Guidance reviewed: 25 September 2026
Private practice can help you gain experience between professional lessons, but the learner, supervising driver and vehicle must all meet the legal requirements. Ask your driving instructor when you are ready and which skills and roads are suitable for practice.
Who can supervise?
The supervising driver must:
- be at least 21 years old;
- be qualified to drive the type of vehicle you are learning in — for example, hold a manual entitlement when supervising you in a manual car; and
- have held a full driving licence for that category for at least three years, issued by the UK, the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.
Some insurance policies impose a higher minimum age, so check the policy as well as the legal rule.
Insurance and the vehicle
The learner must be insured to drive the car as a learner. If it is the learner’s own car, they need an appropriate policy. If it belongs to somebody else, the learner must be covered by that owner’s policy or by separate learner-driver insurance. Check whether the supervising driver is covered and whether an instructor is covered if professional lessons will take place in the same car.
The vehicle must be legal and roadworthy. Display regulation-size red L plates at the front and rear, or D plates in Wales. Remove or cover them when the vehicle is not being driven by a learner.
Rules for the supervising driver
Sit in the front passenger seat and remain able to supervise throughout the journey. You must not use a hand-held mobile phone or other hand-held device, be over the drink-drive limit, or supervise while impaired by drugs or medicine. Give directions clearly and early, stay calm and avoid placing the learner in situations beyond their current ability.
Where you may practise
Start on roads and in conditions agreed with the learner’s instructor, then build experience gradually. Include different junctions, parking, independent navigation, rural roads, dual carriageways, darkness and varied weather only when the learner is ready.
A learner must not practise on a motorway with family or friends. A learner may use a motorway only with a fully qualified approved driving instructor in a dual-control car.
Plan and record each session
Agree one or two goals before setting off. Afterwards, discuss what went well and what needs more work without turning the session into an argument. Record the roads, conditions and skills practised and share the record with the instructor so professional lessons and private practice support each other.