Cheap Driving Lessons For Students

Monthly rent, textbooks, nights out…. being a student isn’t cheap, and we know that the added expense of driving lessons is pretty much the last thing your bank balance needs! However, driving lessons might not cost as much as you might think. Yes, they’re more expensive than the €4 pints at the union, but if you add it all up, it works out cheaper than getting taxis or buses all semester long!

StudentEDT are offering affordable Essential Driver Training and pretest training that will give you the skills and knowledge needed for you to pass your test and become a safe, confident driver for life. If you think we’re tooting our own horn a bit (and we are!), here’s a bit of information you may not be expecting: we’re NOT the cheapest driving school in Ireland - and we’re PROUD of that! Here’s why:

If you find a driving school that’s offering lessons for significantly less than the national average of €33, then you should be questioning why their lessons are so cheap. It’s like finding vodka in your local student shop that’s unusually inexpensive. What’s it made of, antifreeze? Very low prices should be ringing some bells and popping up some red flags. Sadly, in our experience, we’ve found that there are many issues surrounding cheap driving schools that could leave you out of pocket.

• Approved Driving Instructors

It’s rare, but it does happen - we’ve heard reports that some learner drivers have been taking lessons from non-approved driving instructors. This is ILLEGAL. In Ireland, learner drivers must complete 12 EDT lessons with an ADI - an approved driving instructor. It’s the law. At StudentEDT, all our instructors are registered ADIs who have passed the 3-stage ADI exam. You can check that your instructor is registered by visiting the Road Safety Authority website, which also details how you can report non-approved instructors operating in your area.

• Reviews & Experiences

Use the web and ask around your mates at uni who are learning to drive, or who already have their licence - these are some of the best ways to find out if a driving school is any good. As you can probably guess, the cheaper driving schools tend to have the worst reviews. Some of the most common complaints are that instructors pick up other learners during a lesson, or are constantly taking phone calls. At StudentEDT, we’re proud that we give our learners our full attention on the road - we think this reduces errors and improves overall performance.

• High Or Low Pass Rates

Check out the pass rates for cheap driving schools - in most cases, they’ll be very high, or very low. If they’re high - like 100% - then the driving school is lying. End of conversation! I mean, we’re great at what we do, but do we have a 100% pass rate? No! Nobody does. If the pass rates are very low, the good news is that the driving school is probably telling the truth, but it suggests the instructors aren’t giving learners the knowledge they need to pass. Remember: the average pass rate in Dublin is around 50%, so driving schools should have similar rates.

• Comprehensive Service

Driving school rates are a very good indicator of the diversity of services on offer. A very cheap driving school, for example, may only provide the bare minimum - the 12 mandatory EDT lessons. We think it’s better for learners to work with instructors who can provide both EDT and pretest training, as this gives you an all-round knowledge that you can use to pass your test, and that you can apply to real life situations once you’re out on your own. EDT and pretest training go together like students and cheap hotdogs - it’s a match made in heaven!

So are StudentEDT the cheapest driving school in Ireland? No way! And we’re proud to shout it from the rooftops! However, what we are committed to is offering the best value for money for our student learners who are juggling other essential costs like accommodation and study materials. If you’re interested in affordable driving lessons in Ireland, give us a call and see what we can do for you.