Key Considerations for New Drivers

You can start to take driving lessons on public roads from when you’re 17. However, some companies do offer driving lessons for those under 17 but these take place exclusively on private roads.

You need a provisional driving licence to be able to take lessons and can apply for this when you're 15 years and 9 months old.

You can drive a car when you're 16 if you receive the enhanced rate of the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

You apply for a provisional licence on DVLA online. To get your provisional licence you must be at least 15 years and 9 months old, be able to read a number plate from 20 metres away (you can use glasses or contact lenses to help) and have been given permission to live in Great Britain for at least 185 days.

You’ll receive your provisional licence within one week if you apply online and three weeks if you apply by post.

No, you need a provisional licence before taking driving lessons on public roads. The only exception to this is if you take driving lessons on private roads. You can do this from when you're as young as 10 with some companies and cannot apply for a provisional licence until you're 15 years and 9 months old.

New drivers, especially young drivers, are some of the most expensive insurance groups. Typically, new drivers will pay around £1,800 - £2,000 for car insurance but there are ways to reduce your premium such as buying a lower value car, parking on a driveway or keeping it in a garage, agreeing to driving with a black box and adding an experienced driver. For more tips on how to reduce your insurance premium check out our top tips here.

Yes, you can take driving lessons before passing your theory test but it’s strongly recommended you start your revising for your theory or even taking your theory test before beginning lessons to help minimise the amount of lessons you will need before passing.

On average, new drivers have 45 hours of lessons and 20 hours of their own private practice sessions before passing their test. However, you can take week long intensive driving lessons in order to pass in a short amount of time.

You also shouldn't be worried if it takes longer than 45 hours of lessons as everyone learns at different speeds and has different skills sets.

It's important to properly investigate any new or previously owned car that you're buying.

Important things to note about your new car's history include:

• Age, service history, mileage and MOT history
• Number of previous owners
• Anything that isn't working
• Any modifications that aren't as standard

It's also best practice to get an insurance quote as well as finding out its tax status and how many miles per gallon your new car achieves to make sure you can afford to keep it running.

No, but it may help to reduce your insurance premium and give you extra confidence to drive on the roads. Pass plus covers a lot of things that the standard driving test doesn't, such as driving on motorways. The course takes around six hours.

During your driving test, the examiner will ask you two 'show me, tell me' questions. These relate specifically to the ongoing maintenance of your vehicle. The 'tell me' question asks you to explain how you’d carry out a safety task, whereas the 'show me' question ask you to show the examiner how you would carry out a safety task.

You cannot fail your driving test by answering these questions incorrectly but you will get a minor for each one you get wrong.

This is completely dependent on you, your financial situation and how you like to spend your money. If you buy a new car then you will be the first person to ever own it and for many people that is enough justification to spend more.

Used cars are very popular because they're often much cheaper to buy and because they're typically of lower value this often means they're cheaper to insure, too.