Pass Plus cost and benefits

For discussion of topics relating to the Driving Standards Agency Learner Test (DSA L Test) and contribution by ADI's (Approved Driving Instructors)

Postby grizzleybear123 » Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:05 pm


Hello,

Just to quickly intro myself, I am a new driver and have just passed my test about 8 days ago. I am trying to get a car, but also trying to do pass plus and experience real man's driving. However, the quote my instructor has given me for that is £170 and he said it's 4 hours driving and 2 hours theory. However, the GOV.UK says that you have to do minimum 5.5 hours of driving in Pass Plus. Even if he offered 5 hours driving and 1 hour theory, would I still be paying a fair price for this pass plus? Even though I have passed, I know that the real challenge comes when I get my car and start driving myself. I just want to know if doing only 4 hours of driving in my pass plus (with 2 hours theory) and then paying £170 for this is any good.

The reason I am posting this here is that I want other ADI's to have a look at it and see whether they think it is fair.

KR,
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Postby Horse » Tue Sep 30, 2014 2:08 pm


Your thread title includes 'benefits'; I'm not sure that there are any proven benefits (to you, not the instructor) from Pass Plus ;)

What do you think you need to change in your driving?
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Postby martine » Tue Sep 30, 2014 2:32 pm


Hi, Welcome and Congratulation!

It's good to see you are looking to continue your training after passing your L-test.

I expect you are referring to this:

https://www.gov.uk/pass-plus/how-pass-plus-training-works

...which suggests 6 hours practical but then waffles a bit.

If you're not sure it's good value then ask around - there are plenty of instructors offering Pass Plus. In my view, any extra training and experience (especially night and motorway) can only be good - so I would encourage you to continue and complete the Pass Plus course. There are some insurers who insist on it being passed within a month of gaining your full licence.

After Pass Plus you could go onto to the IAM or ROSPA advanced courses - they are both extraordinarily good value as your instructor (called an Observer or Tutor) will be a volunteer doing it for the love of spreading good driving.
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Postby ROG » Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:23 pm


A few years ago when PP got lower insurance I had two 17 year old guys who did PP and IAM within a 2 months of passing the basic DSA car test

They both stated that IAM taught them a lot but PP was useless and only good to lower insurance which it does not nowadays as insurers recognised no lower incident rates from those that did PP and those that did not
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Postby ROG » Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:25 pm


Bet if you state your location someone on here will go out with you for free and help you
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Postby Gareth » Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:43 pm


I suppose a useful way to think about it is to ask what extra knowledge and experience will be gained by doing the course offered by your instructor, (or any other instructor, for that matter).

When I was taught our children to drive, I made sure they drove on a variety of country roads rather than mainly in built-up areas. They drove long distances on dual-carriageways, learned to handle short on-slips. They went on single-carriageway A-roads, B-roads, unclassified roads, including single-track lanes.

They drove at night, in bad weather, (wind, heavy rain), and so on. When possible they suffered from screaming kids sitting in the back, so that they would learn how to concentrate even when there were major distractions.

The day one of them passed their test, on the way back from the test centre, we (they) drove on the motorway to learn how it was similar to yet different from dual-carriageways. Another went out by themselves within a day or so of passing their test, on a trumped-up excuse about needing some groceries.

I wanted to make sure they were reasonably well prepared to deal with the typical range of circumstances they would be likely to meet when driving by themselves.

Going back to my opening point; think of all the things you haven't tried, or find difficult or scary, and ask the instructor whether they will be covered in their Pass-Plus course. Ask them what else will be included.
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Postby fungus » Tue Sep 30, 2014 10:23 pm


Four hours extra practical experience isn't going to cover much. The only modules that can be covered in theory IIAC are, Motorways if there is not one near enough to be accessable, and adverse weather. What did you cover in your driving lessons? Was it just town driving, or did you do country A,B, & C class roads including single track road?. Did you do national speed limit dual carriageways, slip roads, approaching roundabouts from 70 mph? Have you done night driving in town and unlit country roads?
Sorry to be blunt, but if you haven't covered any of the above previously, then four hours will be woefully inadequet, and to be honest, hardly worth the cost.
Where I teach, I have access to all the above types of road, and I make sure that my pupils get plenty of experience on them. I therefor find that I usually only need to do a thee hour motorway session post test, but if a pupil wants to do Pass Plus then I am happy to oblige, but I would give more than four hours practical experience.
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Postby martine » Wed Oct 01, 2014 9:51 am


ROG wrote:A few years ago when PP got lower insurance I had two 17 year old guys who did PP and IAM within a 2 months of passing the basic DSA car test

They both stated that IAM taught them a lot but PP was useless and only good to lower insurance which it does not nowadays as insurers recognised no lower incident rates from those that did PP and those that did not

There is at least one insurer that insists on PP within one month of taking out a policy...it might be Ingenie or Marmalade (can't remember).

As with any training, PP usefulness depends on the instructor.
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Postby trashbat » Wed Oct 01, 2014 10:35 am


I did some bastardised version of Pass Plus - basically two hours on a motorway and rural A-road - and found it very useful. To me the certificate was personally worthless but I'm surprised at those implying you won't get much from more tuition. Just being shown how to join a motorway for the first time was worth the money on its own.
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Postby Horse » Wed Oct 01, 2014 12:04 pm


trashbat wrote: Just being shown how to join a motorway for the first time was worth the money on its own.


You don't need a motorway for that, the same principles apply to a busy dual carriageway.
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Postby triquet » Wed Oct 01, 2014 12:12 pm


NSL dual carriageways are actually more stressful than a true motorway. Here ins Oxfordshire / Berkshire we have a number of chunks of busy dual carriageway which will tax a new driver. Features include:

The sudden drop to 50 for no obvious reason :cry:
The slow agricultural vehicle :shock:
The people who are still convinced that NSL is 60 on non-motorway dc's 8)
Very short on and off ramps :o
The occasional junction on the flat (truly scary) :mrgreen:

Deal with this lot and motorway is a doddle.
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Postby Slink_Pink » Wed Oct 01, 2014 12:13 pm


As the cost is a key driver in the decision - look into whether or not your local council will help. Some will fund up to 100% on successful completion. Very much depends where you live though.
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