Learning to Drive as a Young Person (age 10-17): Our Review of Young Driver

23rd August 2022

Did you daydream during boring school lessons about the day you’d turn 17 and start learning to drive?

Nowadays learning to drive as a young person can start from the age of 10!

Young Driver offers lessons to 10-17 year olds at 70 venues across the UK throughout the year.

Last week I took my son and stepsons to their first ever lesson and wanted to share how it went.

How Young Driver Works

Fully qualified driving instructors teach children using dual-controlled Vauxhall Corsas on private land.

They use pretend road systems including roundabouts, junctions and traffic lights. This helps to make learning to drive as a young person really fun and life-like.

All drivers must be aged 10 to 17 years old and be at least 1.42m tall to participate in lessons.

Young Driver are also fully inclusive for those with various additional needs, including autism, sight/hearing impairments and cerebral palsy.

Some venues offer opportunities for young people to drive a Bentley, a classic car and even a fire engine!

Lessons can be booked for 30 minutes or an hour. We tried the 30 minute lessons which are currently £44.99 each.

Learning to Drive as a Young Person Under 10

Whilst these driving lessons for ages 10-17, Young Driver also offers opportunities for ages 4-10 too.

They have Firefly electric cars designed for younger children, which are built like a real car but in miniature.

Firefly cars are two-seaters and enables an adult to ride with the driver too.

The Benefits of Learning to Drive as a Young Person

There’s many benefits to learning to drive as a young person under the age of 17.

Early driving tuition can set the foundations for safer, more confident driving.

Sue Waterfield from Young Driver said:

“Statistics show that learning to drive before you’re 17 can reduce the chances of an accident as a newly qualified driver by up to 50 percent.

Under 17s who take driving lessons have better awareness of road safety. This is especially important when living in rural locations where accident rates are higher than in urban locations” Sue Waterfield (quoted from greatbritishlife.co.uk article)

Learning to drive as a young person can help increase self-esteem each time they learn a new skill during lessons.

Young Driver are creating safer drivers of our next generation, by teaching over extended periods of time in low-pressure environments.

I am standing next to a flag that says Young Driver. I am wearing sunglasses, a black top and white shorts. The background is a car park with large trees surrounding it.
Me proudly watching the boys!

Our Experience

We took our three boys, aged 10, 12 and 14, to the Ipswich venue, which was a large, private car park.

It was easy to get to and there was ample space for each learner to drive alongside other learners safely.

When signing in, each boy was given a driving diary which tracks their progression throughout all lessons.

Instructors sign off levels the young person has achieved and writes constructive feedback and praise after each lesson.

The boys were nervous, but were soon put at ease when they each met their instructors and saw their cars.

I was impressed how quickly my son settled, as he can find new experiences challenging when he’s doing them alone. His instructor Ken was brilliant at making him smile and gave him lovely feedback at the end.

Parents can watch lessons behind safety barriers, so I got some great footage of their manoeuvres.

During the lesson they covered:

  • Pre-drive checks
  • Precautions before starting car
  • Moving away
  • Stopping
  • Steering
  • Changing gear
  • Slalom
  • Parking
  • Stopping at junctions

What We Thought About The Experience

My first lesson years ago was mainly mirrors and clutch control, so seeing the boys trying various driving skills straight away was great.

Standard lessons would have bored them, so this varied approach kept them engaged and they learnt a lot.

The instructor can control the clutch, gears and brake so I was satisfied it was very safe for the boys.

Learning to drive as a young person is definitely something I’d recommend as the three boys absolutely loved it!

Their faces were beaming with pride when they finished the lesson, and they talked non-stop about it for days after.

The boys came away confident and eager to save up for future lessons so it was definitely worth doing.

Young Driver teaches road safety in a fun way that works, as my son pointed out ways my driving could be improved afterwards!

No payment was received for this post. All opinions are honest and my own.

Young Drivers provided the lesson so we could try it out for the purpose of this review.

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