Early starts, focused practice, and a calm test-day drive
Michael, based in the Morningside area of Edinburgh, got in touch about learning to drive at the end of last year. He’d previously taken lessons elsewhere in the city and had done some extra practice with his old landlord, so we had a useful base to build on. With his test planned for the Currie test centre, we set a routine that worked for both of us: Tuesdays, 7–9am, before he started work.
We began by tightening up clutch control—especially at junctions and during low-speed manoeuvring. After a few sessions the coordination clicked, and from there his progress accelerated. Each week we followed a clear plan and steadily worked through the rest of the syllabus.
Once the fundamentals were consistent, we introduced mock driving tests. The first mock produced a long, honest checklist—exactly what we needed. Every three or four lessons we ran another mock, used it to target the next set of refinements, and watched the standards rise. Motivation stayed high because the improvements were obvious.
Finding an actual test slot was the hard part, but Michael was fortunate to secure a September cancellation we could both make. On the day, we met early for a final drive around Currie. He was composed and tidy, so we headed in. About 45 minutes later he returned with good news: he’d passed, and the examiner described it as an excellent drive.
Well driven, Michael—now for the road trips and adventures that come with the licence.
