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Most driving instructors charge between £34 and £45 an hour, and a typical hour costs £40. That's from over 3,000 prices schools and instructors have given us.

The lowest prices we've been given are about £18 an hour, for a block of ten lessons. Some instructors also do a cheaper first lesson or two. Most charge between £34 and £45 an hour, and a block usually saves about 5%, roughly £20 on ten hours.

DVSA says learners need about 45 hours of lessons on average, plus 22 hours of practice with family or friends. It varies a lot from person to person. Many people start looking for an instructor later than they'd like: learners who already have a test booked typically get in touch with us about six weeks before it.

An intensive course fits your lessons into a week or two instead of spreading them over months. It costs more per hour than weekly lessons: around £48 an hour, compared with about £40, across the courses we have prices for. Courses sold "with test included" still need a DVSA test date, and with nearly a third of learners waiting more than 21 weeks, ask the school how they'll get you one.

Yes. Refresher lessons are for anyone who has driven before: after a long break, after failing a test, or with a licence from another country. If you're nervous about driving, say so in your enquiry, and tell us what you'd like to work on. The instructor will see it before they get in touch.

About one in four learners who enquire through Drivepal ask for a female instructor. Tick the box on the enquiry form and we'll only pass your enquiry to female instructors and to schools with women teaching.

If you pass in an automatic, your licence only covers automatic cars. A manual licence covers both. About a third of learners who enquire through Drivepal ask for automatic, but fewer than half of driving schools teach it, so it can take longer to find someone. If you'd be happy with either, say so in your enquiry.

You can apply for a provisional licence at 15 years and 9 months and start lessons on the road at 17. If you get the enhanced rate of the mobility part of Personal Independence Payment, you can start at 16.

It depends a lot on the test centre. Nearly a third of learners now wait more than 21 weeks, but at some centres the typical wait is about 4 weeks. Our driving test waiting times report shows the wait at every centre.