Learning to drive was once seen as an essential rite of passage. It symbolised more than the sum of its parts: the crossing of one of the first invisible barriers into adulthood. Getting your licence was physical proof that you were deemed a responsible enough member of society to be trusted behind the wheel of a speeding vehicle; being able to transport yourself around, rather than relying on parents or public transport, was the ultimate flex of independence and freedom.
But while being able to drive has remained as vital a skill as ever, an increasing number of young people simply can’t afford to learn.
Welcome to the world of the £1k driving licence – that’s now the average total cost of passing a test in 2026, according to research from Confused.com. It calculated that learner drivers face a bill totalling at least £924 in 2026 before they’re eligible to hit the road.
The average learner has already paid for more than 18.5 hours of driving lessons by the time they take their test, which, based on the average cost of driving lessons in the UK, equates to a minimum of £777. Then there’s the cost of a theory test (£23) and the practical test (£62) – which, when considering that half of Brits fail their first time, is likely to add up to £124 or more.
The upshot is the creation of a “driving divide”, with getting a licence frequently the preserve of young people privileged enough to have parents who can cover the cost. As one questioning Reddit user aptly put it, “How does anyone without familial help afford to learn to drive now?”
“I’m currently 21 years old and I’ve been estranged from my family since I was 17, removed from social services but was too old to go into formal care,” they posted. “It’s getting to the point in my life now where I sort of need to learn to drive, I’m finishing up my master’s degree this summer and will likely start working. There’s an impact of the cost of living on trying to learn to drive.
“For people who have recently gone through the process without the support of friends or family, how did you possibly manage to afford it?”
This sentiment is shared by nearly one in five young people in Britain – 19 per cent have not even considered learning to drive due to the expense, according to polling by Confused.com. A separate poll by car insurer Prima earlier this year found that 70 per cent of British adults who do not hold a full driving licence believe learning to drive is currently unaffordable, a figure that climbed to 76 per cent among 18- to 29-year-olds.
This matters, especially at a time when youth unemployment has soared to 16.2 per cent, up by 90,000 year-on-year, and the number of NEETs – young people not in education, employment or training – was almost half a million in the UK at last count. Some 22 per cent of those surveyed by Confused.com said that not being able to drive limits their opportunities for work, not just travel and socialising.
The whole business could be set to get even more expensive after the government ran a consultation earlier this year to introduce a minimum learning period (MLP) for drivers. This could include having to learn for a minimum number of months and/or supervised practical driving hours before being allowed to take a test. The idea is to improve road safety and reduce accidents – an undoubtedly welcome aim – but may also result in learner drivers having to cough up for more lessons.
There is currently very little in the way of financial support for young people who can’t afford to learn to drive; the Department for Work and Pensions only has provision for those with disabilities through its Motability Scheme.
We’re not teaching people who want to sit around and drive to the pub – they want to go to uni, they want to have a job
Terry Edwards, Driving Equality
It’s why a small but inspiring minority of driving instructors are stepping up to fill the gap. Terry Edwards, founder of Driving Equality, is one such person. He set up his driving school as a Community Interest Company (CIC) last year, with a view to ensuring exceptional teaching standards were adhered to across the board. When he branched out on his own, Edwards decided to use his previous franchise fee to fund driving lessons for a young person in need.
“From my previous experience working in the care system, I knew that those whose lives would be most transformed by driving would just never be able to access the tuition they need,” he says.
What started as a “little act of kindness” snowballed. He decided that the idea could underpin his franchise model – that for each instructor, 30 hours of free tuition would be provided every year. Suitable candidates are referred to Driving Equality through its charitable partners (they don’t take direct applications); the response has been extraordinary, with Edwards and his small Kent-based team inundated with requests for help.
“I’ve had inquiries from Cornwall to Scotland from individuals; I’ve had local councils, NHS trusts and nationwide charities get in touch,” he says. “I had a massive organisation who received a multi-million-pound grant to help people return to work and they were asking me for help.”
The need is clear – and it spotlights a huge welfare gap. Edwards has been overwhelmed by requests, to the extent that he has sadly had to temporarily press pause on accepting new referrals for free lessons while the business rapidly expands.
“Which is, quite frankly, terrible – because it’s what we were set up to do – but because of the scale of the issue, we need to reinvest in the company to grow to meet that demand,” he says.
Edwards says there is “absolutely” a widening inequality gap when it comes to driving, exacerbated by the cost of living crisis: “It’s just beyond a dream for some.”
Another small, local scheme has also been improving young people’s prospects by providing funded driving lessons. Live Unlimited offers 46 hours of tuition as part of its Driving Ahead programme – but again, the pool of eligible candidates is niche, capped at care leavers in Barnet aged 17 to 25. Some 34 young people have passed their test since the programme’s launch in 2018.
One of the main benefits of the scheme is giving care leavers a vital employability skill. For example, one beneficiary, K, says: “The main reason I wanted to do it was for work – many jobs require a driving licence. My dream job is to be a paramedic.”
This is a vital life skill. This isn’t just a fun thing for people to have as a bit of a jolly
John Nicholson, Community Driving School
Also recognising the link between driving and employment is Community Driving School (CDS) in Kent, a unique social enterprise that offers both paid lessons for regular students and sponsored or partially sponsored lessons for those who are part of its community-driven project.
“Our remit is to help people from disadvantaged backgrounds have access to driving lessons,” says CEO and founder, John Nicholson. To qualify for lessons, applicants must volunteer within the community to “earn” them, and CDS works with local businesses to provide opportunities for people to volunteer alongside providing essential employability training – CV writing, interview prep, confidence building.
The inspiration initially came from wanting to help people with traumatic backgrounds, reveals Nicholson. “I talk specifically about mental health because I’m a suicide survivor,” he says. “If the law of averages applied, I shouldn’t actually be here, but I am – and that’s what prompted me to set this up.” There’s also a focus on sponsoring victims of domestic violence and abuse, with candidates referred to the driving school by partnering charities.
Like Driving Equality, CDS gets far more pleas for help than it can possibly accommodate. “It sounds horrible – we have to be very, very selective,” says Nicholson.
He argues that a driving licence is more important than a degree when it comes to getting a job these days: “This is a vital life skill. This isn’t just a fun thing for people to have as a bit of a jolly,” he says.
It’s a compelling argument when one considers that a great tranche of entry-level white-collar jobs have been obliterated by AI, while much of the zero-hours contract work that young people might have a better chance of getting is transport-dependent, such as delivery driving and becoming a carer.
“Our students want to contribute,” adds Edwards. “We’re not teaching people who want to sit around and drive to the pub – they want to get out, they want to go to uni, they want to have a job. Not being able to drive is crippling for them.”
And more intervention funding to help young people afford to learn to drive could wind up paying for itself multiple times over. As Edwards points out: “Learning isn’t cheap, but if you think about it, paying £1,200 for a student who goes on to be able to participate in society, to have a job and pay tax instead of getting benefits every month… that’s a pretty good deal.”
