Laura Passes First Time After a Busy Year of Driving Lessons – Learning to drive around medical school, exams and placements
Laura first got in touch with me towards the end of last year. She was a medical student living in the Newington area of Edinburgh and explained from the beginning that her availability could change quite considerably depending on her placements and exams.
We came up with a flexible plan. Whenever Laura was based in Edinburgh and our diaries matched, we’d aim to go out weekly. If a placement meant she disappeared elsewhere for four or six weeks, we’d simply put the lessons on hold and pick things back up when she returned.
With her placements and medical exams organised, we arranged to start driving lessons in January.
Laura had previously taken driving lessons on the outskirts of Glasgow, so she wasn’t starting from the beginning. For our first lesson, we headed to a quieter area where I could get an idea of her existing driving skills.
We started by keeping things relatively straightforward and then gradually increased the difficulty. This is a useful way of assessing someone who has previous driving experience, as it quickly shows what they already do well and highlights any gaps that need attention.
By the end of that first lesson, we had a good idea of where we were starting from and what we needed to work on.
Laura was enthusiastic from the outset, and we began going out weekly. We worked through the driving syllabus while also developing some of the fundamental skills that would give her greater control and confidence.
One of these was clutch control. With Edinburgh’s hills, having really good control of the clutch can make such a difference. Being able to accurately find the biting point allows you to pause, edge forward when necessary and maintain control on uphill junctions rather than feeling rushed.
Living in Newington also meant Laura got plenty of experience with busy Edinburgh driving. Whether we were starting or finishing a lesson there, she regularly had to deal with buses, cyclists, pedestrian crossings, yellow box junctions and heavier urban traffic.
As expected, there were periods when medical exams and placements meant lessons had to stop for a few weeks. We simply worked around them and picked things back up whenever Laura became available again.
In the meantime, Laura managed to secure a driving test for September. Initially it seemed a long way off and we considered whether we might try to find something earlier. As the year progressed, though, the September date actually fitted perfectly around her placements and exams, so we decided to keep it.
At the beginning of the summer, we carried out a mock driving test. It highlighted a few areas that still needed some attention and showed that we weren’t quite ready for the real test yet.
That was exactly what the mock test was there for.
Laura understood the points we discussed, and from there we adopted a useful routine: carry out a mock test, identify the areas that needed improvement, spend some lessons working specifically on them and then do another mock to see how things were progressing.
Each time, the improvement was noticeable and everything gradually started coming together.
As the test approached, Laura also managed to get some additional practice with her dad in a dual-control car. This was back home rather than in Edinburgh, which was actually really useful. It wasn’t about memorising the Currie test area — it was simply more experience of driving independently, adapting to another car and building confidence.
There were also plenty of roundabouts where she was practising, and I could definitely see the benefit when she returned!
One small issue we’d previously identified was that although Laura was generally making good decisions about when it was safe to enter a roundabout, she wasn’t always accelerating positively enough afterwards to match the speed of the traffic.
Once we’d discussed it, Laura put in some focused practice and the improvement was obvious.
Eventually, September arrived and it was time for the driving test.
Laura had arranged time away from her placement for the test, and I picked her up beforehand for one final practice. We drove across Edinburgh and went through everything one last time, including the manoeuvres and an emergency stop.
Everything felt nicely together and Laura was ready.
We arrived at the test centre, headed inside and Laura met her examiner. There wasn’t anything more for me to do other than wait patiently for her to return.
When she came back, I was delighted to hear that Laura had passed her driving test on her first attempt!
A brilliant result after fitting driving lessons around a very busy year of medical exams and placements.
Getting her licence should also be genuinely useful for what comes next. Medical placements aren’t always in the easiest places to reach by public transport, and being able to drive gives Laura much more flexibility. Looking further ahead, once she is fully qualified and deciding where she wants to work, having a driving licence gives her greater freedom when considering jobs and locations.
From weekly lessons to six-week gaps, mock tests, placements, exams and plenty of Edinburgh traffic, Laura kept coming back and making progress.
