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Where should I be after 6 driving lessons?

I've currently done 6 1 hour driving lessons and I think I'm really falling behind. I'm extremely nervous and I find myself forgetting what to do. We've just done emerging and turning left and right as well as cross roads and crossing paths. I'm not very good at doing any of them but that's the stage I'm on. I'm still stalling a lot when i'm starting up and I take quite a long time to start the car moving as I usually stall first time. Is this normal at this stage?

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Reply 1
Sitting bEhind the wheel, hopefully!
Original post by Future-doc
Sitting bEhind the wheel, hopefully!


I sometimes sit in front of it on the dashboard but my driving instructor said that I wouldn't be able to reach the clutch. In all seriousness though, does it sounds like I'm on track?
Reply 3
Original post by IcedTea&PotNoodle
I've currently done 6 1 hour driving lessons and I think I'm really falling behind. I'm extremely nervous and I find myself forgetting what to do. We've just done emerging and turning left and right as well as cross roads and crossing paths. I'm not very good at doing any of them but that's the stage I'm on. I'm still stalling a lot when i'm starting up and I take quite a long time to start the car moving as I usually stall first time. Is this normal at this stage?


That's pretty normal for 6 lessons, everyone learns at different rates don't try and rush yourself and you will end up a better driver in the long run. Everyone is nervous to start off with! I hated every single driving lesson I had but still passed first time after about 25 lessons
:smile:
Reply 4
Original post by IcedTea&PotNoodle
I sometimes sit in front of it on the dashboard but my driving instructor said that I wouldn't be able to reach the clutch. In all seriousness though, does it sounds like I'm on track?


I don't know, I am 17 in July, so only starting to learn then!
Good luck though!
who is your instructor, just wondering?
Reply 5
There is no should in driving. Some people learn very quickly, whilst others take a long time. I took 6 months to pass, whilst I have friends who have taken over a year.
Try not to focus on other people; focus on yourself. For all you know you might just be a bit slow in starting, but once you have the hang of it you might progress really quickly.
Everyone is different, no need to worry :smile: Just get the basics right, then go from there.
My sixth lesson is this week and I'll be doing pedestrian crossings.
A friend of mine did his second manoeuvre on his 7th lesson :redface:
(edited 10 years ago)
There isn't a particular 'progress chart' to measure yourself against, because as people have already said everyone goes at their own pace. You could possibly spend ages learning something, then with something else you'll pick it up almost instantly, either way it doesn't matter as long as you're learning.

Myself personally after 6 lessons i was pretty crap at driving, my turns were almost every time too wide, i stalled a lot too. but eventually i picked it up, I started lessons in August and passed in December, i though my progress at first was slow but i honestly didn't care I didn't tell anyone about doing my lessons so no-one ever asked about my progress so i just went along with it. I wouldn't think too much about your progress compared to other people, as long as your learning and practicing it'll all come to you in your own time :smile:
Reply 8
I think the thing you need to remember is this is a completely new skill and you're trying to learn so many different things at once it's not surprising if you forget to do something while thinking of something else. Also people learn at different rates so you shouldn't feel bad whatever stage you're at. As for stalling, it's something everybody does at first so definitely don't worry about it, the first lesson you don't stall will feel great but don't worry if it doesn't happen for a while.
I think the majority of people don't handle junctions and roundabouts at first. Lucky for me I'm a natural at foot controls, hardly stalled at all in my initial lessons and picked up all of the manoeuvres really quickly, but when it came to junctions and roundabouts I was still making mistakes after my 30th hour. But after a total of 35 hours of lessons and 2 test fails, I passed with just 1 minor. The point I'm making is, don't dwell on how well you think you're progressing. You might feel like you're just not picking something up, but one day it'll just click in and become automatic to you. If you have a good instructor, they'll notice that a particular thing needs work and will work on it until you get it. That will be later on in your lessons of course.
Reply 10
It totally depends on the person! Remember the average is something like 48 hours before you sit your test, and I know a few people that did just that.

I booked my test after 7 lessons, but I was doing a lot of driving in my own time in my own car (with my mum in the passenger seat) so I had a lot more than 7 hours behind the wheel at that point.

Don't compare yourself to other people, practice as much as you can, and if you think things are moving a bit too slow then tell your instructor - doesn't hurt to ask :smile:
Reply 11
Everyones different i passed first time after 22 hours but my bro only took 13 hacing said that i was still making some errors afrer 18 hours

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Reply 12
Having not hacing

Posted from TSR Mobile
6 lessons = 6 hours? :smile:

I was such a slow learner, honestly :3 I would probably be where you are now at my 6th lesson; it took me ages and ages to just get the hang of the car. It varies with everyone, don't worry about it!
I have a bad habit of asking my instructor whether I'm at the stage I should be, and she's really reluctant to tell me but when I have a mini-breakthrough in my driving, like getting over a case of nerves on something, she'll go OTT with the praise and tell me that she has experienced pupils who have trouble with it, or whatever. :o: She's really nice and I think she's learned how to get the most positive feeling from me, which is great.

As everyone else has said, everyone's different. The people in your school classes were always on a sliding scale of ability, so why not in driving, too?
Reply 15
I've just finished 7 hours, I'm at about the same stage. My driving instructor has done T junctions & crossroads with me but we've not done maneuvers like turning in the road yet. He said this way I will quickly learn to drive on the road comfortably (which I can - just). This will help me get over my nerves and I can learn much more quickly then. Do you think you are behind? I actually feel really proud of myself! It takes a bit of practice to get used to the controls (i.e. the sensitivity of the pedals) but I think once that's clicked after a few more hours, then I'll be able to storm through the rest of the lessons. I assume it's the same for you, more than the road signs/ rules it's the control of the car? I think once you have your clutch control down (maybe after attempting hill starts) your learning will speed up. I don't see any stumbling blocks after that, everything else seems just like going through the motions :smile:

how long were you expecting it to take? And how often are you having lessons? I'm having 2-3 a week and most of the time having 1.5 hour lessons. After a break of just 6 days I thought I'd actually forgotten quite a bit and was nervous getting behind the wheel again. But getting back in after 2-3 days I felt quite comfortable to start where we left off, perhaps something to think about!
Original post by helenrs
I've just finished 7 hours, I'm at about the same stage. My driving instructor has done T junctions & crossroads with me but we've not done maneuvers like turning in the road yet. He said this way I will quickly learn to drive on the road comfortably (which I can - just). This will help me get over my nerves and I can learn much more quickly then. Do you think you are behind? I actually feel really proud of myself! It takes a bit of practice to get used to the controls (i.e. the sensitivity of the pedals) but I think once that's clicked after a few more hours, then I'll be able to storm through the rest of the lessons. I assume it's the same for you, more than the road signs/ rules it's the control of the car? I think once you have your clutch control down (maybe after attempting hill starts) your learning will speed up. I don't see any stumbling blocks after that, everything else seems just like going through the motions :smile:

how long were you expecting it to take? And how often are you having lessons? I'm having 2-3 a week and most of the time having 1.5 hour lessons. After a break of just 6 days I thought I'd actually forgotten quite a bit and was nervous getting behind the wheel again. But getting back in after 2-3 days I felt quite comfortable to start where we left off, perhaps something to think about!


Hi, I've now done my 18th hour and things are definitely picking up. I still feel like i'm a bit behind but I feel a lot more comfortable on the road. I have one two hour lesson a week which is enough for me. I was hoping to be done in about 35 hours but I think i might have to take about 40 hours considering the point I'm at. I've been focusing on dual carriageways, bay parking, overtaking and reversing over my last few hours but I'm a long way off my being ready to take my test.
Reply 17
I've done 11 hours, and my weakest thing is general observation which is probably the most concerning ha! I've done bay parking and turns in the road, will start doing two hour lessons a week now though to speed things up a bit.

I still guess a bit when it comes to setting off, I find doing hill starts with the handbrake so much easier than just starting off for some reason. If in doubt, just hit the gas!
Hey guys, thought I'd let you know I decided to call it a day after 20 hours of lessons. I don't think I'm in the right state of mind to learn at the moment. Only just started reverse parking and i'm atrocious at it. Feel like I've wasted 400 quid to be honest. I'm going to wait until i'm ready to learn and then go back to it.
Original post by IcedTea&PotNoodle
Hey guys, thought I'd let you know I decided to call it a day after 20 hours of lessons. I don't think I'm in the right state of mind to learn at the moment. Only just started reverse parking and i'm atrocious at it. Feel like I've wasted 400 quid to be honest. I'm going to wait until i'm ready to learn and then go back to it.


At the end of the day, you know yourself best.

I would urge you to stick with the learning process.It takes a while to pick up this (expensive) driving skill. I suspect you are just like me.It takes a lot longer to master the controls and gear changes whilst seamlessly driving in traffic and paying attention to the road traffic. I've been learning since last October and only just plucked up the courage to have my driving test in 2 weeks time. I was ready to call time in December last year after only 14 hours (or 7 lessons). I was distraught and besides myself with my lack of progress. Totally sick with shame and disgust at my failure to stop the car from stalling repeatedly and not being able to do simple things like left and right turns.

Its literally only today (after about 50 hours) where I feel confident in joining and entering roundabouts without hesitating. I am still very shaky with reverse round a corner though.

Some people take only 20 hours,I needed at least 25 two hour lessons.By test date I will have had 28 lessons @ 2 hours with an hour for practise before test.Makes my head and wallet shudder just thinking bout it. Try to forgo the feeling of dread.Don't compare yourself with others. Talk to your instructor about this.No doubt he will have come across this before.

Then again like I said, you know what your head and heart want better than anyone else. Best wishes in your decision.

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