By Sarah Martin — Operations Director — 30th June 2022
One of the most common questions we are asked is, “How long will it take me to pass my test and be able to drive HGV’s?” There is obviously no definitive answer, as each learner is unique and therefore times vary from person to person. However, we have provided a guide to timings below.
The first step is to take a HGV medical. We can usually book these within a couple of weeks depending on your availability to attend. Once your medical is passed then you need to send off for your provisional entitlement. We are able to support you in completing the paperwork, in order to prevent the form being returned as it is filled in incorrectly. It should take three weeks for this to be returned but currently we allow 4-6 weeks as there have been delays with the DVLA.
Whilst your application for provisional entitlement is being processed by the DVLA, you can begin studying for your theory tests and Mod 2 CPC if required. We will provide you with log in details to an online study package. This means we can book you your test for 6 weeks after the posting date, by which time hopefully your licence will have been returned. (If it has not returned then we will reschedule the test to a later date).
Once you have passed your theory tests we can then book you in for your practical training. This is obviously based on both the availability of our trainers and yourself. We aim to fit this in within one month of you passing your theory tests. Depending on the vehicle you are training in and your previous experience you may need between 4 – 7 days of training. We aim to plan these as half day sessions on consecutive days with your driving test on the final day. You will take your 3A reversing test and Mod 4 test at some point during this training too.
Using the above as a guide, if you pass everything first time then you could be looking at 12 weeks from first contact to passing your test.
Sarah has a wealth of experience which she brings to PFS. She has worked in the private sector as a training manager and more recently worked in education as a teacher and phase leader, where she was responsible for managing a team. She has many years of customer service experience and is excited to use her transferable skills to drive PFS forward alongside Paul.
Sarah enjoys holidays in the sun and reading, ideally both at the same time.
Trying to decipher what each category of licence actually means can be extremely frustrating and time consuming. Therefore, we have decided to make it really clear what vehicles you can drive with a Class 2 licence.
There is obviously no definitive answer, as each learner is unique and therefore times vary from person to person. However, we have provided a guide to timings below.
