One of the most frequently asked questions from learner drivers — and one that doesn’t always get a straight answer — is whether private practice between professional lessons actually makes a difference. The short answer is yes, it does. The longer answer involves understanding how to make it genuinely useful rather than just extra time in a car.
At Automatic Driving Lessons Sheffield (ADLS), we encourage private practice as a supplement to professional lessons — and we think the automatic car is actually an excellent vehicle for it. Here’s everything you need to know.
Does Private Practice Actually Help?
The evidence is clear that it does. The DVSA’s own data consistently shows that learners who combine professional tuition with private practice tend to reach test standard faster than those who rely on professional lessons alone. The national average of around 45 hours of professional tuition is typically supplemented by around 20 hours of private practice for learners who pass first time.
The reason is straightforward: driving is a motor skill, and motor skills consolidate through repetition. Professional lessons provide structured, guided learning — private practice provides the volume of repetition needed to make those skills automatic (again, no pun intended). The two work best in combination, not as alternatives to each other.
Can You Do Private Practice in an Automatic Car?
Yes — absolutely. The rules for private practice are the same regardless of whether the car is manual or automatic. You need:
- A valid UK provisional driving licence
- A supervising driver who is at least 21 years old and has held a full UK driving licence for at least three years
- Valid insurance covering you as a learner driver in the vehicle
- L plates (or D plates in Wales) displayed on the front and rear of the car
You cannot drive on a motorway during private practice — learner drivers are only permitted on motorways when accompanied by an Approved Driving Instructor in a car with dual controls. All other road types are available to you.
Insurance: What Are Your Options?
Insuring a learner driver for private practice is more straightforward than many people expect. The main options are:
- Being added to an existing policy — a parent or family member can add you to their car insurance as a learner driver. This is often the most cost-effective option but requires the supervising driver to own or be insured on the vehicle.
- Short-term learner driver insurance — specialist learner driver insurance products are available on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. These are designed specifically for private practice and typically don’t affect the supervising driver’s no-claims bonus. Providers include companies like Collingwood and Adrian Flux, among others.
Never assume you’re covered under an existing policy without explicitly checking. Driving without appropriate insurance as a learner is both illegal and risks significant financial and legal consequences.
What to Practise — and What to Leave to Your Instructor
Not all private practice is equally valuable. The most useful private practice reinforces what you’ve covered in recent professional lessons — it doesn’t try to introduce new skills or scenarios that haven’t been taught yet.
Good use of private practice time:
- Familiar residential roads where basic car control, observation, and junction behaviour can be repeated in low-pressure conditions
- Car parks for manoeuvre practice — bay parking in particular benefits from repetition in a low-stakes environment
- Routes you’ve already driven in lessons, to build familiarity and confidence
- Short journeys to familiar destinations that involve the types of roads you’re currently working on in lessons
Leave to your instructor:
- New road types or situations that haven’t been introduced in lessons yet
- Busy, complex junctions or roundabouts until you have a solid foundation
- Motorway driving — legally, this requires an ADI and dual controls
- Manoeuvres you haven’t yet been taught the reference points and technique for — practising them incorrectly in private can actually embed the wrong habits
How to Make Private Practice in an Automatic Car Work Effectively
Tell your ADLS instructor what you’ve been doing in private practice. This is more useful than it might seem. Your instructor can pick up from where your private practice left off, build on what’s going well, and correct anything that’s developed as an unhelpful habit before it becomes ingrained. A good instructor treats private practice as information, not competition.
Ask your instructor at the end of each lesson to set you a specific private practice task — something concrete to focus on before your next session. This transforms private practice from vague additional driving time into targeted preparation with a clear purpose. It also makes each professional lesson more productive because your instructor knows exactly what you’ve been working on.
How Much Private Practice Should You Do?
There’s no fixed prescription, but the DVSA’s data suggests that supplementing professional lessons with private practice in roughly a 2:1 ratio — two hours of private practice for every hour of professional tuition — tends to produce efficient progress. In practice, this varies significantly based on availability, the supervising driver’s schedule, and access to a suitable vehicle.
Any regular private practice is better than none. Even one hour per week between lessons makes a meaningful difference to skill retention and progress speed.
Ready to Book Your Automatic Driving Lessons in Sheffield?
Private practice works best alongside quality professional instruction. Our experienced, DVSA-approved instructors will structure your lessons to make the most of any private practice you do — and help you plan exactly what to focus on between sessions.
Check our prices page for current rates, then get in touch with ADLS today or call 07565 414 959 to book your first lesson.