What is the cost of the lesson

How much do ESL lessons cost? How are they priced?

I am writing this post on how much ESL lessons cost from the perspective of the service provider, not the receiver. What I want to do in this post is to discuss a few of the elements that go into the lessons and what they ultimately have to cost.

We will start with individual and private one-to-one lessons.

Individual ESL lessons and private lessons

Most ESL teachers offer one-on-one ESL lessons. The number of variables is huge though. Let’s break it down into two types first. A company that provides ESL teachers or individual ESL teachers working alone. Then break it up into online teaching or face-to-face teaching. Next thing to look at is whether you are talking about one-to-one classes or group classes.

Individual, one-to-one, private ESL lessons through a company

Learning English through a company is probably the most popular way to learn English. There are thousands of companies out there to choose from, Berlitz, British Council, Inlingua, International House, and Wall Street are big ones with branches all over the world.

I am going to state the obvious here. I am not sure what every company is charging for their ESL courses. What I will do, is have a look at the pricing of courses with some well-known and popular companies according to their websites and client reviews.

First off, Berlitz. The courses discussed here will probably use the conversational Berlitz Method®. For other methods and approaches to ESL teaching make sure you check out my other post.

Please do let me know if my math is off, or that I am doing Berlitz some grave injustice by making some error in my calculation with regard to their pricing of ESL courses.

Next up, let us look at Inlingua.

Wall Street is one of those places that likes you to come in before they give you prices. This is because they need you in the office to make the pitch. If you are not in front of them you might just hang up the phone and not listen to the sales pitch. They don’t want to have you on the phone because they know they are likely to lose you on the call when you faint. When someone faints on a call, it is very hard to continue the sales pitch when you are semi-dazed.

All the websites are pretty standard and ask to fill in a form so that you can come in and get the pitch. Published pricing is a little hard to find. In Thailand, the Wall Street franchise is owned by Wave Entertainment, which is weird, but was the best option for them after they got unceremoniously dumped by Pearson. Wave Entertainment releases an Annual Report, and based on that annual report we can get some averages…

Individual, one-to-one, private ESL lessons with a freelance teacher

Group Classes with a company

Online Courses with a company

Wall Street does manage to come in lower than that. However, if you look at the business model, it will become immediately apparent that there isn’t actually that much face-time with a teacher. Around 90% of learners time at Wall Street (and other language centres too, not just WSE, but using WSE as an example here) will be spent on a computer in the centre.

They have personal tutors (usually locals, not foreigners, aka Native Speakers) helping, but essentially it will be 90% of the learners time in front of a computer. Then they will book an Encounter. During the Encounter and have what they did online and their workbook “tested” in a 4 person class with a teacher. Actually, facetime is not that high. In many ways reflects the sort of thing that makes the online businesses of many of the big language centres so profitable.

Wall Street uses the Wall Street Channel, which is group Webex conferencing for their online offering. Generally, this is an add-on to contracts, but can also be a stand-alone thing that the salespeople will sell in blocks of 10, 20 or 30 hours. Content is very GE, at least in Thailand. I am not too sure what the offering is in China. From what information that is available online, it’s pretty much the same GE stuff.

Company Pricing of ESL Courses

When you have done an analysis of various courses, it will turn out that the best format for the learner will be a short and sweet course. Most vendors/service providers try to get clients to subscribe to their service for a year. Or they will sell courses 30, 60, 90, 120-hour blocks. For them, that’s great. It will go a long way to ensure the doors stay open if enough of those big contracts are sold. The longer the course, the less specific it will be. The high-value courses will be custom and short. These courses will not be cheap.

If you are a service provider not working to a specific method (let us assume you are a one-man/woman band), then you will be designing a course specifically based on what the NA revealed about the client needs.

Unless you have a low-level client that needs a GE course, this should be doable in 8, 90-minute sessions without a sweat. This keeps the pricing you need to apply to the course down so you can get the sale. It is also of tremendous value for the client, which is how it should be. Let’s do some pricing.

That should price out a competing business. Given their additional overheads and the fact that they have to do the same calculation, but include various other factors which increase their price. In most instances, a competing business would very likely triple that price. That makes a lot of sense, for reasons beyond what the scope of this post is. The thing to remember with pricing is that price equals perception. A low price is very often perceived as low value and a high price as high-value. That has a lot of influence on how much ESL courses cost.

The issue is that it costs a load of money to get 20 people to each to buy a contract. The Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is something that many ESL managers do a very poor job at calculating. Getting even 1 client is difficult to do. Getting 20 to start at exactly the same day and time that is convenient for your business is really, really hard to do. You also need factor in the marketing dollars or the overheads over the time period it takes to get 20 people into a classroom consistently.

If you are involved in selling courses, do not go crazy with your discount. Have a look at your actual costing, including the overheads involved to get those butts in the seats. Do not price it so low that you are haemorrhaging money and just praying you get enough people into the class. The truth is, you very likely will not.

Pricing ESL Online Courses

I went into the pricing of online ESL courses in another post about the cost of ESL courses, so will not be going into that here. Suffice to say that every company has an online class on offer, either as group or individual. Individual classes are rarer with companies though. The reason being is that they have to squeeze as much teaching time with as many full fee-paying participants at once as they can.

Companies offering online ESL courses are very creative when it comes to time allocation of the sessions. Often they are intentionally vague with regard to what online sessions actually are. Here is an example.

A company advertises a 30-hour online course with adaptive learning. It also includes the immediate assessment of quizzes and face to face teaching in every unit. What they won’t say is how long the face to face “teaching” is. They do not say a few things…

Firstly, the one to one teaching session may only be 15 minutes long. It happens all the time that the actual teaching sessions are short. If the sessions are longer, then the price will be really similar to the non-online session. The reason is that the teacher still devotes the same time to the participant. It is about the time, regardless of whoever it’s online or physically in the same room. If the price is a lot lower, look at how long the sessions are.

Secondly, the teaching may be more general than specific. Instead of the teaching being informed by individual participant needs, the lessons are just GE lessons based on a one size fits all model. These aren’t great. They do not give a lot of value to the participants.

Thirdly, online face to face sessions may (usually do) have more than 2 faces. Often 4 to 15 participants take part in online sessions. Wall Street’s Channel, for example, does that sort of thing. Often there may actually be 10 participants online at the same time for 1 teacher.

Lastly, it is also worthwhile to find out who is actually doing the online face-to-face sessions. While advertising is likely to show a young white man or woman, professionally dressed, with a huge unsettling smile on their face, this is very unlikely to be the case in the class. The reason is that those people are very expensive. Instead, it is more likely that the company doing online training will have hired Filipino teachers or people working part-time from home.

Teachers from lower-income countries like the Philippines are a lot more popular though, as the companies typically only need to pay these teachers around 5 dollars an hour. As companies that provide online ESL teaching tend to charge in the 60-100 dollar an hour range, only paying a Filipino teacher 5 bucks an hour makes a lot of sense for profitability.

Talking of the cost of education

Ivanov: Is the cost of education very high?

Barbara: It has actually tripled within last twenty years or so. A student’s expenses usually include housing, because many students live away from home, food, books, and personal expenses and of course the tuition fees, which is what one pays to enroll in courses. That’s why a lot of students, for the most part unskilled, are in need of jobs to be able to continue their education. So they’re a good supply of cheep labor. And when you can get a job, the wages are usually not high, both on and off campus.

Ivanov: It must be very hard for the family budget.

Briggs: It sure is. Education is very expensive in the USA. However, we believe it to be a good investment for a lifetime.

Ivanov: Do students usually live on campus?

Barbara: Yes, most of them live in dormitories, “dorms” for short. For those who do not, the housing situation is hard because the rent is constantly on the rise.

Ivanov: What kind of financial assistance can be offered to students?

Donald: A student can be offered a loan. This must be repaid with interest after the student leaves the school. Then there’re grants that are awarded to needy students and they don’t have to be repaid. Many students get financial aid.

Ivanov: Is academic performance taken into consideration in awarding grants?

Donald: Not usually. But there’re also scholarships, which are awarded for academic excellence as a rule. Barbara’s got a scholarship. In Graduate School, the graduate students involved in research projects usually get fellowships.

Memorize and reproduce Dialogue 3.

Make up and act dialogues considering the following assignments.

1. You talk to your American counterpart about the cost of education in the USA and Russia.

2. You are at the English lesson. Your teacher asks you about different types of sums of money paid to support American students during their study at colleges or universities (a grant, a scholarship, a fellowship).

LISTENING

Listen to the Text “Instruction Conducted at Colleges and Universities”.

a) Answer the following questions.

1. Who provides instruction in American colleges and Universities?

2. What is the aim of instruction?

3. How are computers used for instruction?

4. What is a specific feature of recent decades at American colleges and universities?

5. Do levels of teaching differ in colleges and universities?

6. What universities have the largest campuses?

7. What are the leading universities?

8. What schools can be referred to as research universities?

9. What are minor universities like?

10. What stages does the American system of higher education include?

b) Read Tapescript 12A of the Text. Look up the words you do not know in your dictionary.

c) Retell the Text about instruction conducted at colleges and universities of the United States of America.

d) Compare the ways of instruction provided at American higher educational institutions with those of Russia.

Listen to the Text “Harvard University”.

a) You will hear some numbers in the Text. Write them down and say what these numbers refer to.

b) Check your answers with your groupmates and Tapescript 12B of the Text.

c) Retell the Text.

UNIT 1

Student life

After passing the entrance examinations your student life begins.

Oleg Petrov was accepted to the Belgorod State Technological University two and a half years ago. Now he is a third-year student at the mechanical engineering faculty. He stays at the hostel in Kostyukov Street.

Oleg is a full-time student, that is he attends classes and lectures in the daytime, whereas the University accepts a lot of young people for the correspondence course.

Petrov is a diligent student; he tries hard not to miss his classes or lectures. While in the third year he is doing quite a number of subjects. Oleg is good at Strength of Materials and Mathematics. He has passed quite successfully the winter end-of-term tests and examinations.

Petrov is in the habit of doing his homework in the University library reading room. He is a great book-lover and usually borrows magazines and fiction literature from the library. As the librarians always insist on books being returned in time, Oleg never breaks the rule.

Recently Petrov has become very interested in computers. As soon as a chance came about, he went to see some new types of computers that had been installed at the University computer center. He is also very keen on experimenting in the field of modern mechanical engineering facilities in big industrial cities in Russia.

There are a lot of serious problems to tackle here and a lot of technical books to read. Oleg is eager to get down to business, that’s why he has of late joined the scientific club at his faculty. He will surely make a very good researcher in the near future.

The student Rob Fellows

Hello! My name’s Rob Fellows. I come from Dundee, a town on the east coast of Scotland, but I’m a student at Durham University, in the north of England. I’m studying French and German, and I can speak the languages quite well. I also know a little Spanish, so I can speak four languages. I’m enjoying the course a lot, but it’s very hard work!

I live in Durham Castle, because the Castle is part of the University, with about thirty other students. The course started two years ago, and I’m in my third year. After the course, I’m going to work in France, but I don’t know where yet.

How Much Do Golf Lessons Cost – Prices

You may not be the next Tiger Woods, but you can still take your golf game to new highs (or lows!) when it comes to improving your score with the help of a trained golf professional. When you invest in golf lessons, whether one-on-one or in a group or class setting, you can work to sharpen your technique and your skills, and hopefully you will find yourself playing even better on the course than you ever have before.

Improving Your Game

The popularity of golf has grown in leaps and bounds since Tiger Woods joined the professional circuit, and today, more people than ever want to learn how to play this challenging, and also very rewarding, sport. Whether you are a new golfer who wants an overview on the in’s and out’s of how to play, or whether you are an experienced golfer looking for tips on how to shave points off of your competitive game, the odds are you will benefit from taking some private golf lessons, or at least from participating in a larger golf class or golf school setting.

Teaching Professionals

While you may watch the top golfers on television competing in major tournaments held around the world, they represent only a small, and very elite, portion of the field. Many other professional golfers compete in local tournaments and spend the rest of their time teaching others the nuances of the game. You can find these teaching professionals through golf courses, golf schools and even offering lessons through some local driving ranges. Many golf instructors have been trained by the Professional Golf Association (PGA) or have completed a similar golf certification course.

An article in Golf Digest several years ago estimated that as many as 32,000 golf courses exist in the world, and half of them are located right here in the U.S. With so many venues out there, that means that likely there is at least a golf course or two (or maybe even more) in close proximity to where you live. That’s a good place to start if you want to get some extra help with your game. You can also look in the phone book for local golf schools and driving ranges that offer golf lessons. While taking these lessons doesn’t come cheap and often also requires a real time commitment, the investments can be well worth it if it helps you to play more competitively.

What It Costs

If you want to sign up for golf lessons, it helps to start by having a budget in mind and an idea of how much time you will devote to this endeavor, since lessons come in many formats and sizes. You can commit to personalized lessons over a period of time, or you can take a class that spans several months, or even participate in a destination golf school/vacation. The choice is yours.

Just remember that the more time and money you put into this sport, the more you can expect to get back out of it.

Individual Lessons

Private lessons are a great way to work on your game and improve all aspects of it over time. Depending on your capabilities and experience, during a private lesson you might work on your swing, perfect your putt and practice chipping under different conditions. Some instructors also video tape players and analyze their swings to help them improve their play. Private lessons can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, and they can take place as often, or as infrequently, as you want. The price can span a wide range, depending on the qualifications and experience the teaching professional brings, as well as the setting where the lessons are held. Exclusive private courses will charge more for lessons than a municipal course that is less expensive and more accessible to the public.

Some facilities also offer discounts if you purchase a package of lessons (typically six or more) and pay for them up front. (For instance, you may get six lessons for the price of five if you pay for the total session in advance, or perhaps 10 to 20 percent off of the total.) Keep in mind, though, that there is often a time limit within which these lessons must all be used, so find out up front what conditions apply and make sure you can commit to the terms before you go this route.

It is also worth pointing out that some lessons may include the balls you use during the lessons, while other golf courses require participants to purchase a bucket of balls. This varies from place to place.

Group Lessons

Some teaching professionals also offer group lessons. The key to these is finding a group with other participants that are at a similar ability level as you are so you will get the most out of the time you spend together. You can take a group lesson with just one or two other people or can opt to be part of a larger group or five or six people. The more people you have in the group, the more time you can expect to be spent on more general information and the less time that will be focused on your specific needs and skills. That being said, though, it can still be a very valuable experience and is a less expensive way to go.

Group lessons generally cost less than personalized training, since several of you are contributing toward the cost of the instructor’s time.

Like individualized lessons, people generally take group lessons on a regular basis. (Such as once every week, or every other week, over a six month period.) However, it is worth noting that some people sign up for individual or group golf lessons to address one specific problem (such as slicing their swing), and don’t care to continue once this is corrected.

The benefit is that you can always opt for a refresher lesson every once in a while so you can try to maintain the progress that you made. This is particularly important to know this support exists should your problem return in the future.

Playing Lessons

Most individual lessons take place on the driving range or the putting green, so you can work on different aspects of your game. But when you are ready to hit the fairway, you may want to consider investing in playing lessons. In playing lessons, you pay for an instructor to accompany you out on the golf course and give you specific tips on your playing technique and help you hone in your strategy. You can sign up for individual playing lessons, or share such a session with one other person. This later option isn’t a bad idea for several reasons. First, it helps to reduce the cost, since hiring an instructor to join you on the course can be expensive. Second, it is also good practice to play with another golfer.

Golf Schools

If you can’t make an ongoing commitment to taking golf lessons on a regular basis, the next best thing might be attending a golf school. Many golf schools offer short-term intensive programs or clinics that are held for a few consecutive days, so you get lots of information and training in a short amount of time. If you are interested in this option, look for a small class if possible and make sure you connect with the instructor so you will get as much out of the time as you can. Also keep in mind that since many golf school clinics are only a few days, this makes it easier to plan one in another destination. This is a popular approach many golfers take, combining vacation with a golf school, so they get away and also work on their game.

The price for golf schools covers a huge range, since what you get can vary a great deal. At the lower end of the scale, new golfers may want to begin by attending a one day session to learn the basics of the game. Since golf has a lot of nuances, this often includes the finer points of etiquette, dress requirements, safety tips and pre- and post-play expectations, in addition to the fundamentals of playing the game. Experienced players can also benefit from a more advanced one day session, which gives them an overhaul of their game and some tips to improve their performance.

Two and three day golf schools are generally more expensive and many of them are destination getaways, so the cost of the tuition also may include lodging and meals as well as the instruction. (Airfare to the facility is usually an extra expense.) Also ask if you aren’t sure what is covered in the tuition cost.

Training Centers

Other Options

If you don’t have the money to splurge on private golf lessons or golf school getaways, that doesn’t mean you can’t improve your game. If you are committed to improving your handicap without taking out a second mortgage, you might consider video golf lessons. For less than the cost of one private lesson, you can learn watch a slow motion analysis of Tiger and other great golfer’s swings again and again and try to incorporate the strengths into your own game.

How Much Do Music Lessons Cost?

How Much Do Music Lessons Cost?

The cost of your music lesson will vary teacher to teacher, school to school, organisation to organisation. There is a union recommendation for teachers to charge, but this will vary depending on age, experience and circumstances of the teacher. Some teachers will offer lessons on a group basis to schools or organisations at a reduced cost.

Private teachers will vary their costs depending on whether they come to you to teach, or you travel to them. The length of the lesson will also alter the cost of the lesson. The area that you live in will also determine the cost sometimes, e.g., London prices tend to be higher than other parts of the UK.

If you have a very experienced teacher who is a professional musician themselves, and very much in demand, you will expect to pay more than someone who has just graduated. Most lessons will be thirty minutes long and an average price will be around £17.50.

Teachers will also vary on payment methods and may offer a discount for lessons paid for in advance, or in bulk. Look out for penalties for missed lessons, or students who are late!

How Much will a Musical Instrument Cost?

It will depend on what instrument you want to learn as to how much the instrument will cost. A recorder, fife or ukulele will be a lot less than a cello, saxophone or piano, for example.

The option to hire an instrument can be a worthwhile consideration, especially if there is a purchase option on the instrument that you hire. If your child is learning a string instrument, they will not learn on a full- size instrument so the option to hire the smaller size instruments is worth looking at as they will grow out of each size.

Instruments themselves vary vastly too, for example, a basic student flute can be anything from a couple of hundred pounds upwards towards a thousand. A more advanced instrument will go up in price again. This will go for any instrument in the woodwind, brass or string category.

A straightforward keyboard can cost a lot less than a full size acoustic or digital piano, but as you progress you will need to up-grade the instrument to be able to learn properly. The average hire cost per month for an instrument is around £15.00. However, a full-size cello, or more advanced instrument will be much more due to the cost of the instrument itself.

What other costs are incurred for Music Lessons?

Your music lessons will incur costs for the instrument, the books and the lesson itself. In addition, you may have travel expenses to consider.

If you take exams, then these incur a cost and they will vary depending on the grade and which exam body is taken. Ensemble groups can often be chargeable, and competitions too.

What is the Cost of Maintaining a Musical Instrument?

The cost of maintaining a musical instrument will depend instrument to instrument.
String instruments will need new strings over time through wear and tear, or if they snap. The bow will need rosin but unless the rosin is dropped and smashes, rosin lasts for years! If the sound post, or bridge come down then the instrument will need a professional repair. The pegs can have issues with being too loose or too tight and again will need a professional adjustment.

It will depend on whether you own or hire the instrument and how good your local luthier is as to how much you will have to pay to maintain the instrument.

Woodwind instruments (clarinets and saxophones) need new reeds periodically. There is a new brand of reed that will last longer as it isn’t made from the traditional reed which splits, but these are more expensive in the first place to buy. If a woodwind instrument is dropped, sat on, or mysteriously has another issue that renders it impossible to play properly it will need looking at by a professional repairer. It can often be a simple repair, but on occasion it can be more involved for the instrument to be back to playable condition.

Brass instruments can be simple to maintain but can have issues with valves, or a mouthpiece that gets stuck. In these instances, a professional repairer will need to look at the instrument. If the instrument is dropped it can lead to issues and may need looking at. If the brass becomes dented the dents can be pulled out by a professional repairer.

An acoustic piano will need tuning around once a year and this is an average cost of £60.00. If the piano needs some attention, then the cost will be a little more. A digital piano doesn’t need tuning and as long as it is in good working order it just needs plugging in!

How much do Music Books Cost?

Music book costs vary depending on the book. They will range from a few pounds for most beginner tutor books through to much more for the higher levels.

A lot of tutor books now come with free downloads for backing tracks or accompaniments. This has replaced many books that did come with CDs and the industry is forever trying to keep up to date with how children learn, and that they are using many sources of IT to access music learning.

Are there Apps that help with Learning a Musical Instrument?

Yes, there are several apps that help with learning a musical instrument. Some are free and some you need to pay for. There are organisations that have a wide variety of apps to help with learning, e.g., ABRSM for exam preparation for scales and sight reading.

There are apps for metronomes and apps to teach specific songs or tunes. There are apps for tuning instruments, apps for composing, apps for music games – the list is endless and forever growing. Many teachers will use apps to make learning “fun”, and they will suggest apps to parents that are suitable for students.

Schools will also use software programs that often have apps that students can access at home.

Can I Learn a Musical Instrument on a Budget?

Yes, this is possible. If you already own an instrument and are happy to maintain it yourself and know how to do any basic repairs that are necessary, then the cost of the instrument itself massively reduces.

If you want to learn the piano and already have a piano, then bingo – you are sorted and will only need to pay for tuning.
There are several on-line tutors, and YouTube of course will give endless videos for music lessons, tutorials etc.

You can reduce the number of lessons you have, and rather than weekly, have fortnightly or monthly lessons. If you can find a teacher that is happy to do ad-hoc lessons, then the cost will reduce even more.

Books can be purchased second hand. Amazon, for example, sell used books and they are a fraction of the cost of a new book, and will do the same thing! They may have the occasional marking, but these are more often helpful than not.

If you are playing a reed instrument it is worth shopping around for reeds as the price can vary. It is also more economical to buy boxes of reeds than single reeds too.

The cost of learning to drive?

How much does it cost to learn to drive?

Provisional licence, driving lessons, the driving theory test and then the driving test — and that’s all before you factor in the cost of your first car, and the cost of car insurance.

Learning to drive a car in the UK isn’t cheap, in fact the average cost can run into the thousands.

However, there are ways to save some much needed money, if you prepare and plan enough. Here’s an idea of how the cost of driving lessons breaks down, as well as the other elements you should consider when thinking about driving.

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The cost of a provisional driving licence

Learner drivers can apply for a provisional licence three months before their 16th birthday, but remember you can’t get behind the wheel until you’re 17. You will need this before you can start taking lessons, even if it’s with friends or family.

Provisional licence cost varies from £34 for online applications, to £43 for postal applications.

The GOV.UK website have outlined three things may need to confirm your eligibility for your first provisional driving licence you will be asked:

your UK passport number

your National Insurance number if you know it

you may also have to provide addresses where you’ve lived over the last 3 years

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

There’s no set amount of lessons you must take before taking your driving test. You and the person supervising or your driving instructor, should come to an agreement when you’re ready for your test.

For this reason, there’s no way of knowing exactly how many lessons you’ll need, before you’ll take your test. What you will know in advance, is the cost of driving lessons.

How much are driving lessons?

According to the RAC, the average driving lesson costs can vary between £25 and £30. But it’s important to note that driving instructors can charge what they like. So this fee can change depending on who you choose and the part of the UK that you are learning.

Some people will choose to block book their lessons as this can offer a slight discount in the amount you will pay. The amount per school or individual will vary.

According to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), the average learner driver takes up to 47 lessons before they pass their test. You will either pay your instructor per lesson, or for a set amount of lessons each time, say a block book of 10.

For those who have the time or the money available, they may choose to opt for an intensive course. This is where you spend a week or two weeks focused on learning to drive, usually with a test at the end of the course.

This type of course might be more suited to someone who is already familiar with driving, and not taking lessons for the first time. The pressure of having to complete a test at the end of the course, might not be suited to someone who is new to the roads and wants to learn at their own pace.

What is the cost of an intensive driving course?

Intensive driving courses, also called crash driving courses, are popular with learner drivers who don’t want to spend months, or years learning to drive.

Some intensive driving courses can help learner drivers pass their test in two weeks

You must normally have passed the theory part of the driving test

You can do it in one or two weeks, and expect to spend between 4 and 5 hours a day on the road

If you have already taken a few lessons you might opt for a two-day course with just 10 hours of training.

It’s not cheap, a week-long course can cost around £1,000, while a two-week course may be double that.

However it could save you money in the long run. If the average person takes 47 lessons to learn to drive, then your driving lessons will cost at least £1,000 and remember you have to budget for the cost of theory and practical tests on top of that.

How to get cheap driving lessons

Block-booking or having two-hour lessons can often get you discounts, though make sure you’re comfortable with the driving instructor before committing

Make sure you compare driving lesson prices to make sure you’re getting a good deal

Comparing the cost of UK driving lessons

These are the main driving schools operating in the UK. You will need to check whether they operate locally and whether they have any introductory offers.

BSM driving lessons

This is probably the best-known driving school and celebrated its 100th birthday in 2010. It was bought by The AA (The Automobile Association) in 2011, a year later. As well as driving lessons BSM offers advanced driving courses and trains instructors themselves.

How much do BSM driving lessons cost?

The price of lessons differs across the country with prices starting from £22 per hour.

BSM says, learner drivers can take advantage of a discount by having driving lessons with a trainee instructor. All trainee instructors have undergone theory and practical training and are gaining experience to increase their instructional skills prior to becoming fully qualified.

Red Driving school

How much do Red Driving School lessons cost?

Red Driving School offers lessons from £19 per hour.

Red offers block booking discounts of up to 12% on 30 hours of lessons, other discounts include a free hour introductory discount when you book your first two hours of lessons, or six introductory lessons for the price of four.

AA Driving School

Although The AA owns BSM, the AA still has a separate driving school, which offers lessons around the UK. Members can get discounts on the price of lessons, if they block book.

How much do AA Driving School lessons cost?

AA Driving School lessons are priced from £24 depending on where you live.

The AA offers a discount of £6 off per hour off the first six hours of lessons when you make a block booking.

AA Members only, can get £2 off per hour off block bookings after their first block booking

The price of taking the driving theory test – which examines your knowledge of essential driving skills, traffic signs, and The Highway Code – costs a flat £23 for cars and motorbikes.

You need to book and pass your driving theory test before you’re able to take your practical driving test.

Driving tests cost £62 on weekdays, and £75 for on evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays

If you intend to use your driving instructor’s car you’ll need to book their time as well as the test.

Many people choose to practise for an hour before the test, which can quickly increase the cost.

Most drivers pass on their second attempt, so budget for having to take the test twice.

What is the total cost of learning to drive?

This does not include the cost of buying a car.

If you have to use the instructor’s car for practising and you need to take your test multiple times, you could find yourself spending well over £3,000 to pass your test.

After passing the test, car insurance is by far the biggest cost for young drivers to contend with.

Average comprehensive premiums for young drivers aged under 25 are £1,544, compared to an average of £395 for drivers over 50.

This data, compiled by the Consumer Intelligence Price Index, found the cost rose dramatically in risky areas and for higher performance vehicles.

How can I save on provisional driver’s insurance?

you will be able to start building your no-claims bonus even before you have passed your driving test

once you start building your no-claims bonus your premium should drop steadily each year as long as you don’t make any claims

taking out an insurance policy in your own name means you will also avoid the risk of damaging your friend’s or relative’s no-claims bonus as you might if you had to make a claim as a named driver on their policy.

if you take out your own insurance policy, there should be no effect on the main driver’s insurance premium.

The cost of learning to drive: how to save on insurance

If you’re looking for learner driver insurance for your own car and need a provisional driver insurance quote, there are a couple of issues to consider.

What kind of car you drive

The type of car you drive will often have an impact on the amount you pay for insurance – but with provisional driver’s insurance, most policies will cover you for any car up to a certain value or insurance group (usually a value of £20,000 or around insurance group 30).

This is great if you want to learn in your parents’ car, and then you can choose a cheaper car to insure once you’ve passed your test.

When buying a first car, the type of car you choose will have a big impact on how much you’ll pay for insurance — see our guide to the ten cheapest cars to insure for more.

Always shop around

By shopping around it’s possible to get driver cover for the equivalent of a couple of pounds per day. The driver insurance is one that offers good value and sufficient cover for your needs, without too large an excess.

The type of car you drive

Having a car is the type of car you drive, with the car’s speed, security features, and value all playing a big part – read our guide to the cheapest cars to find out which cars attract the cheapest insurance premiums.

Increase your voluntary excess

This will result in a cheaper monthly premium. Before you take out car insurance make sure you can afford any voluntary excess. This excess is in addition to the compulsory excess set by your insurance provider. This is what you would have to pay if you ever have to claim.

Pay upfront

Pay for your insurance in one go if you can. Spreading the cost of your car insurance over 12 payments, monthly, may seem cheaper, but remember you will be paying interest on top of the amount you pay towards your car insurance premium.

Drive less

Limiting your miles makes you less of an insurance risk. Simply because you are reducing your risk of having an accident. When you take out your car insurance policy the insurer always asks for an estimate of your maximum annual mileage.

You need to try and keep your mileage low, although you need to be realistic as to how much you will drive. Extra security

Having an alarm or immobiliser is considered a theft deterrent and by deterring car thieves you can reduce your car insurance. Not all insurers will offer this, so check first.

Consider black box or telematics insurance

It’s considered a good idea for younger drivers, as it can help cut the cost of premiums.

A small device, the black box, is installed in your car.

this then measures how fast you drive, when you brake, what time of day you drive, how quickly you accelerate and how you drive around corners

some black boxes include an app which you can access on your phone

if you drive safely you may be rewarded with cheaper monthly premiums or more miles of available cover

The cost of learning to drive: save by not owning a car

If you’re only planning on borrowing a car, you can also compare quotes for short-term or temporary car insurance

If you’re needing to insure several cars, search for multi-car insurance policies.

Multi insurance might also be suitable:

if you own more than one car

if you’re a family with more than one driver

if you’re a couple with more than one vehicle

Get a car insurance quote

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