From School Exams to a First-Time Driving Test Pass for Charlie
Charlie got in touch with me towards the end of his sixth year at school. He was based in the Newington area of Edinburgh and was just coming to the end of his school exams when we started driving lessons.
With Charlie on exam and study leave, we fitted his first few lessons around his remaining exams. He was starting completely from scratch, having never driven before, so on our first lesson we headed to a quiet estate near the Grange to begin with the basics.
We started with getting used to the car, moving off and stopping, before beginning to develop Charlie’s clutch control. We found a useful little lap containing both uphill and downhill junctions and simply went round a few times, giving Charlie the opportunity to repeat the process until everything started to feel more natural.
Charlie was always positive, determined to get things right and good at asking questions if there was anything he wasn’t sure about.
On our second lesson, we spent a little more time consolidating what we’d covered previously. Before long, things were beginning to click and we were able to venture further afield.
We started doing laps around Morningside, which is a great area of Edinburgh for bringing those early driving skills together. Suddenly, the clutch control and hill starts we’d practised on quieter roads had a real-world purpose, with busier junctions, traffic and hills giving Charlie the opportunity to put everything into practice.
From there, we gradually worked our way through the driving syllabus. Each week we’d introduce something new, practise it, consolidate it and then move on to the next stage.
Charlie also had a big advantage when his mum and dad bought a small manual Mini as a second car for the household. This gave him the opportunity to practise between lessons and build on what we’d been working on together.
There was, however, a bit of a deadline.
Charlie was heading off to university at the beginning of September and would be moving from Edinburgh to Glasgow. With the long wait for driving tests, the date he’d managed to secure wasn’t until October.
It wasn’t a complete disaster — Glasgow is close enough that Charlie could have travelled back to Edinburgh for the test — but getting everything finished before he left for university would certainly make life easier.
I kept an eye on the driving instructor groups I use to see whether anyone was looking to swap a test. At the beginning of August, we got lucky. Another instructor had a test towards the end of August and was looking to move it to October.
It was exactly the swap we needed.
Suddenly, Charlie’s test had moved forward and we had around four weeks to get everything finished.
By this stage we’d already carried out a couple of mock driving tests, so we knew exactly what we needed to work on. We completed another mock test, Charlie continued practising with his mum and dad, and our remaining lessons concentrated on bringing together those final details.
When test day arrived, I was extremely confident that Charlie was ready.
I picked him up first thing in the morning and we went out for one final drive before heading to the test centre. After all the lessons, private practice, mock tests and the last-minute change of date, it was finally time for Charlie to head out with the examiner.
And he did exactly what I knew he was capable of doing.
Charlie passed his driving test on his first attempt, getting his licence sorted just before leaving Edinburgh for university in Glasgow.
It was a brilliant way to finish a busy summer. After completing all his school exams, Charlie managed to squeeze in one more exam before heading off to university — this time behind the wheel!
Well done, Charlie, and all the best for university and your driving! 🚗👏
