Private practice

What is private practice?

Private practice is any driving a learner does outside of lessons with a trained driving instructor.

The Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recommends at least 47 hours of driving lessons and 22 hours of private driving practice before test time.

Why driving practice is so important

Learner drivers typically do their driving lessons at the same time each week. Say that's 10am on a Saturday morning; your son or daughter is going to learn how to drive at 10am on a Saturday morning.

They won't be learning how to drive in the dark or in weekday rush hour traffic. If - like many young drivers - they learn to drive in one season, they may not experience driving in ice, in fog or in heavy rain until they're on their own.

This is where you come in. The help you can give them is taking the knowledge they get from their trained driving instructor and applying it to real world situations. Although you shouldn't be teaching them anything new, you can support them as they encounter new driving environments.

The rules

Understandably, as a learner can't be responsible for safety yet, there are some rules for how private practice is conducted.

1. Provisional insurance

   The learner needs provisional insurance - yours won't cover them unless you add them to your policy.

   Check out our Learner insurance to get driving practice cover (and protection for your NCD!) from just [cgv learner_quotes_start_from_txt]* per day.

   *Average daily price based on all policies sold between [cgv learner_sp_dates_discount_txt]

2. Supervising driver

   The supervising driver must have held a full licence for 3 years or more and be at least 21 years old.

   Note: they'll need to be aged 21-75 with ingenie Learner insurance.

   The supervising driver must not be over the drink drive limit and must not use a phone - the same rules apply to them as if they were actually driving the car.

3. The car

   The car must have L-plates on the front and back.

Get more information about doing private practice.

 

How to approach private practice

Private practice is just that: practice. It isn't about learning new skills - that's best left for driving lessons with an instructor. Once their instructor says they're ready, you can start taking your child out to go over what they've learned so far.

It can be pretty nerve-racking at first (your child! Driving a car!) so start slow. Finding an empty car park at a quiet time of day is a good place to begin as there will be fewer other drivers to worry about. They can show you the basic moving off and pulling over processes, which will help you both relax.

Updated: 3rd Nov 2020