Mallyn School of Motoring

Pricing / FAQ

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[ How Much ] [ Discounts ] [How many hours will I need? ] [ Test Costs ]

[ Cancellation Costs ] [ How Do I Pay? ] [ How Old Do I Have To Be? 17 or 18? ]

How much do you charge?

Depends on what your needs are! If you need a full course of lessons and have never driven before, the hourly rate will be less than if you only need a couple of lessons prior to retaking your test, but the overall cost will be more.

At this point, you may be considering the Instructor who has quoted you several pounds an hour cheaper than myself - ask yourself (and them!) why they are cheaper; It may well be because they are a new or a trainee Instructor (PDI), or they have an older & less reliable car.

The purpose of an Instructor is to teach - and also to motivate, and to structure an individual course to the pupil's needs; I will push you forwards with the learning process, not hold you back as some Instructors do. Would you rather do 30 hours with myself at £25/hr, or 50+ hours at £20 an hour with an Instructor who is holding you back in order to maximise their takings?

The Mallyn School of Motoring has been established as an independent school for 3 years, with many pupils, many test passes - and many referrals from satisfied pupils and parents. Prior to setting up my own school I worked fulltime as an ADI for 3 1/2 years with a local independent school, have a good pass rate and knowledge of the local test centres - and also worked as a motorcycle Instructor for 15 years; please view the 'Refs & Links' page for some testimonials from my former pupils.

I took delivery of the new style Fiesta in June 2009, ensuring that my pupils have the most up-to-date car to learn in - but did not increase my prices as a result until the end of the year.

Caveat Emptor - You Get What You Pay For!

How much is an Intensive Course? That's just one week and my test, right?

Once again - it depends on what your needs are! If you have driven previously, the course can be done in 20 hours, if you have not driven before then usually 30 hours. This is commonly structured over a two week period in blocks of 4 hours. The 'classic' Intensive course over one week, with lessons of 6-8 hours per day, rarely leads to a first-time pass when pupils take the test on a Friday afternoon, as they are so tired!

The course will be structured so that at the conclusion of the learning period, a mock driving test is conducted, in good time to either add in more hours before the test or even to move the test back if required without losing the test fee. You can move your test up to 3 working days before the date - on a one-week Intensive then that is not possible; if you are below standard then you either have to cancel and lose your test fee, or take it and hope!

An alternative / compromise route is the semi-intensive; you do a block of lessons, then go away and practice privately, with a second block of lessons coming up to the test once you have passed your Theory.

NB - You MUST pass your Theory Test before you can book the practical test; with a typical 6-9 week wait for practical test dates in Cambridge at present, you ideally need to plan a couple of months ahead for an Intensive course if it is going to take place at the time you would like. You can't just book a week's holiday from work, call up a driving school, do all your lessons the following week and pass! (Because it doesn't work like that...)

See the table below for discount tariffs and test fees - for a 20 hour course plus test, 10% discount for the first ten hours, comes out as follows:

Hours Booked / Driving Status	Discounted Price
20 hours (@ £25 / hr = £500)	£440
DSA practical Test fee (unavoidable!)	£62
2 hours of lesson time on test day (1 hour lesson, then test)	£50
*TOTAL*	*£552*

Do you do discounts? Free first lessons?

Yes. Once again, the amount of discount is dependent on your needs:
Discounts are for everyone, all year round - and I don't need full payment in advance for discounts to be applicable.

See the pricing table below for full details:

If you are booking 10 hours of lessons - a 5% discount applies for the first 5 hours.
If you are booking 20 hours of lessons or more - a 10% discount applies for the first 10 hours.
If you have a card for a free hour, this entitles you to a 2 hour lesson for the price of one hour
If you are a moped (scooter) rider, production of your CBT certificate entitles you to a 2 hour lesson for the price of one hour

Freeloaders please note: Discounts only apply if you complete the course as booked.

i.e. If you book a 20 hour course, take your first lesson with the free hour and then cancel all remaining lessons you will be invoiced for the full cost of your 'free' lesson plus your test fee if one has been booked (£48 + £62 = £110 - an expensive 'free' lesson)!

Hours Booked / Driving Status	Hourly Rate	Discount
1st Lesson (2 hours)	£25	1 hour free
20 hours or more (Novice)	£25	10hrs @ 10%
up to 10 Hours (Fairly Experienced)	£25	5hrs @ 5%
Pass Plus Course (6 hours min.)	£25	£130 flat fee
*Using Own Car for Lessons*	*£22*	£110 flat fee for Pass Plus in own car

If you are obviously at test standard before the end of a course then I will cancel the remaining lessons and refund any money owing - if you need more lessons then I can put your test date back and put in additional lessons as required to give you the best chance of passing.

Any more freebies after that?

Yes. If you recommend someone to me, once they have booked and taken their first lesson you are entitled to a free hour (worth £25) if still learning yourself - and if you have already passed your test, I will drop off an envelope at your house with £20 cash!

How many hours will I need? What will be the overall cost?

The DSA recommends 40+ hours of tuition PLUS private practice before you are ready for your test - many driving schools will book you on that basis, and add in more lessons if you are unable to practice in your own or your parent's car.

These figures are unrealistic, especially when taking an intensive course of lessons; Especially beware the instructor who says 'I can't possibly tell you how many hours you will need' and then books you in for 1 hour a week; it will take you a year to pass your test and will cost you over a thousand pounds!

Every pupil learns at their own speed - and there are many factors that will affect this:

Length of lesson - a longer lesson allows time to cover more, in every way - more subjects, more detail, more miles driven.
Regularity of lesson - taking one lesson a week gives you a whole week to forget things, which a proportion of your next lesson will be spent re-learning - more regular lessons, or an Intensive course over 10 - 14 days typically makes for much faster progress.
Pickup point / travelling time - if you live 30 minutes from Cambridge, 1 hour of your lesson will be spent travelling to and from the city; If we start in the city, your full lesson time will be spent practicing where it counts.
Time of lesson - you will never get as much from a lesson after a full day at work / college, as you will be more tired than by doing a daytime lesson.
Practice between lessons - you will progress much faster if you are practicing in your own or your parents' car between lessons - those who practice the most pass quickest, and pay me the least amount of money!
Previous driving experience - typically a novice who has never driven before will need more hours than someone who has mastered the basic mechanics of driving, or who has spent a year on a scooter or moped.

If you are relatively experienced (e.g. took lessons a while ago and then discontinued driving) then I will do a 2 hour assessment lesson before recommending your course length.

How much will my test cost?

Currently the DSA charge £62 for a weekday test, more (£75) for evening and weekend test times. The Theory Test costs £31.

You can book the test yourself, or I can book it for you at no extra charge

**NB - Beware of websites found from search engines that take you through a seemingly genuine booking procedure and then charge you £20 - £30 more than the test fee for the privilege - you do NOT need to use these sites, you can do it online for no extra charge on the Directgov website, official website is linked from my links page --> HERE <-- **

In addition, if you are taking your test with me there will usually be 2 hours lesson time to pay for on test day - This includes use of car, insurance for the driving test, a 1 hour warm-up lesson before the test, the test itself plus debrief and paperwork (35 - 45 minutes), then time to return you home or to your preferred drop-off point.

Summary version - £62 + (£25 x 2) = £112 in addition to your course fees.

What do I have to pay if I cancel my lesson?

If the lesson is cancelled by telephone, email or text message 48 hours or more before the lesson, or if you have to cancel due to illness or unavoidable personal circumstances - no money is required.

If you cancel between 24 and 48 hours before the lesson - one hour (£25) of lesson time is payable.

If you simply fail to show up for your lesson for no valid reason - the lesson fee may be payable in full;

Freeloaders please note: Discounts only apply if you complete the course as booked, see 'Discounts' above.

How do I have to pay? In full, or as I go along?

Either way is fine - payment for the full course of lessons, or pay-as-you-go.
Payment for the whole course must be completed before the driving test date.

You can pay by cash, by cheque or even by PayPal

Please note: some surcharges may apply if you pay for all of your course by Paypal; ask for details...

How old do I have to be to drive a car? 17 or 18?

You have to be at least 17 years old to drive a car -
for full details on ages for all categories, please click --> HERE

The government is planning changes to the way new drivers train and pass their driving tests, however currently this is at the consultation stage, no new laws have been passed yet! (If you're really worried, you can read the consultation document --> HERE )

Can I take my Theory Test before my 17th Birthday?

No - you can book it @ age 16 once you have your provisional car licence but you cannot take it until you are 17. However - you cannot book your practical test unless you have already passed your Theory Test, you will need to pass it before commencing an Intensive course.

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[ Test Costs ] [ Cancellation Costs ] [ How Do I Pay? ]

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