Tag Archives: Newcastle

Driving Test Passes – January 2014

Congratulations to everyone who passed their driving test with Drive Ahead throughout January 2014! If you’d like to take driving lessons with one of our driving instructors then give us a call today on 01782 906010 or why not book online. We cover Stoke on Trent, Newcastle under Lyme, and we’ll soon be covering Stafford as well.

2nd January 2014 – Jordan Broadhead – The new year kicked off to a great start when Jordan passed his driving test at Newcastle driving test centre with our instructor Mark Lawton.

3rd January 2014 – Sam – Well done to Sam who passed after taking driving lessons with our instructor Sarah Alcock at the Newcastle test centre

6th January 2014 – Lee Colclough – Lee passed after taking driving lessons with our instructor Mark Lawton, and passed at the Cobridge (Stoke on Trent) test centre.

7th January 2014 – Tom Kendrick – Tom took his test in Newcastle, and ended off a great week for our driving instructor Mark Lawton who recorded 3 passes in the first week of 2014! Great results all round – Well done!

8th January 2014 – Grace Roberts – Grace passed her driving test first time at the Newcastle under Lyme test centre with our instructor John Johnson.

10th January 2014 – Anthony Leese – Anthony passed after taking lessons with our driving instructor John Johnson. He passed at the Newcastle under Lyme test centre.

13th January 2014 – Mohsina Tariq – Mohsina passed first time at the Cobridge (Stoke on Trent) test centre. Mohsina was the 4th member of her family to have passed with Drive Ahead, following in the footsteps of her parents and her older brother.

14th January 2014 – Rev Louis GD III – Rev Louis passed his driving test after taking driving lessons in Stoke on Trent with our driving instructor Martin Molyneux. He passed at the Cobridge test centre.

15th January 2014 – Johnathan Travers – Johnathan passed at Cobridge test centre following his driving lessons with our instructor John Johnson.

16th January 2014 – Sabrina Arif – Sabrina follows in the footsteps (or should I say tyre tracks) of her sister Sobia who also passed with Drive Ahead last year. Sabrina passed at Newcastle after taking lessons with our driving instructor Dave Shannon

16th January 2014 – Nazeela Omar – 2nd pass in the same day with our instructor Dave Shannon. Nazeela joined Drive Ahead after her brother in law passed first time with us in 2013.

22nd January 2014 – Hayman Khudur – Hayman passed in Stoke after taking driving lessons with our instructor Martin Molyneux

24th January 2014 – Matt – Yet another pass with Mark Lawton, his pupils just can’t stop passing this month. Well done to Matt who passed at Newcastle

31st January 2014 – Samantha Wright – A great end to the month with our 14th pass in January. Samanatha passed with our driving instructor John in Newcastle under Lyme.

Yet again, another fantastic month with over 20 new learners starting their driving lessons throughout the Stoke on Trent and Newcastle area with Drive Ahead, and a terrific 14 people have now gained their independence by passing their driving tests!

Driving Lesson in Stoke on Trent – What to expect on your first driving lesson?

When you start learning to drive it’s hard to know what to expect. This blog post will tell you everything that will happen during your first driving lesson in Stoke with Drive Ahead School of Motoring so you know what to expect and there’ll be no surprises.

Your driving instructor will pick you up from a prearranged location (usually work, home or college). You’ll need to make sure you bring your driving license along with you, you should bring both parts, the plastic photo card and paper counterpart. Your driving instructor will then ask you to read a number plate (currently this is from 20 metres, but is shortly to changed to 17.5 metres) in good daylight. If you normally wear glassed or contacts then you should wear them for your driving lessons, as failure to read the number plate would be mean the lesson cannot go ahead.

Your driving instructor will then normally drive you to a quite location where there are few distractions and not too much traffic, making the learning process easier. You will then swap round to the drivers seat, but don’t worry, you won’t be expected to start driving immediately.

The first thing to learn on your driving lessons is the cockpit drill. This is a process of 5 checks that ensure that the car is secure, you are sitting in the right position and can reach all of the controls properly, and see everything you need to see. Its not the catchiest thing to remember, but the acronym we use DSSSM:

D – Doors

S – Seat

S – Steering

S – Seatbelt

M – Mirrors

I’ll go into the details of each of these checks in a later blog.

Following this your driving instructor will talk you through each of the controls of the car, how to operate them, and what they all do. These will include feet controls, handbrake, gears, handbrake, steering and indicators.

Once you’ve done this, it’s nearly time to drive!

You will learn all about Mirrors – Signal – Manoeuvre (MSM) which is the building blocks for everything we do. Your driving instructor will talk you through preparing the car to move, performing the relevant safety checks, before getting the car moving along the road then coming to stop a short time later. The first few times you try this, your driving instructor will talk you through absolutely everything to help you get going. As he feels you gaining in confidence, he will start to ask you questions to check you understand what you have learnt throughout your driving lesson, and will then gradually reduce the amount of instruction he gives depending on your ability.

You may do slightly more or less than this, depending on the length of your driving lessons, or your own ability. At the end of your first driving lesson your driving instructor will recap everything you’ve done and will then book your next driving lesson with you.

Good luck with you learning, and have fun – from all at Drive Ahead School of Motoring

Driving Test Passes – December 2013

Congratulations to all of our pupils that passed their driving tests in December 2013. If you’d like to be next then why not book online today!

2nd December 2013 – Lizzie Horden – Lizzie passed with our driving instructor Dave Shannon (snr) at the Cobridge test centre in Stoke on Trent. Well done Lizzie!

3rd December 2013 – Josh Page – Josh took his driving lessons with our newest driving instructor Mark Lawton. He passed his test at Newcastle test centre. Well done Josh!

4th December 2013 – Sophie – Sophie began learning to drive when she lived at home in Birmingham. Part way through her learning she moved to Shelton to study at Staffordshire University, and needed a local driving school to continue her driving lessons. Sophie was recommended to us by a number of her friends who had already passed their tests with Drive Ahead. Well done Sophie, from your driving instructor Dave Shannon!

10th December 2013 – Fang Chen – Fang was recommended to us by one of her friends who had recently taken driving lessons with us. She had been learning with another driving instructor and had failed her test several times so decided it was time for a change. After taking lessons with us she managed to pass on her first time at the Cobridge test centre – Well done Fang!

12th December 2013 – Kim Pidgeon – Kim had driven in the past, but after a break of several years and with a new baby she decided it was time to start again. After just a handful of lesson Kim was back up to standard and past with us first time!

17th December 2013 – Matt “Rug” Pennington – “Rug” passed his driving test with our instructor Mark Lawton at the Newcastle.

19th December 2013 – Josh Dale – Josh passed his driving test with our instructor Martin Molyneux – Well done Josh!

19th December 2013 – Jodie Howard – Jodie passed her driving test 1st time with our driving instructor John Johnson at the Newcastle test centre

31st December 2013 – Mark Carr – Mark came to us after seeing one of his old school mates’ photos on our website. His friend had passed with us a few weeks before. Mark runs his own business delivering leaflets and really needs a car to get around, and he’ll now have the flexibility to travel more for his work

Well done to all of our ‘passed’ learners – a great result all round!

If you’d like to take driving lessons with Drive Ahead then call us today on 01782 906010 or why not book online

Driving Lessons in Stoke – How do I prepare?

Driving Lessons in Stoke on Trent

So then, you’ve decided that you want to learn to drive, but you’re not sure what you need to do to get ready for your driving lessons. This blog post gives you a guide about what documents you will need and how to get them, as well as what to expect on your first driving lesson, along with useful website and contact details.

How old must I be to learn to drive?

You can drive from your 17th birthday. However, you can apply for your provisional driving licence up to 3 months before your 17th birthday. If you’d like a driving lesson on your 17th birthday then I’d advise you to start applying for your licence at the earliest opportunity.

How to get your provisional driving licence

Before you even think about getting in a car to drive you must have a provisional driving licence. There are 2 ways to obtain your driving licence. Firstly you can pick up an application form from the Post Office, fill it in, then post it off to the DVLA. Secondly, you can apply online at https://www.gov.uk/apply-first-provisional-driving-licence, this is much easier and quicker, and once you’ve completed your application you’ll normally receive your driving licence within 1 week. The cost of the driving licence is currently £50 and you must also provide passport photos (although if you have a passport already and apply online then they will use the same photo that was used for your passport).

When you receive your driving licence your photo card will be attached to a paper counterpart. It is important to keep both parts of your driving licence safe, you will need to show them to your driving instructor on your first driving lesson, and they need to be taken with you when you take your driving test.

If at any time your driving licence is lost or damaged then you can apply for a replacement. The easiest way to do this is online at https://www.gov.uk/apply-online-to-replace-a-driving-licence. This currently costs £20.

You’ve got you licence, you’re now ready to book your driving lessons?

As long as you have your licence and either it’s approaching your 17th Birthday or your 17 or older already you can now go ahead and book your driving lessons. At present Drive Ahead School of Motoring offer driving lessons in Stoke on Trent, Newcastle under Lyme, and all surrounding areas. When booking your driving lessons you’ll need to decide whether you’d like to learn in a manual or automatic car. To book a driving lesson call us today on 01782 906010

Manual or Automatic – What’s the difference?

The majority of cars have a manual gearbox, although there is growing number of automatic cars around due to the increase in hybrid and electric cars being used. If you decide to learn in a manual car this means that you’ll need to change the gears, and use the clutch to control the car. In an automatic car you don’t need to change through the gears, the car ‘automatically’ does it for you. If you pass your test in a manual car then you are also permitted to drive an automatic, however if you pass in an automatic car and later decide you’d like to drive a manual car, you will need to retake your driving test in a manual car.

You’ve booked your driving lesson, what can you expect?

Your driving instructor will arrive at the location you arranged when booking your driving lessons. This might be your home, college, a place of work or any other prearranged location. You will be required to bring your driving licence with you on your first lesson. Also, if you’ve been told you require glasses for driving then you must bring them with you to all of your driving lessons. By law you are required to read a new style car number plate from 20 metres away. You will be asked to do this before you drive on your first lesson. If you cannot read the number plate, or you don’t bring your glasses with you, then you will not be permitted to drive.

When you are picked up for your first lesson, your driving instructor will normally drive you to a suitable location to start your learning. When taking driving lessons in Stoke there’s loads of great places to get you started. This will normally be a quiet housing or industrial estate where the amount of hazards are minimal, and the roads are suitable for you to start your learning. You will normally start off by learning about the cockpit drill. The cockpit drill is 5 checks that make sure you are sitting in the correct position, can reach all of the controls properly and can see everything you need to see. The instructor will find your knowledge of the controls of the car and how they work, but don’t worry, if there’s anything you don’t know or are not sure off then your instructor will help out.

Once you’ve got a basic understanding of the car and it’s controls you will then look at how to get the car moving, travel a short distance, then bring the car to a stop in a safe location. Your instructor will always make sure you are safe and if needed can help you out by using their dual controls. If you’ve taken a 1 hour lesson then your first lesson will probably end at this point. The driving instructor may drive you home dependant on the progress made.

We always recommend a 2 hour lesson for your first driving lesson to give you the most benefit when starting out. This means that you may move on to dealing with basic junctions, looking at how to make left and right turns.

It’s important to remember that every person learns at a different rate, and what one person does in one hour, may take another several hours. Your driving instructor will guide you throughout the learning process, but if at any point you feel you don’t understand the subject and would like the instructor to slow things down a bit then just tell them. Also, if you feel you should be making more progress then also speak to your instructor, they’ll be more than happy to discuss it with you.

At the end of the lesson your instructor will give you a debrief about the learning that you’ve done, as well as setting an agenda for the next lesson with you.

If you’ve got any further questions or would like to book a driving lesson in Stoke then call us today on 01782 906010