Driving lessons in Leicester

Deciding now is the time to learn to drive is a big step, and the very next thing you need to do is decide which driving instructor you are going to choose.

As well as looking at the price of lessons, there are other factors worth considering when looking for an instructor – how flexible they are in terms of when they can do lessons, how many lessons they can offer you per week (some can only do one), how experienced they are, what their first-time pass rate is and what areas of Leicester the cover – to name just a few!

To help you find the best Leicester driving instructor for your needs, we’ve put together the below guide to learning to drive in Leicester…

Driving school or independent driving instructor?

Perhaps one of the first questions you to answer is whether you want to do your driving lessons with one of the big nationwide brands or with a smaller Leicester-only driving instructor or company.

Luckily there’s no shortage of either option in Leicester, and both have their benefits as well as slight drawbacks, so it all boils down to personal choice really. Some people like to use a big and well-known driving school as they feel they may be more reliable and the instructors they use will be more qualified. Independent driving instructors and smaller, Leicester-based firms are just as qualified and reliable as their ‘big’ company counterparts – and they may also be more flexible in terms of when you can book lessons and how often the lessons can be.

Ultimately it’s all down to your own choice – and most of the time that is based on how cheap the driving lessons are…

How much do driving lessons cost in Leicester?

For most people the decision usually hinges on the price of the driving lessons.

With so many different driving instructors in Leicester – each with their own ‘introductory offers’ – it’s not easy to provide an accurate figure as to the cost of a driving lesson in Leicester. However, we’ve researched a lot of instructors and the packages they offer to provide some ballpark figures for you.

We looked at the cost of driving lessons for normal new starters, automatic lessons and for intensive driving courses (crash courses). The below figures are simply a guide price we have worked out by averaging the prices on offer from the top 20 driving instructors in Leicester.

Prices for driving lessons are likely to vary from the above guides depending on what instructor you use and what introductory offers they have, so if the price of lessons in Leicester is a major factor for you be sure to shop around the different instructors and find the best deal for you.

Theory test in Leicester

Part of the process of learning to drive now involves taking a theory test – which means you have to revise and then book yourself into the Leicester test centre to take your test.

For the revision part of the theory test most driving instructors will recommend the official DVSA theory test app, which costs £4.99 and is available on iPhones and Android devices:

iPhone – DVSA app

Google Play – DVSA app

When you think you’re ready you will need to book yourself into the Leicester theory test centre, which is located on Halford Street in the city centre:

To book your theory test in Leicester, just visit www.gov.uk/book-theory-test and follow the instructions. It currently costs £23 to book a theory test for a car.

Leicester practical driving test centres

There are two driving test centres in Leicester, which serve the north and south of the county respectively.

The test centre for the north of Leicester is:

Leicester Driving Test Centre – Cannock Street

40 Cannock Street
Barkbythorpe Road
Troon Industrial Estate
Leicester
Leicestershire
LE4 9HT

For the south of Leicester, the test centre is:

Leicester Driving Test Centre – Wigston

Tigers Road, off Saffron Road
South Wigston
Leicester
Leicestershire
LE18 4WS

Leicester driving centre pass rates

Below are the official DVSA driving test first-time pass rates for the two Leicester test centres for 2016:

Leicester – Cannock Street – 43%

Leicester – Wigston – 45.6%

Less than half of learner drivers pass first time in Leicester, and those taking their test from the Wigston centre are slightly more likely to pass first time than those taking their test at Cannock Street.

Best driving instructors in Leicester

We have looked at the customer reviews on Google for all of the driving instructors in Leicester to come up with the below list of the top rated instructors.

Your Driving Academy – 5* from 76 reviews

Drive Buddi – 5* from 36 reviews

Let’s Go Driving – 5* from 29 reviews

1st Pass Leicester – 5* from 15 reviews

Driving Innovation – 5* from 10 reviews

Arkay Driving School – 4.9* from 83 reviews

Nawab School of Motoring – 4.9* from 59 reviews

Sapphire Driving School – 4.9* from 48 reviews