Driver Skills North East Reviews 

My experience with Driver Skills North East was excellent from start to finish! Sarah is a wonderful instructor with a great sense of humor. She has high standards and a desire to see her students succeed. She teaches students not only to pass their test, but to become considerate, skilled and safe drivers. I was a very nervous learner and was sure it would take multiple tests before getting my license. Thanks to Sarah's excellent teaching and encouragement I passed first time!!!

Key takeaways from their 40 hour manual drive intensive course:

1. Not recommended for beginners:

Felt like learners are expected to have over 100 hours of prior driving experience, I came to this conclusion half way through the course after conversations with the instructor.

The school's public response stated "no one is expected to have taken 100 hours prior tuition".

Yeah paid tuition is not the only way to obtain the needed driving experience, I was talking about needing the driving experience, not how you go about getting it.

...I recommend doing 100 hours driving with friends and family before paying to do this course.

2. Excessive explanations:

Felt like instructor's lengthy explanations reduce driving time down to about 15 hours in total.

...If I was to do the course again, I would politely request concise instructions.

This is what I was told in a public response by the school: "It is my understanding that, on several occasions you chose to ignore your instructors expert advice, choosing instead to talk at length at the instructor to justify your point".

The instructor's version, shared by the school, contradicts mine. I hoped the school's discussion with the instructor would help, but I feel it made things worse. My aim was to get conflict resolution, but I feel I encountered more conflicts when the school got involved. Hopefully their conflict resolution procedures will improve going forward.

… when dissatisfied with this school’s services, I think you should avoid raising points that could lead to hearsay disputes with this school.

3. Need it in writing from an instructor if they cancel your course:

My 3-hour driving lessons credit disappeared off their pupil app, along with the instructor's messages on the app. As of the time of writing, no refund has been issued for the lost credit.

The school publicly said “[our] instructor informed me [the school, that] you [the pupil] chose to terminate your course, our terms and conditions [say] if you [the pupil] choose to terminate your course after the course has started, you [the pupil] would not be entitled to a refund of any remaining tuition”.

I told the school previously that I didn’t cancel the course. I think we have no written proof of either of us canceling the course, so I feel this is accusations that neither party can prove.

… when you buy services off a company, make sure you get it in writing if they choose to cancel or cut short the services so they can’t use their Ts&Cs to deny you a refund.

Positives:

1. Adaptability: Felt like the instructor adjusted teaching style for visual learners towards the end of the course. I felt there was still lots of unneeded repetition before he got to visuals, but he eventually used google maps to show routes and dash board camera replays to show what I had done wrong which I felt was better than him trying to verbally describe it in detail previously.

2. Patience: Felt like the instructor remained calm and avoided shouting most of the time.

3. Flexible with dates: The school adjusted course start date without any issues to accommodate hospital visits.

Hope this summary is helpful!

Update 1:

Just to clarify, my feedback was not regarding Dave, as he was not my instructor. Most of the positive reviews here seem to be specifically for Dave and his lessons in an automatic car. However, I would like to commend Sarah for her delightful customer service during the initial booking process. She was extremely helpful and provided excellent assistance at the start.

Update 2:

Today (Sunday the 13th of August, 2023), the school shared my personal details twice publicly online in two replies to this Trust Pilot review. Trust Pilot took down the 1st reply. Thank you to the school for putting up a 3rd reply which has none of my personal data in it.

I feel the school’s 1st two replies were reckless as the private data they shared could get into the hands of online scammers. I feel this could result in putting my family at risk of being targeted by scammers down the line.

I feel the school abused my trust by sharing my personal details publicly without asking.

Update 3:

I replied to the school's public replies.
Copied and pasted relevant parts of the school's responses from their initial 2 replies on this review (which have since been taken down).

I wholeheartedly recommend Driver Skills North East. I had a bad experience with a driving school where the instructor told me to stick to a bus pass and do not carry on trying to learn to drive. After research, I spoke to Sarah and Dave who had confidence, understanding and support in my ability to learn. Because of Dave’s commitment I passed first time today. I am forever grateful to Dave for being very supportive in helping me achieve my dream of driving.

Dave was fantastic, very patient always managing to put a positive spin on things.

Highly recommend! I passed my test thanks to Dave. He was incredibly patient and easy going, a great instructor and a brilliant driving school.

Start to finish driver skills and my driving instructor Dave have been really great. I got lots of help with my theory test, that I passed first time. My lessons were arranged round my college timetable so that I got lots of practice at different times of the day. Sarah in the office was lovely and really helpful in arranging my lessons, theory and practical tests for me. On the day of my driving test Dave worked hard to keep my nerves down, which really helped and I passed with just 2 minors. I would fully recommend Driver Skills North East for anyone wanting to learn to drive with a great driving school.

Absolutely appalled at this company.
I was told at the time of booking a fortnightly lesson would be available for my Daughter after school. I even waited two weeks after her 17th birthday for them to have availability for this and paid upfront. After her first lesson no more are possible for 6 weeks after school!!!!
Absolute con as if I'd known this I would have gone elsewhere to start with but we've had her time wasted by Driver Skills North East. I appreciate it is a busy time after lockdown, but lying to gain business is unacceptable.

In Response to the poor reply from Drivers Skills:

Advanced payment was never an issue and as Drivers Skills are aware I quoted their own response regarding the weekly lessons, which read "All our lessons are a standard 2 hours long and we can keep the same lesson times for every week if that’s what works best for the pupil". This is what I required and spoke about on the phone, yet was not fulfilled after 1 lesson.
I accept schools are busy because of the covid backlog, but most have the decency to be honest when they cannot provide what people require.
The email you received was an annoyed email from a dissatisfied customer not an aggressive email at all.

Thank you so much Dave!! You are truly an amazing driving instructor!! I don’t think that my training could have been better with anyone else. The best thing about Dave is he quickly understands what exactly the problem areas that I needed to work on and trained me in a very systematic manner. He is calm, friendly, very attentive and very knowledgeable in his job. He knows exactly how to build confidence in a new driver. I am very happy that I could complete my training in 26 hours (in about 2 and a half months). Many thanks again Dave for being a truly brilliant instructor.

I decided to take some refresher driving lessons before my return to work after maternity leave. I had lost confidence and was really nervous but was determined to get back to driving.
I saw the excellent reviews for Driver Skills and got in touch. My instructor was Dave and he was brilliant with me. I felt at ease and my confidence improved really quickly. I have been back to work for a while now and I drive every day with no issues. Seems like a small thing for some, but for me it's massive. I am so grateful for Dave's patience and calming influence. Highly recommended, especially for nervous drivers.

Dave is a very good and calm instructor, knows what to do, very helpful and supportive from the start of lessons till I passed my test. I would absolutely recommend to anyone.
No hassles at all dealing with Driver Skills North East!

I had automatic lessons with Dave, having had many lessons from a different instructor at home in the south - the two experiences were quite literally worlds apart. Dave is calm, considered and reassuring whilst providing clear and effective tuition. Every lesson was well planned and I felt my time and money were very efficiently used. I have and will continue to recommend your services!

Excellent driving school! Can't recommend Dave enough, which I have and will continue to do so.
Can't thank him enough :)

I originally began with a different instructor but moved onto Dave. He made me feel so much more confident and actually allowed me to learn how to drive independently! I thoroughly enjoyed learning to drive and feel like I now have a very strong skill that I can keep for life, and would recommend him to anyone!

Absolutely loved my lessons with Dave! He's funny and most importantly a great instructor however please prepare for his very average jokes. Jokes aside if you want to pass your test and get on the road please contact driver skills.

I have had a lovely experience with Driver skills, Durham. I had been chickenin out for so long but Dave helped me get the confidence and skills in such a short frame of time and help me clear my exam in first attempt. I haven't met many individuals as patient as Dave. He has never lost his temper over my silly flaws and made every sessions so enjoyable. I would strongly reccomend Dave to all the learner drivers in Durham.

Great Instructor
Initially I had a different driving instructor before changing to Dave. Dave was a much better instructor by teaching me to drive not just to pass a test, but so I would be able to drive independently and safely for years to come. Dave helped arrange lessons around my busy schedule and was willing to travel long distances for my lessons. Couldn’t of passed without him.

Excellent from start to finish did my first lesson a nervous wreck but my instructor Andrew was fantastic and I even drove home the same day. Took 4 month to get me through my test. Passed with only 4 minors. Cannot recommend Andrew enough. If you are looking for an instructor he's your guy!!! 5*****

From the moment of inquiring about booking lessons to the moment I passed my test they have been nothing but friendly, accommodating and overall amazing. I’d 100% recommend them.

I highly recommend... I thoroughly enjoyed my driving experience with instructor Dave.

Would recommend Driving Skills Durham to anyone. Absolutely amazing service, Sarah who you speak to on the phone is lovely and makes you feel so comfortable. Dave the instructor was such a laugh, and managed to relax even the most nervous learner (me). Wouldn't have passed if I hadn't gone with Driver Skills Durham!