Practising With a Parent or Supervising Driver
Lessons alone rarely give you enough time on the road. Practice with a parent or friend fills the gap, as long as the person beside you qualifies and you both know what you're working on.
Who can sit beside you
A car learner must be accompanied at all times by a qualified driver: someone who has held a full licence in the same category for a continuous two years. Driving unaccompanied can mean a fine, penalty points and the car being seized. The owner of the car can be penalised as well.
Other rules
- L-plates, front and rear, every time.
- No motorways.
- No paying passengers.
It doesn't replace lessons
First-time car learners must complete 12 Essential Driver Training lessons with an approved instructor. Practice with a supervising driver goes on top of those. So does Makes Perfect, which doesn't count towards them.
A simple way to plan practice
- After each lesson, write down the one thing your instructor wants you to work on.
- Agree before you set off what this drive is for. One thing per drive.
- Keep comments short while the car's moving, and talk it through once you've parked.
- Build up slowly, from quiet estates to busier roads, then to roundabouts and traffic lights.
- Keep practising in the weeks before your test, not only the last few days.
For the person supervising
Rules change, and habits picked up decades ago can be wrong today. Run through STOP and yield, roundabouts and what the test marks together, so you're both working to the same standard.