Current driving test prices

Test type	Weekday	Evening, weekend and bank holiday
Theory test	£31	£31
Abridged theory test	£24	£24
Practical test	£62	£75

Above are the current prices for car normal driving tests. If you are paying more it may be because you have gone to a website where people are booking the test for you. 

For your theory test book HERE

For your practical test book HERE

Remember and contact us if you are looking for driving lessons in the Paisley area 

motoskooL home of the 4 hours for £20 learner driver lessons (conditions apply)

Dogs die in hot cars!

OK I know you hear this every year - but sadly every year it happens again.
This heatwave is lovely, but consider your car especially if your dog every travels in it. Just leaving the windows open a crack is not enough!
you need to

Plan in advance
If it is going to be hot the next day then put reflective screens on your cars windows the night before, it is much easier to keep a car cool rather than cool it down once it is already hot

Park in the shade
Finding a nice shady spot will help a lot to keep your car cool - but remember the sun moves so the shadows will move, consider this when parking

Ventilation
Open all the windows (you can get grills to pop into the windows to keep your car safe. If you car has dark tinted windows consider opening the windows on the sunny side of the car less than on the other side as the tint protects you from some of the suns rays. If your dogs are secured in a crate in the back you can also get a boot lock that enables you to leave the boot open slightly but still locked.

Screen the sun
You can get cheep reflective screens to go on your windows (check ebay) - remember these can slip which is why I use the backup of parking in the shade too.

Check back often
Better to be safe than sorry, always pop back regularly to make sure your car isnt heating up. Check your dogs have water and you can consider cool mats for them to lie on or fans to keep the air circulating

Even if you dont have dogs these tips can keep your car a nice cool place for you in the hot weather

Remember if you are looking for driving lessons in Paisley check out motoskool.co.uk the home of 4 hours for £20 (terms and conditions apply)

Driving examiners strike

Driving examiner strike on 31 May: candidates urged to attend tests

Click on the link above for news from the DSA about the possible strike on 31 May 2013. The important point to note is even if you think your test might not be on you MUST attend the test center to be able to claim any out of pocket expenses
If your test is cancelled you dont have to do anything to reschedule the DSA will get back in touch with you

Good luck, I know it is stressful to get ready for your test and find it not going ahead

Remember if you are looking for driving lessons in Paisley to contact motoskool.com for our male and female instructors and our amazing 4 hours for £20 deal!!

Show me tell me - pt 20

Q: Show me how you switch your headlight from dipped to main beam and explain how you would know the main beam is on whilst inside the car

A: Operate switch (with ignition or engine on if necessary), check with main beam warning light

The Magic roundabout

For everyone struggling with large roundabouts I thought I would share this one
Thankfully it is in Swindon. It was made in 1972 and it is 5 mini roundabouts in one large central roundabout.
Who knows why they built it like this!
Strangly enough it does mean that you would be able to take the main roundabout either clockwise or anticlockwise directions!

Thankfully in Paisley our junctions are not as crazy as that. But dont forget if you are looking for driving lessons in Paisely call or text 07703487993 or email Pam
Ask about our amazing 4 hours for £20 deal for new pupils

Driving in ice and snow

Couple of you tubes from the DSA




In icy conditions it can take 10 times longer to stop.
Drive slowly, plan ahead, gentle acceleration and breaking and if the news is saying dont travel unless you have to then DONT TRAVEL UNLESS YOU HAVE TO
If you HAVE to remember pack warm clothing and something to clear the snow.
Make sure and clear ALL your windows of ice, have a full tank of petrol and give yourself plenty of extra time for the journey.

MotoskooL's latest newspaper article

BEAT THE CREDIT CRUNCH
4 Lessons for £20 from motoskool.net
(conditions apply)


This unique offer will get you of to the right start in learning to drive; give Pam, Bill or Raymond a call or check out our website for more details of our offer. Our contact details are in the advert on this page.

Our Instructors have a wealth of experience and ask you to do your homework before deciding on who you should train with.

At motoskooL we are committed to improving driver safety in the West of Scotland. If you have any questions or concerns about learning to drive please give one of our instructors a call for free advice – we are here to help even if you already have a Driving Instructor.

Please keep an eye out for our monthly driving features in this paper, and if there is any aspect of learning to drive you would like covered please contact motoskooL


Tips on choosing your instructor

• Use a local instructor, this should save you money. They don’t have high advertising costs which reflect on lesson prices. (Guess who’s paying for the adverts with the national driving schools “YOU”)

• Your instructor should be on time, patient and friendly.

• You should be encouraged to pass your theory A.S.A.P.

• You should if you can have 2 x 1 hour lessons per week which will help reduce the time in learning to drive.

• Always ask the length of time of the lesson (not all instructors offer 1 hour)

• Most of all you should enjoy your lesson.

Motoskool in Paisley

Here is the team in their motoskooL sponsered kit.

motoskooL has also agreed to write a monthly driver eduacation feature for the Paisely daily Express and the Renfrewshire World so please keep an eye out for us there and if there is any advice you would like covered in a feature then please let us know

The POM routine

There are lots of acronyms in learning to drive, they are supposed to make it easier to remember what you are doing.
We have already covered MSM - Mirror, Signal, Maneuver
another important one is the POM routine.
You need to do this every time the car pulls away.

Prepare
You usually prepare the car by selecting first gear, setting the gas and finding the bite point. On hills there are different ways you can do this - but we will cover that later.

Then the tricky bit - hold your feet still

Observe
Good all round observations are needed here starting from the left looking out all windows and mirrors and finishing up looking out the blind spot just before you move.
At this point you can consider if a signal is needed, in most situations it isnt.

Move
The easy bit (although it can sound scary) Just release the hand break and the car may already start moving slowly (depends on how high on the bite point the clutch is) Then slowly raise the clutch all the way off, giving more gas if the car needs it (you will hear the change in the engine noise if the car needs gas)

Thats you driving.

As you become more experienced P and O merge together as you are preparing the car as you are observing - just remember not to Move until you have Observed that it is safe to go.

Motoskool and the community

As motoskooL is currently based in Paisely we like to support the local community

Motoskool.net are proud to be support Gleniffer Thistle boys club

Also, as well as our website and all the helpful hints and tips in this blog motoskooL is also just about to launch a monthly advice article in the local newspaper.

Practise makes perfect

It is a common mistake for new instructors to try and rush their pupils into doing too much at once. Although they then feel that they are giving their pupils good value for money as they are covering lots of topics they are actually setting their pupil up to fail.

Firstly, you need to practise things, this builds up muscle memory.

But worse still if you are going to fast for your pupil then they will be making mistakes, and the more you let them make the mistakes then the better the pupil will be at making the mistake.
Practasing the wrong thing also makes you perfect at doing the wrong thing, and as we all know from our part 2 test, well practised bad habbits can take a while to relearn.

So remember when teaching your pupil to drive take it one step at a time and give them lots of chances to practise the right things, rather than pushing them faster than they can cope with and letting them practise bad habits.

Reference points (learner driver)

Reference points are a really useful tool to help you learn to drive.

All it is is finding something for you to see that helps you line the car up.

Looking at the foto on the left (ignoring me taking the foto in the mirror)

This is an example of a parking reference point.

I have parked the car on the side of the road.

Looking out the front windscreen you can see the kirb running down the left hand side of the road, then you cannot see it anymore, it dissapears behind the dashboard. Looking at the point where the kirb seems to cut into the dash it seems about in the middle, just to the left of the drivers wiper blade.

If I then drove to another location and attempted to park if I aimed the car so the kirb looked like it was cutting into the exact same place then I would be again parked at a nice distance from the kirb.

Reference points are also useful for reversing and doing manovers.

Your instructor should help you find the reference points that work for you - as everyone is different heights.

Reference points (instructors)

Reference points are a really useful tool to help your pupil learn to drive.

All it is is finding something for you to see that helps you line the car up.

Looking at the foto on the left (ignoring me taking the foto in the mirror)

This is an example of a parking reference point.

At the begining of your first lesson you will be driving your pupil to a suitable area. Make sure you are parked well and then you will be able to give them a good reference point.

Looking out the front windscreen you can see the kirb running down the left hand side of the road, then you cannot see it anymore, it dissapears behind the dashboard. Looking at the point where the kirb seems to cut into the dash it seems about in the middle, just to the left of the drivers wiper blade.

Then when your pupil is looking to park again if they aim to have the kirb in the same position as they saw it before then the car will be at the same distance from the kirb.

Reference points are also useful for reversing and doing manovers.

It is important that you let the pupil find their own reference points rather than tell them yours as everyone is a different height.

It is also important as an instructor to have reference points from the passinger seat too. This is really helpful in parking to help prevent kirbed tyres, it also means you can prompt the pupil when they are only slightly off position rather than wait till it is too late to correct.

It is really easy to find these reference points, just (when the car is in a safe position) change seats and see what everything looks like from that seat.

Or when you are out with your trainer take the time to really notice good reference points.

motoskool quick tip: Driving instructors on their mobile phones

A driving instructor on a hand held mobile phone is breaking the law!
On a hands free phone - you are paying for their time, you should be getting their 100% attention!

Introduction to motoskooL

I am a driving instructor working in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Glasgow and the west of Scotland. I train pupils to drive, do refresher courses for nervous drivers, take pass plus courses and also train people to become driving instructors.

I am also the co-owner of motoskooL

I have decided to keep this blog as a place for people to come for tips on learning to drive, and learning to be an instructor.

I aim to cover everything from the basics of choosing your instructor and what you need to learn to drive, to tips of driving and cracking the manovers, to what to expect on your test - and beyond into driving on your own.

I hope you find this useful, please leave comments on what you would be interested in me blogging about - and check back often.