Driving is an essential skill to survive in today’s mobile environment. A driver’s licence is a proof of your identity and a badge of independence. With a permit, you can explore more job opportunities and transport family and friends safely.
However, getting a driver’s licence in Australia is not as easy as it used to be. In an article by ABC News, pass rates are falling in Western Australia because of changes in the driving tests and an increase in the required supervised driving hours from 25 to 50 hours.
The best driving schools like Ezlicence is critical to increasing your chances of getting that elusive driver’s licence.
Here are three essential tips for choosing the best driving schools:
They Have the Best Instructors
An excellent driving instructor should be knowledgeable and possess above-average people skills. To learn better, you should be comfortable in asking questions. You may prefer instructors who speak your language to avoid miscommunication.
Your instructor should guide you according to your car’s transmission, automatic or manual. Some instructors can teach with your vehicle. However, this is a good option only if you are familiarising with a new car and only need refresher lessons. Otherwise, use your instructor’s car, which should have dual-control pedals for safety.
If you can find a website of driving schools like EzLicence that shows the real-time schedules of instructors nearest to your home or office, take advantage of their availability. Some schools will allow rescheduling up to five hours before the start of the lesson.
Instructors should be licenced and accredited with the Australian Business License and Information Service (ABLIS). Moreover, they should have passed the National Crime Check to work with children.
Lastly, find instructors with consistently high reviews and read testimonials from their previous students.
They Accommodate Different Learner Drivers
There are different kinds of learner drivers:
- Those who are applying for a licence for the first time
- Those who have failed and need to retake the driving test
- Those with an international permit who need to convert to an Australian state licence
- Those who need refresher lessons after not driving for a long time
In your first lesson, the driving instructor will assess the number of hours you need based on your previous driving experience, how quickly you learn, and how confident you are in facing different driving scenarios.
The best driving schools like EzLicense study the reasons behind the failure rates of their students. For example, those with an international licence expect that 2 to 3 hours of driving instruction is enough. However, based on the high failure rates, the recommendation is at least 3 to 5 hours before taking the test.
They have affordable prices and give bonus logbook hours
Rates depend on the suburb and whether the lessons teach automatic or manual transmission. Most instructors have their own driving school business. Therefore, their rates follow their suburb’s urban living index.
You can also book for a free one-hour driving lesson under the keys2drive government-funded program.
Getting a bonus of logbook hours is another advantage of joining driving schools. Whenever you get driving lessons from instructors in NSW and QLD, you get three hours of driving experience for every one hour of driving instruction. This arrangement gives you the advantage of meeting the minimum logbook requirements in NSW and QLD faster.
To give you the necessary boost before the practical driving assessment, get a pre-test lesson with your driving instructor. By joining a professional driving school, you have the assurance of getting a driver’s licence on your next try.