How much does it cost to learn to drive?

Lessons, licence applications, learning materials, insurance... When you’re learning to drive it can be difficult to keep a track of all the costs involved. 

To help you budget for learning to drive, we’ve researched the rates and tallied up the total to give you a rough guide to learner driver expenses.

1. Applying for a provisional licence

Your first step to getting on the road is applying for a provisional licence. 

It costs £34 to apply online or £43 if you apply by post. For the purpose of saving money, we’ll use the online cost for our running total.

Running total: £34

2. Driving lesson cost

What's a good price for learning to drive?

The average person needs around 45 hours of driving lessons and a further 22 hours of practice before they are ready for a practical test.

The cost of lessons varies depending on where you live, but a good price for a driving lesson could be roughly £25-£30 per hour. You could make a saving here through introductory or package rates.

A good instructor will also let you know if you’re ready for your practical test before you’ve had 45 hours of lessons. So that’s good news if you have a family member or friend that can take you out for additional practice.

If we take the top end of the estimate at £30 an hour over 45 lessons, that’s £1,350 added to our costs.

Running total: £1,384

Looking to teach someone to drive? check out our guide.