Private practice: what actually helps and what makes it worse

What you need before you start

The supervising driver must be over 21, have held a full licence for that category for three years, and the car must be insured for a learner driver. L plates front and back.

The insurance point is the one people get wrong. A standard policy does not cover a learner, and “they are only going round the block” is not a defence.

Check the insurance specifically covers a learner driver. Assuming it does is the most expensive mistake on this page.

What genuinely helps

Repeating what you did in the lesson, on roads you already know, at times that are not busy. That is it. It turns something you can do into something you do without thinking.

Twenty hours of that is worth more than ten extra paid lessons, because lesson time is better spent on new things than on drilling.

What makes it worse

A supervising driver teaching their own method. The gear they would be in, the way they take a roundabout, the mirror routine they have used since 1994.

None of it is necessarily wrong, and all of it conflicts with what is being taught. Unpicking a habit learned from a well-meaning parent takes longer than learning it properly first time.

A note for whoever is sitting there

Your job is not to teach. It is to supervise repetition of things already covered, and to stay calm while somebody does badly a thing you find effortless.

If you find yourself explaining a technique, that is the moment to stop and leave it for the lesson. And if it is turning into an argument, stop the practice — it is doing damage that costs money to repair.

If it ends in a row, it was worse than no practice at all. That is not a figure of speech.

What to practise, in order

Whatever the last lesson covered, and nothing beyond it. If the lesson was junctions, practise junctions. Do not attempt a manoeuvre nobody has shown you.

We write down what to practise after each lesson for exactly this reason. It is on the sheet, and it is short on purpose.

Which car to practise in

Ideally one similar to the car you take lessons in, because biting points, mirror positions and visibility differ more than people expect between models.

If the only car available is very different, say so and we will spend a little lesson time on the differences rather than letting them cause confusion.

The car must be taxed, insured for a learner and displaying L plates front and rear. Removing them between sessions and forgetting to put them back is a surprisingly common way to get stopped.

When to start practising

Not in the first few lessons. Practising before the basics are stable means practising mistakes, and habits formed early are the hardest to shift.

Around lesson five or six is typical, once moving off, stopping and basic junctions are reliable. We will tell you when we think you are ready rather than leaving it to guesswork.

Start somewhere quiet and short. Twenty minutes that goes well is worth more than an hour that ends in a row.

Practising too early means practising mistakes. Wait until the basics are stable.