Lessons and private practice

You can learn with a driving instructor, practise with family or friends, or do both. Both have rules, and breaking them can mean fines and penalty points before you’ve even passed.

The basic rules for every learner

Whenever you drive as a learner:

• you must have a provisional licence
• you must be supervised, by a driving instructor or by someone who meets the rules below
• the car must show L plates on the front and back (D plates are allowed in Wales)

You can drive at any time of day or night. In England, Scotland and Wales, the speed limits are the same for learners as for everyone else.

You can only drive on a motorway if you’re with an approved driving instructor in a car with dual controls. You can’t go on a motorway when practising with family or friends.

L plates

An L plate must have a red L on a white background and be the right size. You can get up to 6 penalty points if you don’t display L plates or they’re the wrong size. Take them off, or cover them, when someone with a full licence is driving.

Lessons with an instructor

Anyone you pay to teach you must be either:

• a qualified approved driving instructor (ADI), who displays a green badge in their windscreen, or
• a trainee driving instructor, who displays a pink badge

You can report someone to DVSA if they charge for lessons but aren’t a qualified or trainee instructor. You can also find instructors near you on gov.uk.

Instructors set their own prices. There’s no minimum number of lessons, and how many you need depends on how quickly you learn.

Practising with family or friends

Anyone who supervises you without being paid must:

• be at least 21
• be qualified to drive that type of car (for example, they need a manual licence to supervise you in a manual car)
• have had a full driving licence for at least 3 years (from the UK, the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein)
• not be banned from driving

While supervising, your supervisor must sit in the front passenger seat and must not:

• hold and use a mobile phone, sat nav or tablet
• be over the drink-drive limit, or under the influence of drugs
• take you on a motorway
• accept any payment, including money for fuel

The car you practise in

The car must have L plates on the front and back, be taxed, have a valid MOT if it needs one, be safe to drive and be registered with DVLA. It’s a good idea to fit an extra rear-view mirror for your supervisor.

Insurance basics

You must be insured for every car you drive. The rules depend on whose car it is.

If it’s your supervisor’s car, you either:

• get added to their policy as a named driver (their no claims discount could be affected if you make a claim), or
• take out your own learner driver insurance for their car

If it’s your own car, you must be its registered keeper and have your own policy that covers you as a learner.

Some insurance companies require your supervisor to be over 25, so check the policy before you drive.

If you’re having lessons with an instructor in your own car, check with your insurer, because some policies don’t cover this.

Getting the most from practice

gov.uk’s advice for supervisors includes:

• tell the instructor you plan to practise, so they can say when you’re ready and what to work on
• practise in different conditions: busy and quiet times, day and night, and different weather
• plan routes that match the learner’s skills, for example asking which roads, like dual carriageways or busy junctions, they feel ready for
• talk about how it went afterwards, and keep a record of your practice to show your instructor