1. About Us and Your Instructor

1st Intensive Driving Limited is registered in England and Wales under company number 16503191. Our registered office is Suite 437, 37 Westminster Buildings, Theatre Square, Nottingham, NG1 6LG.

We arrange intensive driving courses through a network of self-employed Approved Driving Instructors. The allocated instructor is responsible for delivering the tuition and making professional decisions concerning lesson delivery, safety, pupil progress and use of their vehicle.

A booking may therefore involve two connected services: course administration and customer support supplied by 1st Intensive Driving Limited, and professional driving tuition supplied by the allocated self-employed instructor.

2. Courses and What Is Included

2.1 Preparation for an Existing Test Booking

Our courses are for pupils who already hold a confirmed practical driving-test booking. Advertised options range from 5 to 45 hours, with manual or automatic tuition subject to suitable instructor availability and a workable timetable.

The pupil must provide their existing test centre, date and time when booking. They can prepare for that appointment or prepare while receiving the earlier-test help described in section 8.3.

2.2 Choosing Your Course Hours

The customer chooses the course length using an honest assessment of the pupil’s recent experience and present ability. Any guidance provided by us, including through the course recommender, is an estimate based on the information available. It does not guarantee that the pupil will reach test standard within the selected hours.

The course recommender suggests a starting point and shows the next option up for consideration. It does not replace an assessment of the pupil’s driving by the instructor.

2.3 Practical-Test Time and Vehicle Use

Advertised course hours include the time allocated to the practical test and its associated driving arrangements. Use of the allocated instructor’s car for the test is included in the course price, subject to confirmed arrangements and the conditions in section 9.

The DVSA practical-test booking fee is separate from the course price and is paid by the pupil through the official service. Including test-related time and vehicle use does not mean that we book or supply the test appointment.

2.4 Course Content

The instructor will adapt the tuition to the pupil’s current ability, progress and safety needs. Website descriptions provide guidance about likely course content but do not guarantee that every topic will be completed or brought to test standard within a fixed number of hours.

Any additional tuition is subject to availability and a separate payment agreement. An earlier test appointment does not reduce the preparation the pupil needs.

3. Online Booking and Course Arrangements

1. The customer selects a course length from 5 to 45 hours and either manual or automatic transmission.
2. The customer supplies the requested contact details, postcode, lesson availability and correct practical-test centre, date and time.
3. The customer pays the displayed booking deposit.
4. We use this information to check instructor availability and arrange a suitable instructor and workable lesson timetable.
5. We add the pupil to our Total Drive pupil portal when the instructor and timetable arrangements are ready.

3.1 Total Drive

We log the pupil into our pupil portal, called Total Drive. Total Drive confirms the lesson schedule and provides the contact details for the allocated instructor. We will also include instructions explaining how and when to pay the remaining course balance.

The customer and pupil must check the information supplied through Total Drive and notify us promptly if any course, contact, test or timetable information is incorrect.

3.2 If Suitable Arrangements Cannot Be Provided

If we cannot provide suitable course arrangements using the postcode, transmission, availability and practical-test information supplied with the booking, the booking deposit will be refunded in full to the original payment method.

3.3 Accurate Information

The customer must provide complete and accurate information. We are not responsible for an inability to arrange or deliver the selected course where incorrect or incomplete information has been supplied, including an incorrect postcode, transmission, availability, experience level, test date, test time or test centre.

Where incorrect or incomplete information materially changes the requested service, we may offer revised arrangements or treat the matter as a customer-requested change, subject to applicable consumer rights.

4. Prices, Deposits and Remaining Balances

The total course price and booking deposit are displayed before payment. The booking deposit forms part of the total advertised course price and is not an additional charge.

The remaining balance must be paid by the date and method stated in Total Drive or in the separate payment instructions provided after the instructor and timetable have been arranged.

Failure to pay a balance when due may delay or prevent delivery of the course. Before suspending or cancelling arrangements, we or the instructor will normally contact the customer and provide a reasonable opportunity to resolve the payment.

Additional lessons or services requested by the pupil will be charged separately at the price agreed before they are supplied.

5. Fourteen-Day Cancellation Right

A consumer who enters into a service contract online or by telephone will normally have a statutory right to cancel within 14 days without giving a reason. The cancellation period normally begins on the day after the relevant contract is entered into.

To cancel, the customer must make a clear statement through our Help and Support page or write to our registered office. The customer may use the cancellation wording provided at the end of these terms, but is not required to use it.

5.1 Starting Services During the Cancellation Period

We will not begin supplying services during the 14-day cancellation period unless the customer has expressly asked us to do so through the relevant checkout option or another durable written method.

If the customer asks us or the instructor to begin supplying services during this period and later cancels, the customer may be required to pay a reasonable and proportionate amount for services properly supplied before the cancellation was communicated.

If a service has been fully performed during the cancellation period following the customer’s express request and acknowledgement, the statutory right to cancel that completed service may end.

5.2 Refund Timing

Any refund due following valid exercise of a statutory cancellation right will be processed within the period required by applicable consumer law and will normally be returned using the original payment method.

6. Cancelling or Changing an Arranged Course

6.1 Whole-Course Cancellation or Major Date Change

After any applicable statutory cancellation period, the customer should normally give at least 28 clear days’ notice to cancel the whole course or request a substantial change to the agreed dates.

Where less notice is provided, we and the instructor may retain or charge a reasonable amount reflecting actual losses caused by the cancellation. This may include work already completed, administration already performed, instructor time that cannot reasonably be reallocated or accommodation costs that cannot be recovered.

Reasonable steps will be taken to reduce avoidable loss. Any cancellation charge will not exceed the amount reasonably lost as a direct result of the cancellation.

6.2 Individual Lessons

At least 48 hours’ notice must normally be provided to cancel or rearrange an individual scheduled lesson or tuition session.

Where less than 48 hours’ notice is provided, the instructor may charge up to the value of the affected session if that time cannot reasonably be reallocated.

6.3 Giving Notice

Whole-course cancellation must be communicated in writing through the Help and Support page. Individual lesson changes should also be communicated directly to the instructor using the contact method agreed with them.

7. Lesson Scheduling, Collection and Course Hours

The lesson schedule is agreed when the course is arranged and recorded through Total Drive. “Intensive” does not necessarily mean that every lesson will take place on consecutive days.

Home collection may be included where it forms part of the agreed arrangements. The pupil and instructor may agree another suitable meeting point where this is more practical or allows the booked driving time to be used more effectively.

A schedule may need to be adjusted because of safety, pupil progress, weather, illness, vehicle problems, instructor availability or another reasonable operational reason.

Short comfort or refreshment breaks may form part of longer sessions. The instructor will manage breaks reasonably, taking account of concentration, safety and the intensity of the tuition.

Unless otherwise confirmed in writing, purchased hours should normally be completed within six months of the date on which the course arrangements are confirmed. An extension may be agreed where illness, instructor unavailability or another reasonable circumstance prevents completion.

Course hours cannot normally be transferred to another person without the written agreement of both 1st Intensive Driving Limited and the instructor.

8. Practical Driving Tests and Earlier-Test Help

The pupil is responsible for booking, paying for, checking and managing their practical driving test through the official DVSA service.

The pupil must supply the correct test centre, date and time when booking a course and must notify us and the instructor immediately if the appointment changes.

Before changing or accepting a different test appointment, the pupil should confirm instructor and vehicle availability and that a suitable preparation timetable can be arranged. An earlier appointment may not provide enough preparation time or may conflict with existing instructor commitments.

8.1 DVSA Cancellation or Alteration

Neither 1st Intensive Driving Limited nor the instructor controls DVSA decisions. We are not responsible for a test that is cancelled, delayed, relocated or otherwise changed by the DVSA.

Tuition already supplied remains payable. Reasonable efforts may be made to discuss revised arrangements, but the same instructor, timetable or vehicle cannot be guaranteed for a replacement test appointment.

8.2 Current Test-Booking Rules

The pupil is responsible for complying with current DVSA rules, including booking eligibility, cancellation deadlines and any restrictions on changing or transferring appointments.

8.3 Earlier-Test Help Included with Your Course

Pupils may keep their existing test date and focus on preparation for that appointment. Alternatively, earlier-test help is included at no extra cost with the course for pupils who would like help looking for an earlier opportunity.

Updates draw on our own searches, customer feedback and information from existing pupils who want to swap test dates. When we hear about a potentially suitable opportunity, we send a text alert.

An alert is information about a possible opportunity. It does not reserve an appointment, guarantee that it remains available or guarantee an earlier test date. Availability can change quickly.

We do not book or change practical tests on the pupil’s behalf. The pupil remains responsible for managing their booking through the official service and complying with the rules that apply to any change.

Instructor and vehicle availability must be checked before changing the test. An earlier appointment does not reduce the preparation required or guarantee that the pupil will be ready to take the test safely.

9. Use of the Instructor’s Car for a Practical Test

Use of the allocated instructor’s car for the booked practical test is included in the course price, subject to confirmed arrangements, the pupil reaching the standard required to take the test safely and meeting the relevant legal and practical requirements.

The instructor has professional responsibility for deciding whether it is safe and appropriate for the pupil to drive the vehicle independently on test. Use may also be refused or withdrawn where:

• The pupil presents an unreasonable safety risk.
• The pupil repeatedly fails to follow reasonable safety advice.
• The pupil is unfit to drive or fails to meet licence, eyesight, identity or eligibility requirements.
• The practical-test information does not match the agreed arrangements.
• The vehicle unexpectedly becomes unavailable or unroadworthy.

Where reasonably practicable, the instructor will explain the safety concerns and the driving areas requiring further development.

A genuine safety-based refusal does not make the instructor or 1st Intensive Driving Limited responsible for the pupil’s DVSA test fee, travel costs, lost earnings or other consequential costs, except where a loss results from breach of contract, negligence or another legal responsibility.

9.1 Vehicle Breakdown or Instructor Emergency

If the instructor’s vehicle becomes unavailable because of breakdown, accident, illness or another event outside reasonable control, reasonable efforts may be made to provide an alternative. A replacement vehicle or instructor cannot be guaranteed at short notice.

Where paid tuition cannot be supplied, the customer will be offered rearranged tuition or an appropriate refund for the service not supplied, subject to the circumstances and applicable consumer rights.

10. Pupil Responsibilities

The pupil must:

• Hold and produce a valid driving licence appropriate to the tuition vehicle.
• Meet applicable DVLA and DVSA residency, identity, entitlement and eyesight requirements.
• Disclose relevant licence restrictions, disqualifications, endorsements or pending matters.
• Provide relevant information about medical conditions, disabilities, medication or support needs where legally required or reasonably relevant to safe tuition.
• Attend on time at the agreed collection or meeting point.
• Use any glasses, contact lenses, hearing aid or driving aid required for safe and lawful driving.
• Follow reasonable safety instructions.
• Treat instructors, staff, vehicles and other people respectfully.

10.1 Fitness to Drive

The pupil must not attend under the influence of alcohol, illegal drugs, impairing medication or in any condition that makes driving unsafe.

The instructor may refuse or end a session where they reasonably believe the pupil is unfit, unsafe, abusive or unwilling to follow lawful safety instructions. Where the issue is the pupil’s responsibility, the affected time may remain chargeable.

10.2 Late Arrival

A lesson will normally finish at the originally agreed time even if the pupil arrives late. The instructor is not required to extend the lesson where doing so would affect another commitment.

11. Instructor Allocation and Changes

We will make reasonable efforts to allocate a suitable fully qualified instructor for the selected transmission, location and agreed timetable.

The allocated instructor may need to change because of illness, vehicle failure, bereavement, availability or another reasonable circumstance.

If an allocated instructor cannot deliver the course, we may offer:

• A replacement instructor;
• Rearranged course dates;
• A different transmission where the customer agrees; or
• A refund for paid services that cannot be supplied where no reasonable alternative is accepted.

The customer will not be required to accept a materially different course arrangement without agreement.

12. Residential Courses

Residential courses also require an existing practical-test booking and are subject to suitable instructor and timetable arrangements. Pupils must provide their booked test centre, date and time.

Residential bookings are also subject to the accommodation information and cancellation conditions provided with the individual course arrangements.

• The pupil is responsible for travel to and from the accommodation unless expressly included.
• Accommodation-provider identification, conduct and property rules must be followed.
• Accommodation may be supplied by an independent provider whose reasonable terms also apply.
• Additional nights, meals, parking and incidental expenses are not included unless expressly stated.
• Accommodation cancellation costs that cannot reasonably be recovered may form part of a fair cancellation calculation.

A residential course does not guarantee a practical-test pass or that the pupil will reach test standard within the booked period.

13. Responsibility and Events Outside Reasonable Control

1st Intensive Driving Limited and the instructor will provide their respective services with reasonable care and skill.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability where doing so would be unlawful, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or breach of statutory consumer rights.

Neither we nor the instructor will be responsible for a loss that was not reasonably foreseeable when the contract was made or for avoidable loss caused by the customer failing to take reasonable action.

Events outside reasonable control may include severe weather, road closures, official restrictions, DVSA action, sudden illness, bereavement, accident or unexpected vehicle failure. Where such an event affects a course, the parties will try to agree a reasonable alternative.

Nothing in this section removes a customer’s right to a refund or another remedy where paid services are not supplied and consumer law requires one.

14. Complaints

If a problem arises, the pupil should raise it promptly so that there is a reasonable opportunity to investigate and put matters right.

Complaints about course arrangements, online payments or customer service should be sent to 1st Intensive Driving Limited. Concerns about tuition should normally be raised with the instructor first and may also be reported to us.

Complaints can be submitted through our Help and Support page.

15. Personal Information

We use personal information to process bookings, arrange courses, allocate instructors, operate Total Drive, provide customer support, process payments, manage cancellations, handle complaints and meet legal obligations.

Relevant booking information may be shared with a prospective or allocated instructor where necessary to arrange or deliver the course. Information may also be processed by payment, website, portal, communication and professional-service providers where necessary.

Details about how information is collected, stored and shared are provided in our Privacy Policy.

16. Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms for future bookings. The version applying when the relevant contract is entered into will normally continue to apply to that booking.

We will not impose a material change on an existing booking without informing the customer and obtaining agreement where required.

17. General Provisions

If any part of these terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply.

A delay in enforcing a right does not mean that the right has been waived.

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. Customers retain any applicable consumer-law right to bring proceedings in another part of the United Kingdom.

Cancellation Notice

To cancel within an applicable statutory cancellation period, send a clear statement containing:

• Your full name;
• Your address;
• Your order number, if available;
• The course booked;
• The date the booking was made; and
• A clear statement that you wish to cancel the contract.

You may submit this through our Help and Support page or send it to the registered address below. You do not have to use this suggested format, provided your decision to cancel is clear.