FAQ

You must have received your learner permit before you can take driving lessons. The receipt you are given in the NDLS centre is not acceptable as you must have your permit with you while driving. The learner permit usually arrives within 10 working days, so you may book a lesson ahead of time for when you receive the permit. If the permit does not arrive on time, you can postpone the lesson.

For your first lesson, all you need to bring is your learner permit. On your first EDT lesson your instructor will give you an EDT logbook, this should also be brought to all future lessons (although there is no need to cancel your lesson if you forget this on one occasion). Your permit should be brought to every lesson as it is a legal requirement to have it with you while you are driving.

No. This is a common misconception. The Road Traffic Act requires insurance not only on public roads but in any public place. The Act defines public place broadly enough to include most car parks and industrial estates where the public has access, even if they are privately owned.

The relevant definition is in the Road Traffic Act 1961, Section 3(1):

"'public place' means any street, road or other place to which the public have access with vehicles whether as of right or by permission and whether subject to or free of charge."

That means if a place is generally open to the public for driving or parking - with or without payment, and even if it is privately owned - it is a "public place" under the Road Traffic Act. Private property that is not generally open to the public (such as a private driveway or farmyard) would not normally fall into this category.

So a learner must always be insured, even in car parks or industrial estates.

EDT (Essential Driver Training) is a mandatory programme of 12 lessons for anyone whose first Category B learner permit was issued on or after 4 April 2011. All lessons must be completed before you can be assigned a driving test date.

Even if you are not required to complete EDT, the programme provides a structured approach to learning and can help improve both driving ability and test preparation

A reduced EDT programme, consisting of 6 lessons rather than 12, is available to anyone who holds a full licence from another country that does not have a valid licence exchange agreement with Ireland. You can read more about this here.

EDT lessons should be spaced out to allow time for practice with a sponsor and to reflect on what you have learned. As a guide, we generally recommend no more than one lesson per week on average (with limited exceptions, such as some students completing reduced EDT). The booking form may prevent lessons that are too close together, and all booking requests are reviewed by the instructor before confirmation. We may recommend changing or cancelling bookings if they are scheduled too close together. See the next FAQ for more information on practice between EDT lessons.

Yes. Practice between EDT lessons is an essential part of the EDT syllabus and should begin as soon as you start lessons. The RSA recommends at least 3 hours of practice with a sponsor between each EDT lesson. A common misconception is that completing the required 12 EDT lessons is enough to reach test standard. In reality, most students will need considerably more driving practice (typically around 40–50 hours) before they are ready for the driving test. The instructor will advise you what to practise after each lesson. If you arrive for an EDT lesson without the baseline skills needed for that session, the EDT lesson will not proceed and the time may instead be used as an ordinary practice lesson. For students who cannot find a sponsor, additional driving lessons can be arranged if needed.

No - currently we only have a manual driving school car. Please ignore any indication to the contrary on Google (see below). For experienced students using their own car, we can provide automatic lessons - but please note the use of your own car is subject to prior agreement with the instructor and Terms & Conditions.
Our listing on Google does occasionally show automatic lessons under the list of services we offer - this is because Google updates the list of services automatically based on search data. Apart from occasionally removing it when we notice it re-appear, we are not aware of any way to prevent this.
For automatic lessons in Carlow Town, you can try PassNGo

Yes, subject to prior agreement with the instructor. The vehicle must be legal, roadworthy, appropriately insured and display valid tax, insurance and NCT discs. We reserve the right to refuse lessons in any vehicle that does not meet these requirements.

While this question may surprise many people, it unfortunately does come up often enough to warrant putting it in this FAQ section - the answer is no. EDT lessons must be completed before being signed, stamped, and uploaded. While we understand students' desire to get through the process & get their licence as quickly as possible, it is important to actually do the required lessons (as well as practise with a sponsor) to give you the skills & knowledge to drive safely after getting your licence.

This website was created and written by, and is maintained by, Conor O'Driscoll - the instructor. I decided to include this question, and wrote this answer. So please trust this answer and do not request this in person, the answer will be a polite but firm "no".

If you have lost/misplaced your permit, you cannot take driving lessons until your new permit has arrived as it is a requirement to have your permit with you while driving.

Unfortunately not, our school car is small with a particularly small boot so does not fit an e-scooter. For both safety & cleanliness reasons, we do not accept e-scooters on the back seats.

We accept payment by cash or card, which is taken at the time of the lesson. We currently take payment on a lesson-by-lesson basis rather than taking upfront payments for multiple lessons. We do offer a discount where your final (12th) EDT lesson is free (this is only applicable where all 12 lessons are done with us). We find this approach to be easier to manage, and you still get a discounted rate if you do all your lessons with us. Full details are available on our prices page.

Lessons should be booked online using our booking form. You may book as many lessons as you wish, although all bookings are provisional until approved by the instructor. When booking EDT lessons, you should leave sufficient time between lessons for practice (at least 3 hours with a sponsor) and reflection. As a guide, we generally recommend no more than one lesson per week on average. The booking form may prevent lessons that are too close together, and all booking requests are also reviewed manually before confirmation.

In some cases this may be possible (e.g. for someone with an upcoming test date who has limited availability) however generally we conduct 1-hour lessons (especially for EDT lessons, where it is important to leave time for practise between them). Often there will only be single hours available for booking anyway, as we may have other lessons before/after that time.
While 2-hour lessons may sound appealing to learners wishing to get their licence as quickly as possible, in our experience it is much better to do single hours. 2 hours of driving is a long time, especially when you are learning and trying to take in new information. In infrequent cases where we have conducted 2-hour lessons (usually for practise/pre-test lessons), the students themselves have often commented that they found it quite long and would prefer to do 1-hour lessons in future. Driving lessons are expensive - there is no point in paying for time where you are very tired and are likely to make more mistakes & not take in information as well.

Lessons can be cancelled online using the student portal (click here). This is the preferred method, and we ask all students to use it where possible. If you wish to reschedule, simply cancel the existing lesson and book a new one online. If you cannot find a suitable time, please text 0873337343. Rescheduled lessons are subject to availability. Where possible, we ask students to give at least 48 hours' notice when cancelling. We do not charge for missed or cancelled lessons, and we understand that unexpected situations and genuine mistakes can happen. However, late cancellations can result in a loss of earnings if we cannot fill the lesson slot. If frequent or repeated short-notice cancellations become an issue, we may discuss this with the student and, if necessary, decline to continue lessons.

Our operating hours are subject to change, and we work a flexible pattern rather than the same days and hours every week. We currently offer some weekend lessons, as well as a limited number of early morning (finishing before 9am) and evening (starting at or after 5pm) lessons. However, these are subject to availability and are not guaranteed. The online booking form generally shows all current availability and is kept updated well in advance. If you cannot find a suitable time, it is worth checking back periodically as new dates may become available if another student cancels or the instructor's availability changes. If you have an urgent requirement (for example an upcoming driving test), please contact us. While we will always do our best to help, we cannot guarantee that additional availability will become available.

The usual meeting spot is the Woodies car park. In rare cases where this is not at all possible, we may be able to arrange an alternate meeting point, but this may limit your choice of lesson times and require us to reschedule some lessons you book online (as we may not have time to drive from Woodies to get to your meeting point, and then back to Woodies for the next lesson) Please note that, especially in your first few lessons, it may be necessary for the instructor to drive to/from other locations for safety reasons. This will constitute part of the lesson.

If you are going to be late, please call/text us on 0873337343 to let us know. The instructor will wait at the agreed meeting point for 15 minutes before leaving. For obvious reasons we cannot guarantee, if you are late, that we will be able to do a full hour - as we may have another student scheduled after you. You will still be charged the normal price for the lesson.

The confirmation and reminder messages are sent via an external service and may occasionally fail to send (for example due to maintenance or a service outage). You can always check the status of your lessons by logging in to the student portal (click here). If a booking is awaiting approval, it will show Pending Confirmation. Once confirmed, it will appear with its normal date and time and will go ahead as scheduled, even if you did not receive the confirmation or reminder message.

The driving test lasts around 40 minutes and examines many different aspects of your driving - you can read our guide to the driving test for more information on this.

Waiting times vary throughout the year, but you can check the current estimate using the RSA waiting time estimator. You must also meet certain eligibility requirements (such as completing your EDT lessons) before you can be assigned a test date. Your instructor will advise you when they believe you are ready to apply, taking into account both your current standard of driving and the expected waiting time. Ultimately the decision is yours, but we recommend following your instructor's advice. Students sometimes apply too early, overestimating how much they will improve while waiting for a test date. The best way to maximise your chances of passing first time is to start practising with a sponsor as early as possible and continue following your instructor's guidance.

No, and this should not be necessary. During your lessons you will be taught to drive in a wide variety of road and traffic conditions, including many of the more challenging junctions and situations you may encounter in Carlow. The aim is to give you the skills and knowledge to drive safely in any situation, rather than to memorise a particular route. We do not deliberately follow official driving test routes. This is in line with the RSA Code of Conduct for Driving Instructors, which states that "ADIs should avoid using test routes for driving lessons". It also notes that "RSA Examiners report that familiarity often adversely affects a candidate's performance during the test." This does not mean we avoid roads or areas used on the test routes. You will almost certainly drive on many of them during your lessons and may practise some of the more challenging junctions multiple times. However, we will not deliberately follow a full official test route or try to ensure you have driven on every road or estate used during the test. The same applies to mock tests. They are designed to be similar in length and difficulty to the real driving test, and there may naturally be some overlap with official routes, but they are not intended to teach or reproduce specific test routes. Students often place too much emphasis on trying to learn routes from memory. Instead, focus on developing the skills and judgement needed to drive safely in any situation. Test routes can change over time, and examiners may need to deviate from them on the day due to roadworks, traffic or other unexpected events.

After you pass your test, the tester will issue you with a Certificate of Competency, which you can then exchange for a full driving licence at your local NDLS Centre. The certificate should be submitted to the National Driver Licence Service within two years of the date of issue. Otherwise you will be required to re-sit and pass the test to obtain a full licence. It is important to note that until you get your full licence, you are still driving on your learner permit. This means you are still subject to the same requirements as before you passed your test, including the display of "L" plates and being accompanied by a qualified driver. The receipt you get from the NDLS, stating that you have applied for your licence, is not an acceptable substitute for a full licence.
Remember: passing the driving test is not the end of the learning process. You should continue to drive carefully and build up your experience in different traffic, weather, lighting and road conditions.

If you fail, the tester will explain the main reasons and you will receive a more detailed report by email shortly afterwards. Your instructor can review this with you and help you address the faults before your next test. You can apply for another test immediately, although you cannot be scheduled within 21 days of failing. You do not have to repeat your 12 EDT lessons or take any additional lessons before applying again, although further practice and lessons are usually recommended.

Yes, we offer rental of our car for the driving test - prices can be viewed on our prices page. Note that the car will only be given to students who have done lessons with us before and have, in the opinion of the instructor, demonstrated a reasonably safe standard of driving. This will usually require multiple lessons to ensure that the student has demonstrated the ability to drive safely in a wide variety of situations. It is important to note that we cannot always guarantee availability of the car and/or instructor on a particular date as there are a number of reasons it may not be available (e.g. mechanical work, or if the instructor is on holidays/has other commitments at that time, or if we have another booking at that time that we cannot reschedule or the student is unwilling to reschedule). Where possible though, we will try to facilitate this. We generally do not advise students who intend to use the school car to put themselves on the cancellation list, or call the RSA to get an urgent test date, without discussing this with the instructor in advance - as this will result in very little notice of the test date.

Yes, you can use your own car provided it is legal, roadworthy and has appropriate insurance in place.

Depending on availability the instructor may be able to accompany you on the day of your test and/or do a warm-up driving lesson beforehand. Simply contact us when you get your test date from the RSA. This is subject to certain conditions outlined in our Terms of Service, for example we need to ensure that students are at a safe driving standard before conducting lessons in a student's car.

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