Young Driver Reviews 7.227

I booked a 60-minute session for my 16-year-old daughter at Bluewater on 9th April. While the staff were polite on the day, the service delivered was significantly below what was advertised and paid for.

The session was split into a 20-minute mandatory safety briefing and 40 minutes in the car. However, out of those 40 minutes, the car was in motion for a maximum of 10 minutes. The remaining 30 minutes were spent stationary on the track.

What made this particularly frustrating was that I observed five other vehicles on the circuit at the same time. Those cars were in motion for the vast majority of their 40-minute driving window, proving that there were no issues with track congestion or "traffic flow" that should have prevented my daughter from driving. At a premium price point of nearly £100 per hour—more than double the rate of a standard on-road driving lesson—the expectation is practical "driving" time. Paying this premium for my daughter to sit in a parked car for 75% of her "driving" time is unacceptable.

When I raised this with their customer service team, the response was dismissive. They claimed that being stationary is part of the "instructional guidance" and even used my daughter's politeness at the end of the lesson as a reason to deny a refund. They essentially dared me to escalate to my bank rather than taking accountability for a clear lack of service.

If you are looking for actual driving time for your teenager, I would suggest looking elsewhere. Extremely disappointed with the lack of value and the "take it or leave it" attitude toward a legitimate complaint.

My son would give 5 stars as he really enjoyed the experience, however I feel disappointed. I paid £19 extra for video recording on top of already expensive lesson. Just tried to watch it today. Quality is quite poor and there seem to be no option to play on full screen, but I could still live with that if not the fact that half of the recordings are corrupted! Also they are cleverly hidden somewhere on SD card so you can't just pick a video and copy it to keep with all your other family videos, wherever you want. Looks like I am stuck with half corrupted SD card which may or may not work few months down the line.
In addition my son was really excited to see QR code for your app. Upon scanning it takes you to Google play where... There is no app. Apple one seems to show in Apple store but unfortunately none of us have iPhone.
Real shame as otherwise would give 5 stars.

Had the pleasure of James Rawlings as a instructor for 3 month who got me through my driving test with zero faults.
I'm a older driver and was very nervous about learning new things but he managed to get me to take it all in.

Just like to give a big thank you to James for his patience and experience.

Gary Laybourn

Absolutely brilliant from start to finish. Bought as a gift and was very well received. There was a cancellation and we were offered an extended session at a 50% reduction which we took. Well set up, knowledgable staff and instructors. Well signposted at location.

Absolutely fantastic. I was amazed at how much my child achieved in one hour. He loved it and it made him feel great! We'll be back soon for another lesson.

My daughter have a great experience. I would definitely recommend this experience.

My son who is 12 years old was nervous beforehand as it was his first time driving. He soon felt relaxed after a short time in the driving seat. John put him at ease and my son enjoyed the lesson.

This is a great activity for a young person to experience their first driving experience. As I have treated 2 of my grandchildren to this when reaching their 13 year milestone.
Both have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and as I paid for the add-on of camera footage of their lesson, they have nemories of their day to keep and show to parents, family and friends.

Amazing experience, great instructors and correct starting time

This is a great Idea for young people so they have a head start and feel more confident in the future when they prepare for their driving tests.
My son really enjoyed it and he is looking forward to having further lessons 😊

Booked a 30-minute, automatic, 1st lesson for Teen, Edinburgh -on a morning, they offer very limited availability.
Unfortunately the lesson landed when a bad storm (yellow and amber weather warnings etc), so the decision was made prior to that travel would not be sensible. Called the company, who said they would put the paid lesson up for sale again, on my behalf, the lesson did sell and someone booked and paid for.
As I live in the N-East of Scotland 120 miles away, and they only offer Saturdays, re-scheduling is highly challenging. I called them to enquire if lesson was taken, no answer on the day.
When the lesson re-sold they did not contact myself in any way to advise, and only when my out-of- pocket experience necessitated a short review saying only that their re-sched/refund policy was inflexible, surprise surprise - a response to Trustpilot, saying had re-sold etc.
Have spoken to several obstructive and clearly unhelpful individuals daily since, who oddly seem unable to have anyone respectfully call me back go refund my £65, awful company, rude agents on phone, disinterested and I would not recommend in any way, an overpriced offering with clearly a lot of reviews saying the experience is poor, rather disrespectful really.
Bank and Ombudsman contacted, ridiculous and clearly greed driven.
Order: 2349453 Edinburgh 28/03/26

My 10 year old loved the chance to get behind the wheel and I could see the experience was safe and well run. We went to Bicester which seemed like a great location. Very friendly and informative staff.

Really great 1st experience. An hr flew by.

Cones, Reversing, 3 point turn and many other things experienced.

Great to watch, great view from Bridge. All kids smiling afterwards.

Amazing experience for our daughter. She cant wait to go back.

Great experience for young drivers

Great experience for a child to learn what a powerful tool driving can be. Instructor was brilliant, friendly and really put our young son at ease.

My daughter really enjoyed her hour lesson. The instructor gave her some really useful tips that she will definitely use in the future.

Have used this company for my 12yr old daughter a couple of times. Will definately continue to use as she loves the sessions. It's a great idea, giving younger people the chance to learn to drive so the confidence will be there at 17 ready for the roads. Easy to book, great instructors. Made my daughter feel at ease, confident, comfortable. Will be booking again soon.

Great experience for my son. He had a great time. Very well ran and organised

A great set up at bluewater. Instructor was great and my son really enjoyed his experience