Admiral Young Driver Experience

Recently my eldest two children Col & Bess were invited to get behind the wheel for an hour long driving lesson.

Yes, driving. In a real car. I was a little apprehensive – they are after all still babies really (sorry kiddos!) and both under the legal driving age in the Uk.

Still, one look at their pleading faces as well as a glance at the informative Admiral Young Driver website and I found myself agreeing to take them along.

Why Put A Child Behind A Steering Wheel Anyway?

Admiral Young Driver offers lessons to children aged 10 to 16 with experienced and specially trained instructors. According to Admiral Young Driver research shows that early driving experience cuts road accidents by 40%. That is a massive amount and anything which has that kind of effect on the safety of our young adults has to be a good thing!

Just So You Know

At the time of our experience Admiral Young Driver only used ŠKODA cars but have now moved over to Vauxhall. Young drivers will now be able to practice their driving skills in one of their brand new Vauxhall Corsas – all fitted with dual controls. All of their highly experienced instructors are DBS checked in keeping with the companies child protection policy.

The Young Driver Lesson

Admiral Young Driver has several centres in locations all over the Uk. Our nearest was in Milton Keynes.

Pupils are given a “Drive Diary” booklet on arrival at their first Admiral Young Driver lesson which serves as a record of what they’ve covered in each lesson and the progress they make. This was a lovely thing to take away to prompt and encourage our youngsters to talk about what they had learnt during their time behind the wheel.

After getting a warm greeting from their respective instructors, Bess and Col took a nervous walk over to a fleet of Skoda Citigo cars. Their nerves appeared to melt away, the instructors were great with both of my budding Stigs and you could tell.

Upon entry to their vehicles there was a quick run through of safety procedures and how to start and of course stop the car and other useful information such as when to use clutch and handbrake. Bess who is 11 steered the car at first while her instructor controlled the pedals until she built the confidence to take the reins – this was a matter of minutes. I was pleasantly surprised by how many manoeuvres were covered in the space of a single 1 hour lesson.

Waiting to spot a Bess or a Colin

During the one hour lesson we were able to stick around and watch from the semi-comfort of a grassy hill. Moose was most impressed at the opportunity to let of some steam as you can see

After the lesson we were met with 2 very happy kids. Both Bess and Col thoroughly enjoyed their driving experience. Not only does it make sense on paper to give them a chance to get as much experience as possible under their belts, it was above all fun!

Col has changed his mind about driving altogether going from someone who didn’t really intend to rush into getting his licence until much later to someone who is absolutely adamant that he needs to start lessons as soon as possible!

I have had both of my darling offspring begging me to take them back for another go and to be honest, I think we may well do it!

We received this experience in exchange for a review. All opinions are as ever our own.