Hi, I’m Sarah, and I live in Frenchay with my two daughters and two cats. I teach in a manual Audi A1 with dual controls.

As a carer for my disabled adult daughter, I’ve had many years of experience supporting someone with anxiety. I feel this has helped me develop a calm, patient, yet confident teaching style.

My hourly fee is £40, and I only teach 2-hour lessons at £80. I’ve found that 1 or 1.5-hour lessons aren’t quite long enough to properly get to grips with a new skill while also practising skills learnt in previous lessons.

My Availability

As a single mum and carer, I’m generally only available for lessons during school hours. I can occasionally offer weekend lessons, but not on a regular basis.

I can work a little later on Wednesdays and Thursdays, as I have childcare on those days, and I can usually arrange additional help for special occasions (such as driving tests).

I like to keep my lesson pickup and drop off locations within the postcode areas of: BS7, BS15, BS16, BS32 and BS36.

Things You Need to Know

Eyesight

All drivers must meet the minimum eyesight standard for driving. In good daylight, drivers must be able to read a vehicle number plate (made after 1 September 2001) from 20 metres.

If you need glasses or contact lenses to meet this requirement, they must be worn whenever you drive. I will check that your eyesight meets the required standard during your first lesson.

How Many Lessons Will I Need?

The DVSA recommends approximately 45 hours of professional driving lessons, supplemented by around 22 hours of private practice.

This does vary from person to person and depends on previous experience, but it provides a useful guideline.

Things I Need From You

Your Provisional or Full Driving Licence

I’ll need you to provide a Licence Check Code. You can find an explanation of what it is and how to get one here.

To get the code, you’ll need:

  • Your provisional or full driving licence number

  • Your National Insurance number

  • The postcode shown on your licence

Your Driving Experience

Please let me know whether you are a complete novice or if you’ve had some previous driving experience.

If you’ve had lessons before, an approximate number of hours is very helpful. Please also let me know if you’ve driven with family or friends and roughly how many hours of experience that involved.

Your Practical Test Date

If you already have a practical test booked, please let me know the date. I generally prefer not to take on pupils who have tests booked within six weeks.

If you plan to take your test in my car (which is the usual arrangement), we’ll need to agree together that you are ready. I want to be transparent from the outset: if I feel you are not ready to take your test on the scheduled date, I will ask you to postpone it until I believe you are ready. This decision will need to be made at least 2 weeks before the date of your test, due to the DVSA 10 business working days notice period to make changes without losing your fee. I often hear pupils saying “I’ll give the test a try, and if I fail, I’ll just retake it!” The problem with this is that if a pupil goes for their test before they’re truly ready, the chances of failing are much higher. That’s frustrating, expensive, and can really knock confidence. A lot of pupils who fail early end up feeling more nervous next time, which can slow progress instead of speeding it up. Also, from my side, every test result is logged against my PRN number. If too many pupils fail, it can trigger a standards check, which is a formal assessment of my teaching. While standards checks exist to keep driving instruction high quality, they’re stressful and can put my instructor’s qualification at risk if concerns are raised.

So, if I say you’re “not quite ready yet,” it’s not about holding you back — it’s about:

  • Giving you the best chance of passing first time

  • Avoiding wasted money and unnecessary stress

  • Making sure you’re a safe, confident driver, not just lucky on test day

  • Protecting my ability to keep teaching professionally

A good instructor wants you to pass — but only when you’re genuinely ready to do so.

If you are taking your test in your own car, I will still offer guidance and advice, but the final decision will be yours.

Interested in working together? Fill out some info and I’ll be in touch shortly. 

GDPR / Privacy Notice (Enquiries)
By submitting your name and email address, you agree that we may use your details to respond to your enquiry and provide information about our services. Your information will only be used for this purpose, will not be shared with third parties without your consent, and will be stored securely in accordance with UK GDPR regulations. You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data at any time by contacting us.