Independent driving school in Cardiff since 2013. Four DVSA-approved instructors, one for each side of the city, so lessons start at your door and the person who teaches you is the person in the car on test day. Priced by the block with nothing hidden, and a pass rate we publish every quarter, bad quarters included.
Lessons
01
Never driven before, or a few lessons years ago: an introductory two-hour lesson for £60, then a plan written against the DVSA syllabus, two-hour lessons from your door with the same instructor and the same car, the app to track it, and a test booked when you are ready and not before.
£60 for the introductory two hours, then £38 an hour or £34 to £36 in a block.
02
Four hours a day with one instructor, Monday to Friday, for one or two weeks, with the practical test booked at the end before the course begins. For people with a deadline, people who have driven before, or people who learn best by immersion. Dates and spaces on the intensive page.
20 hours over one week £760; 30 hours over two weeks £1,110; 40 hours over two weeks £1,440.
03
Learning in an automatic at the same hourly and block prices as manual, with Amara in the west and Raj in the south and the bay. No clutch, no stalling, usually fewer hours, and a licence that covers automatics and the electric cars most people will be driving in ten years.
The same as manual: £38 an hour or £34 to £36 in a block, £60 for the introductory two hours.
04
For licence holders: a two-hour refresher after years away from driving, a motorway lesson after passing (the M4 at Cardiff is not where you want to learn alone), parking and manoeuvres, driving in the city after moving here, or confidence after a bump. No syllabus, just the thing you asked for.
£76 for two hours, at the block rate if you book more.
05
Help with the theory test from the first lesson: the guide on this website, the app with the DVSA question bank and hazard perception clips, your instructor checking your scores, and, before the practical is booked, a 40-minute mock test with a different instructor marked on the examiner's sheet.
Theory help is included in lessons.
06
The test itself, explained: the car hire and the hour before for £95, which test centre and why, what the examiner does and does not do, the sat-nav section and the "show me, tell me" questions, the fifteen-minute debrief if it goes wrong, and Pass Plus and the motorway if it goes right.
£95 for the hour before and the car for the test.
Instructors
North CardiffVauxhall Corsa, Manual. Instructor since 2013
74% first-time pass rate, last four quarters
Founded Green Light in 2013 after eight years with a national school, and still teaches a full week. Grade A at her last DVSA check, a trainer of instructors, and the one who wrote the lesson plan every instructor here uses. Tests at Llanishen, where she knows every roundabout.
Covers: Whitchurch, Llandaff North, Rhiwbina, Birchgrove, Heath, Llanishen, Thornhill, Lisvane
Book with Sarah
East CardiffFord Fiesta, Manual. Instructor since 2016
69% first-time pass rate, last four quarters
Twenty years as a bus driver before qualifying as an instructor in 2016, which is where the patience comes from. Dave takes the nervous learners and the ones who have failed elsewhere, and his pass rate is lower than the others because of it; he would rather that than turn them away. Grade A. Tests at Llanishen.
Covers: Roath, Cathays, Penylan, Cyncoed, Pentwyn, Llanrumney, Rumney, St Mellons
Book with Dave
West CardiffToyota Yaris Hybrid, Automatic. Instructor since 2020
76% first-time pass rate, last four quarters
Qualified in 2020 and took to automatic teaching from the start; the hybrid Yaris is hers and she will talk you through regenerative braking whether you ask or not. The highest first-time pass rate in the school for the last two quarters, and most of the university students. Grade A. Tests at Llantrisant Road.
Covers: Canton, Pontcanna, Riverside, Ely, Fairwater, Danescourt, Llandaff, Caerau
Book with Amara
South and the BayHyundai i10, Automatic. Instructor since 2018
70% first-time pass rate, last four quarters
Joined in 2018 from a software job he did not enjoy, and brought the app with him: the lesson plan, the syllabus tracker and the mock-score check are his. Teaches automatic in the south and the Bay, speaks Gujarati and Hindi, and runs most of the intensive courses. Grade B. Tests at Llantrisant Road.
Covers: Grangetown, Butetown, Cardiff Bay, Splott, Adamsdown, Tremorfa, Leckwith, Penarth Road
Book with RajPrices
Pay as you go at £38 an hour, or buy a block: ten hours at £36, twenty at £35, forty at £34. Blocks never expire, move with you if you change instructor, and are refundable for unused hours. The introductory two hours are £60 and the test day, with your usual car and the hour before, is £95. Manual and automatic cost the same, and there is no booking fee, fuel surcharge or evening rate.
How we work
After the first two-hour lesson you get a plan: where you are against the DVSA syllabus, roughly how many hours to test standard, and what the next five lessons cover. It is updated in the app after every lesson, so you can see it moving.
You are matched to one instructor by area and keep them to the test. No rota, no "your usual instructor is off so here is someone else", and the car you learn in is the car you take the test in.
A block of hours is used at your pace, is refundable for any unused hours less the hours taken at the single rate, and never expires. If you move to another area of the city we move you to the instructor there, same block.
We will not put you in for a test you are likely to fail because a fail costs you £62 and a twelve-week wait. When your instructor says you are ready, you are: that is where the 71% comes from.
Theory test
The theory test fails more people than it should because they revise the Highway Code instead of practising the question bank and the hazard clips. The guide on this website is the plan: week one the bank by topic, week two mock tests, week three the clips, and the test booked when the app says 90% and your instructor agrees. It also explains how hazard perception is actually scored, which nobody tells you.
Learners
Passed first time with Sarah in 34 hours. The plan in the app meant I knew exactly what the next lesson was and my dad knew what to practise with me on Sundays. The test car was the car I had learned in, which mattered more than I expected on the morning.
Failed twice with another school and was ready to give up. Dave took me on, found the thing I kept doing at roundabouts in the first lesson, and I passed with two minors four months later. He never once made me feel stupid. Worth every pound of the block.
Automatic with Amara, 26 hours start to pass, as a 31-year-old who had been putting it off for a decade. The theory guide on the website is genuinely how I passed the theory in three weeks. Same price as manual, which another school tried to charge me £4 an hour more for.
Areas
Sarah covers the north, Dave the east, Amara the west and Raj the south and the Bay, each from home, school, work or the university. Tests are at Llanishen for the north and east and Llantrisant Road for the west and south, and your lessons are on the roads the test uses.
The average learner passes with us in 38 hours, which in blocks is about £1,330, plus the £60 introductory lesson, the £95 test day, and the DVSA fees of £23 for the theory and £62 for the practical: around £1,570 all in. Someone who practises privately between lessons usually needs fewer hours. There is no booking fee, no fuel surcharge and no extra for automatic.
The one who covers your area: Sarah in the north, Dave in the east, Amara in the west and Raj in the south and the Bay, with their cars, transmissions and pass rates on the instructors page. You keep the same instructor and car to the test unless you ask to change.
Thirty to forty-five hours with an instructor for most beginners, over three to six months at two hours a week, plus the theory test in the first month. Private practice cuts it. An intensive course does it in one or two weeks if you have the theory and the time.
71% first time over the last four quarters and 91% overall, against a national first-time average of 48%, with the figures by quarter and by instructor on the prices and instructors pages. We publish the bad quarters too, and Dave's is lower because he takes the learners other schools gave up on.
Yes, £38 an hour, two hours at a time. Blocks are cheaper per hour, never expire, move with you if you change instructor, and are refundable for unused hours less the hours taken at the single rate.
The controls on a quiet road, moving off and stopping, and enough driving to see how you take to it, with the instructor who covers your area. At the end you get a written plan and an honest estimate of the hours. Book with the form or ring the office, Monday to Saturday 8 to 7.
