Don't stall your drive , choose Surepass driving school (Surepass Driving School)

Member Name: abcddcba

Product:	Surepass Driving School
Date:	10/06/09 (172 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: many mentioned in the reveiw

Disadvantages: not that many

Like I had promised here I am with the review of the Driving School that has made learning and passing a harrowing practical test that much easier for me.... Surepass (Chatham branch)

Just to remind you where I was with my last driving school when I opted for this new school... well I had zero percent self-confidence , thanks to the useless pompous first driving instructor I had , zilch experience in reversing and maneuvers after 10 hours of driving lessons and every intention of just forgetting that I ever wanted to learn driving in the first place .

So after a lot of nagging and two months worth of threats from my partner I finally came across what seemed like a somewhat good school that had evening and weekend lesson rates much to my liking.

~~About the school~~

I think the adverb-adjective 'exceptionally good' would about cover it up but then I should write a bit more just because the school has done so much for me.
This is a national school of driving with their headquarters at Swansea.

I got all the information I wanted from their very elaborate yet user friendly internet site www.surepassdrivingschool.com . It has all the useful information regarding lessons and packages , prices and some clips on lessons and hazard perception too. The site has a link that lets you roughly calculate how many lessons you would need taking into account your age and other statistical data.



Their phone number is 0800 08 38 435, Mon-Fri 9am-9pm, sat-sun 9am-5pm . It is good to know they have a free-phone number unlike other schools and private instructors who prefer leaving a mobile number or even sometimes a premium number.

I called up on their free-phone number and the person on the other end took down my phone number and other details and promised to get back in fifteen minutes to let me know if they had someone suitable for me. They came back within ten minutes to confirm that they had found someone for me and the person would give me a ring to arrange for the timings I wanted and the rest . So far they seemed very polite and efficient .

The school likes taking back feedbacks for their driving instructors and the condition of the car etc which is very innovative in my opinion. It asks its students to fill in a leaflet and also if the student wants they can nominate their instructor for the instructor of the year award.

They only appoint top class driving instructors to train their pupil .



~~Payment ,Lesson types and prices~~



The next day I sent in the payment using my credit card via their secure site.. one do this on the phone or even send in a cheque through the post . They rang me back to confirm payment had been received and that the tokens paid per hour were already in the post .

True to their words I received the tokens and loads of information the next day. It seems a student can either directly pay to the driving instructor or pay to the school itself. By doing the former the school would not be liable for any misconduct , for example if the instructor failed to show up on time or did the runners with the money, on part of the instructor, but with the latter the school would safeguard the pupils interest . I opted for the latter as I had already had a past bitter experience of non-refund and did not want it repeated.

About the tokens: in this system the pupil pre-pays the school for a block booking and then they are sent out the tokens as per hour . You just need to hand in the token to your instructor based on how many hour lesson you have taken and they in turn hand in these tokens to get their payment from the school.

They have loads of lesson types both for student training and instructor training.
At the moment they have a scheme where a beginner can have a set of 5 lessons for £49.

An hours tasters lesson or even individual hourly lessons are priced at £ 17.50

A block booking of 10 hours is like £160

A pass plus course can be had for a very minimal pricing of £90

There are more lesson types including intensive blocks and the prices are present on the website, and depends on the area.



~~First day experience with the driving instructor~~


My instructor had picked 9am on a Sunday for my first lesson to see how much I actually knew. At that time on a Sunday roads are relatively quiet in this area.
My instructor turned up at the appointed time . She had texted me on my mobile upon arriving and we maintained this regime for the rest of our course.

She was full of praises and quick at doling out constructive criticism . She gave me a breather every 15 minutes or so of the hour long lesson and this in a way helped me improve upon my parking and moving off .

Soon I wasn't feeling as miserable as I was just prior to the lesson and was feeling happier.

When the lesson ended she asked me how I thought I had done, and honestly I thought that was the best lesson I had had so far . She gave me a small feedback put in the date for the next lesson and I handed her the hours token for the lesson.

~~Furrther help and support from the instructor~~

The driving instructor was very friendly and supporting giving me the right encouragement as and when required and prior to each lesson/maneuver she would show me, through graphic charts and diagrams what we would attempt that day and this made it very easy to remember or recapitulate.

When I joined the school I had only a week to go for the theory exam and though my package did not include any theory- support material the instructor took the pains to make sure I was confident and happy with what I was learning theory -wise .

If I ever felt sick or couldn't make it for the lesson , though the written rules are that I should have let the school/instructor know at least 24 hours in advance , the instructor was happy with a text just an hour before the lesson and has even stopped a lesson while we were halfway through it and didn't take any payment for it. This sort of attitude made me feel cared for and secure. The instructor on her part never missed a lesson and was rarely ever late.

I have to mention here that I always got the hours I wanted during the daytime very easily but spaces were a bit tight in the evenings and weekends. I have even had a lesson as late as 7:20pm in winter. The instructor however made it a point to give her full attention to students nearing tests and pupil on intensive training courses.

When I was comfortable with driving for an hour we mutually agreed to increase the lesson by 15 mins to see how it worked out and by the second lesson I was having an hour and a half lessons , which was essential when I started practicing my maneuvers .

I didn't have to put up with any swearing or cussing from my instructor .




~~Why would I recommend this driving school to others~~


I found the lessons very reasonably priced in comparison with the other schools out in the market ,specially as this a large chain of driving school with loads of students(£17.50 per hr whereas for BSM it is £26 in my area, I was saving at least amount for another 30 mins each time).

The cars are always spanking new diesel Vauxhall corsa (like I have mentioned changed every 6 months or so) and well looked after.

You get picked -up and left off at the place you want, which was very convenient for me. The lessons were one-to-one.

You get adequate support with all test material if you want it.

The passpluss courses are reasonably priced in case you wanted to follow up, I didn't opt for them so I wouldn't know how good they are.

One -to- one attention is provided, helping the instructor to focus on students weaknesses.

I enjoyed my lessons with the instructor and always looked forward for the next one.

The instructor was very busy and at times I did not get the days/time I wanted but this wasn't a very big issue as I had some time on my hand. The instructor makes it a duty to arrange hours for intensive or near-test students though which is reassuring.

When you want to appear for a driving practical test you need to be ready in every sort of way and this school does exactly that . Taking lessons from surepass made it easier for me to pass and I hope this review helps many anxious others out there .

Summary: excellent scool with reasonably priced lessons.