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Help with funding driving lessons

How much will tuition cost and is there any help available?

Learning to drive can be expensive:

  • Your first provisional licence currently costs £34.
  • The average driving lesson costs between £35-£45 per hour.
  • Theory test is £23 and practical test is £62.
  • The average student takes between 45 -55 hours tuition to get to test standard.

That adds up to a total cost of between £1694 – £2594, assuming that you pass both theory and practical tests at the first attempt.

You would be strongly advised to ensure that funding is in place before starting tuition, so that the driving lessons can continue un-interrupted.

Is there any financial assistance to help pay for driving lessons?

Motability Funded Driving Lessons

Misleading information is currently giving the impression that 40 hours free driving lessons are available for all disabled people; this funded driving tuition is unfortunately only available for Motability customers who have ordered or already got a car through the Motability scheme.  

You may qualify for funding for driving lessons if you claim the Enhanced Mobility Component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and are also in receipt of a means tested benefit. You’ll need to apply to lease a car through the Motability scheme first, and then apply for a grant to fund up to 40 hours of driving lessons; to get a car through the Motability scheme you will need to use the your PIP Mobility award (currently £75.75 per week) which will be transferred to Motability to pay the lease.

This grant funding is only available to Motability customers who have a lease agreement for a car, mobility scooter or powered wheelchair through the scheme. It is now only available to customers who have passed the Theory Test.

For full details go to: https://www.motabilityfoundation.org.uk/charitable-grants/access-to-mobility-grants/driving-lessons/

Driving Ambitions

To help young people prepare to get started as a driver, the Driving Ambitions Scheme, from the Family Fund, may be able to offer financial help with the following:

  • applying for your first provisional licence.
  • Studying for and taking your theory test.
  • Funding your first taster lesson (but not for ongoing driving lessons).
  • Funding for Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) for moped riders.

The Family Fund cannot help with funding for ongoing driving lessons.

Independent Living Fund Scotland

For those of you living in Scotland, the ILF Scotland Transition Fund provides money, for up to one year, to support young people living with disabilities (as defined in the Equality Act 2010) to improve their lives. This includes autism, learning difficulty, physical disability, mental health (e.g. anxiety or depression) or hearing or visual impairments.

The purpose of the Fund is to help young people, between the ages of 16 and 25 living with disabilities, with the transition after leaving school or children’s services to be more independent and to continue spending time with other people.

The Fund is for those who have little or no formal support from Social Work Services or through Self Directed Support (SDS) to be included and actively participate in their community.

Money from the ILF Scotland Transition Fund can be used to help you participate in activities that you may not have been able to take part in before that will help you to become independent and continue to spend time with other people. This can include driving lessons and training courses.

For details go to: Transition Fund Leaflet

Alternative sources of finance

  • If following an accident you are making a legal claim for compensation, talk to your solicitor about the cost of driving lessons being added to the claim.
  • Charities – it is possible to apply for grant assistance from many charities for small pockets of money (circa £200) – means testing may apply.
  • Other organisations such as the local Chamber of Commerce may provide financial assistance.
  • Employers may provide financial assistance if driving is required for the job.
  • If you’re receiving Universal Credit and are currently looking for work, DWP may be able to use the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) to provide financial support for job seekers to cover expenses related to finding or starting employment, including the cost of driving lessons.
  • Disability Grants may help: www.disability-grants.org/funding-for-driving-lessons.html

Funding for Carers

Carers who need to learn to drive to transport the person they care for should ask their local Social Services for a Carer’s Assessment, depending on the result the cost of the driving lessons may funded through the disabled person’s Direct Payments.

Some funding is available through the Carers Trust, talk to them to see if they can help: https://carers.org/grants-and-discounts/charities-that-support-carers 

Local carer’s groups can sometimes help with the cost of driving lessons for carers, apply through your local network partner.

Updated 12.09.2024