You can apply for a provisional driving licence when you’re 15 years and 9 months old.

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You can start driving a car when you’re 17. Anyone you practise your driving with (without paying them) must: be over 21 be qualified to drive the type of vehicle you want to learn in, e.g. they must have a manual car licence if they’re supervising you in a manual car, have had their full driving licence for 3 years (from countries in the European Union or European Economic Area) Please note: It is ILLEGAL for anyone supervising you (your friend or family member) to use a mobile phone.

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Driving instructors must be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). A potential driving instructor (PDI) who satisfies basic criteria and a criminal record check is awarded a trainee licence – a pink permit/badge, which should be displayed in their vehicle’s window. This means that, although the instructor is not yet fully qualified, they are permitted to work at a franchised driving school and teach student drivers. A driving school should inform you if your instructor has trainee status, and you could reasonably expect a concession on the hourly rate for lessons.

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Once three qualifying exams have been completed, the instructor receives a full licence and 'green badge' for display in their vehicle's window. Driving instructors who are self-employed or who work at a small, independent driving school should always be able to produce a green permit/badge, again, displayed in the front window.

Remember, having either badge doesn't make your instructor good or poor, just try to examine the quality of the information they are relaying to you.

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Ongoing Assessment: Qualified driving instructors are subject to tests every few years, which ensure that acceptable standards of instruction are being maintained.

Don't appoint an instructor based on price alone as this can never determine how good or bad your Tuition will be. If an instructor’s hourly rate considerably lower than other instructors in the area, you should find out whether they intend to increase the price later and find out what the regular price would be before discount.

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Like all relationships, unfortunately. they won't all work out (Fact) some companies will offer block bookings for a discount, these should ALWAYS be refundable (dependent on instructor's conditions)

Give yourself and Instructor a Trial run to see if you are making steady progress, say perhaps 3 or 4 two-hour lessons. Only then, will you be able to consider if it's worth continuing with the same instructor.

Remember, this is not a lifetime contract, so feel free to change if you are not happy with the service you are receiving. A good instructor should always be happy to listen to any concerns.

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Good Luck and Safe driving.