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WHY LEARN AUTOMATIC WITH RED?

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Did you know that RED has one of the largest selections of automatic driving instructors in the UK! Being one of the biggest driving schools has its benefits for our learners.

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1000s of instructors to choose from nationwide
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National Training Provider of the Year 2024
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The standard approach for learning to drive in the UK for many years has been to aim to pass your test in a manual transmission vehicle rather than an automatic. However automatics are becoming more popular.

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If there are no instructors covering your area, please call our contact centre or alternatively purchase REDs Gift Voucher for driving lessons at the earliest opportunity. Find out more about RED’s Driving Lesson Gift Voucher scheme.

Automatic Lesson Availability

Without doubt one of the biggest impacts to the driver training industry of the Covid-19 pandemic was the huge backlog. The UK lockdown meant that driving lessons and driving tests (both Theory & Practical) were all cancelled. Now considering nearly one million people turn 17 every year, it’s no surprise that a backlog of over 500,000 people were left wondering when they would be able to take lessons and of course pass their test. As we come out of restrictions, the backlog is being worked through and the DVSA (who run the driving tests in the UK) have been recruiting more driving test examiners to increase testing capacity.

This along with the fact that historically driving instructors that deliver automatic lessons have made up approximately 10% of the whole industry, means that automatic lesson demand outstripped the capacity by some distance.

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What Does That Mean For You?

  • With Practical test availability at a premium, it’s our job at RED to ensure all tests not only go ahead, but that our learners are ready and have the best opportunity to pass and feel confident post-test. In the current market failing your driving test could mean waiting months for another test. Often learners can rush into a practical test in a bid to save money on the cost of lessons but waiting a few extra weeks and getting more practice is much more cost-effective than rushing things, failing your test, and not only facing another practical test fee, but regular lessons on the run up to help keep you at test standard and work on things highlighted in your test. Plus taking your time and feeling better prepared can only help you in your lifetime of safe driving post-test too!
  • But here at RED we recognise that more and more people are considering automatic especially with the commitment from the UK government to ban the sale of Petrol or Diesel vehicles by 2030. All Electric Vehicles are currently automatic.
  • To that end the team here at RED work with our trainees and existing instructors to ensure we have as much coverage for automatic demand as possible.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

Availability

Having a large pool of automatic vehicles even without the instructors means that we can have a better chance to help when things don’t go to plan. Of course, your RED driving instructor will work very hard to make sure this isn’t required, but sometimes cars will breakdown. By having a large pool of cars, we can be much quicker than other schools at getting a new car. This limits the impact on our RED learners and reduces the risks of there not being a car available for critical lessons or even your practical test.

Switching driving instructors

Our RED driving instructors are typically trained by us and therefore we’re confident that you’ll receive a premium service, which is focused around a client centred approach. This means the driving instructor will get to know your style of learning – for example when learning a new skill, you might prefer to watch someone else perform it, then replicate, or you may prefer to just have a go and let the instructor give you advice and feedback.

Award winning

As one of the largest driving schools in the UK we pride ourselves on offering a premium service. But don’t just take our word for it! RED has been voted driving school of the year two years in a row by Intelligent Instructor a leading independent news and events company in the driver training market. Plus we ask for feedback from our learners, not only to understand their experience, but to improve our service moving forward. Therefore we are extremely proud of our 4.6/5 rating on Trustpilot from nearly 7,000 reviews.

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There is always an instructor near you

Our experienced instructors operate nationwide. So whether you’re learning in Newcastle or Norwich or Plymouth or Preston, we’ll find the perfect instructor to help you on your journey to passing.

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