainsider. Even so three days later when I took my first artic out in anger was a huge eye opener to say the very least, from the moment I left the yard, and the next 3-4 months I found the learning curve almost perpendicular 
Almost six years on and I’m still learning, and mostly loving it
I think this thread needs a serious drum roll and a couple of TV presenters involved. Let Dominic Littlewood and Matt Allwright do a programme.
They turn up and are given a 7.5tonner with a 2 axle horse box behind it and then shoved into a 44 tonner 3 days later. The public wouldn’t believe it.
There used to be loads of prejudice over foreign drivers who had taken a driving test on an agricultural vehicle, our own laws are not far short of that.
We have a W&D driver who runs on class 2 with grandfather rights. The rest of us had to do both tests.
I suppose this discussion will rumble on for as long as there is the choice! I fully agree with John from Flair. My own experience has been documented on previous threads and I haven’t got the time at the moment to repeat it all in great detail so this is the short version!
I ran artics - 40’ boxes - on training for many years in the time when it was possible to go straight to class 1 (as IMO should still be possible). When the law changed in 1997 we had to make a commercial decision and that was to operate drawbar combinations. The first was a Volvo FL6, flat, with a short flat trailer. I then bought some 10 tonners with short flat trailers. These were ex-forces and were used by many schools as they were easy to drive and economical. But, deep down in my water, I felt that someone training in a tiny truck with a “wheelbarrow” trailer would not be equipped for the real world. So I insisted on keeping one artic on the fleet.This was a DAF 2500 with a 40’ box. On completion of training with the drawbar the idea was to take people out on the artic to show them how to drive a “real” truck. Believe it or believe it not, 29 out of the first 30 people had absolutely no problem at all with the artic. No-one was more surprised than me and it made a fool out of me as I was the one insisting that this was so necessary. After a few months I waved bye bye to the beloved artic.
Now let’s move on to 2009. Clearly the vehicles have changed and we are required to run box bodied trucks with a minimum of 8 forward gears. So we are still operating W+D combinations. The phone started ringing and folk were becoming insistent on learning on artic. Fine - their choice. But we didn’t want to miss that market sector. So along came a beauty of a DAF CF85 with 38’ box trailer. Lovely combination to learn on. But we went one step further. We then bought a 45’ tri-axle box trailer and loaded it with UBC’s full of water. What an outfit! An absolute dream, for me, come true. So here’s the plan. We’ll give the option of W+D or artic and, in any case, offer 3 free hours driving the fully loaded artic. Great, isn’t it?
Now the facts are as follows: The above offer ran for 14 months. The loaded training was free of charge. A total of SIX candidates chose to learn on the artic as opposed to W+D. (A seventh “bottled” as soon as he saw the artic at the start of his course and immediately swapped to W+D). The frightening bit comes now. In the period of 14 months we trained just over 230 CE drivers - as mentioned, all of them except 6 did it on W+D). A grand total of ELEVEN booked the free training on the artic. Out of those eleven a total of EIGHT actually turned up to do it.
So my experience says that much of the content of the thread is rumour, conjecture and myth.
There is only one sensible, easy way of passing a CE. It is, without any shadow of doubt, W+D. FACT.
Have a great day everybody! Pete 
Absolutely Peter, Wagon and Drag is by far the best option for a quick clean 1st time C+E pass.
In the days when car to class 1 was the norm the courses were generally 8-10 days long. Candidates would take days to master left turns and the reversing was a nightmare. Courses were done with a tractor unit and semi trailer.
There was not a single training provider in the 80’s offering W&D because the drawbar entitlement came with the HGV 2/3 automatically. It came automatically because the drawbar trailer is not that difficult to master. The trailer follows the prime mover almost like a train on tracks. Not quite but almost.
The change in licencing was both good and bad. On the downside it meant paying for 2 tests, although many had to pay for 2 anyway with the appauling pass rate. On the upside it meant getting to the holy grail of C+E without the problems that a conventional artic presents.
Of course you pay your money you take your choice. In general you will pay more money with an artic than a W&D.
Only my opinion but it is the reality.
Regards
John
Flair Training