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It's time. This time it really, really is time. I presume I can get driving lessons during work time; I need to do the COA on my license.

Any recommendations for driving schools/teachers in Cambridge?

I've had a dozen lessons in 1990 and again in 2000; circumstances (and lack of enthusiasm) stopped me getting as far as a test. I passed the theory test a few years ago but it's expired now. I'm okay pootling on traffic-free roads but poor at judging my space/position. I am vg at turn-in-the-road and vb at reversing. N is happy to put me on her car's insurance and take me to practice manouevring after I've had some lessons.

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There are 26 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

がんばって！

Now you need to find the perfect userpic for all future posts concerning driving.

Definitely;

frandowdsofa has a good one too.

There is plenty of good icon source-material on http://carfail.com/
Beware if squeamish that there are some pictures on that site of the "nobody could possibly have walked away from that" variety.

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I thought I'd go for something more Marge Simpsony...

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I had good experiences with BSM, both when learning to drive and when refreshing my knowledge.

(S)

Seconded. In both Manchester and Bristol.

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I had a very mixed experience with BSM. The quality of the instuctors is variable, but if you don't get on with one they're very good at sorting you out with another. And they're very convenient and organised.

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Ditto (to 'mixed experience') in Cambridge and Oxford. In theory it's useful to have a central office looking after the timetables; in practice one instructor ended up postponing alternate lessons at short notice.

That may not seem helpful advice, but in the absence of any other way to distinguish the 85 driving schools Yell finds in Cambridge, at least BSM offers a pool of instructors.

Good luck! (I have my third test in four weeks' time...)

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And their instructors won't be slightly odd blokes who make you drive out to the edge of town then sit for 15 minutes while they disappear off and return with a load of planks!

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Good luck to both of you!

I too mostly had lessons with BSM, and found that I had better results when I had an instructor I got on with. Though this may have been partly because I was very stressed at work during the time I was trying with the instructor I didn't like.

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Ditto. I've been putting off getting my photocard done for months (ugh, cameras). Lessons during work time?

I've been putting off doing my photocard since 1999 I think :-)
That's the first thing that needs to happen, then I can get a theory test booked again...

Yes, lessons at lunchtime, possibly taking a slightly earlier/later lunch, so I can drive in the daylight and when I'm not knackered in the evenings? I'd find it difficult to commit to regular weekend lessons.

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Don't forget you can be having lessons before you've got the theory under your belt again. It might actually help to be a bit more in practice in terms of passing the hazard perception bit, which is presumably new since last time? Or maybe not, I did it twice, so it must have been around for at least 4 years now. Hmm, no, it wasn't around the first time I did the theory and that was more like 2001.

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Ah, I'd heard mutterings about instructors wanting you to pass the theory test before you sit in a car, but I guess this hasn't become widespread. I've not done the hazard perception test before!

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I suppose it's possible some instructors feel like that. If you're worried ring them and ask!

http://www.bsm.co.uk/learning-to-drive/lessons/taking-lessons/honing-your-skills.htm

This bit of their webpage seems to agree with me though :-)

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Ah, that would mean taking a proper lunch break. I wonder if driving instructors would come out to Harston.

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Is a photocard strictly necessary? I got a paper provisional licence in 1995 and only replaced it because, valid or not, the last thing I wanted was any trouble on the day of the test...

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I sent off my paper provisional licence in I think 1999 for a COA; the DVLA retained it and asked me for a photo application form. A year ago I contacted them and they still have it, still waiting for my photo!

> Is a photocard strictly necessary?
From The Official DSA Guide to Learning To Drive (2007):
When you arrive at the test centre you need to have with you
* your provisional driving licence - if you have a photocard licence you must bring both parts with you
* your theory test pass certificate
* your passport, if your licence doesn't show your photograph

So, apparently not!

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Yeah, you don't need one but if you've changed address you do need to have it updated (£1000 fine potentially!), and as you've discovered they won't update licences now without replacing them with photocards.

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I reccomend Paul Pickett, trading as "Style Driver Training" - relaxed, friendly yet sharp style, good at building people's confidence.

I can offer no useful advice. I got my license three years ago but have rarely driven since. Instead, I just become more and more attached to my bicycle.

Me too, except it was ... 12 year ago!

Cycling is like having seven league boots ;-)

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I don't know about Cambridge but can offer loads of general advice if you want it. Like, only do it when you can afford it cos you will get rusty if you break off for more than a week. And do the IAM course afterwards, I did that after my regular test and it was that which really made me a proper / better driver, and also brought the insurance cost down as well. Made me confident that I can drive, after lots of stabs at it several years apart.

I learnt with BSM, and they were great. Much better than the various local schools I'd used in different places. The guy worked out that I get very stressed and used to play all kinds of music to make me laugh / try to guess who it was / whatever - anything to help. He was ace. Big guy with skinhead and tattoos all over. :)

Oh - and if you are practising in someone else's car, agree signals before you set out.

Mike and I had a hairy moment discovering that "Go!" and "No!" sound very similar. Agree some key words that sound distinctive.

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thank you -a good thought !

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Comletely unrelated, but I saw this and thought you'd appreciate it:
http://community.livejournal.com/lolbrarians/23995.html

Oh, I do! Thanks :-)

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April