By The Acclaim Team on 18th March 2021 in News

UPDATE 16.04.2021

Following the Government's recent announcement of their restart plan, our driving lessons will commence from 12th April. This means that you are now able to book driving lessons in advance with Acclaim Driving.

The DVSA will resume practical car driving tests on 22nd April in England

Please be assured that every precaution will be taken to protect our driving instructors and our students. At the beginning of every lesson, all students will be asked to declare that they are symptom-free. 

We are pleased to be able to take on more driving lessons in the coming weeks for all students and resume operations.

To find out how we are taking precautions, please read below. 

Booking Your Lessons

We advise early booking to secure lessons with our instructors as we anticipate high demand when our lessons and tests fully resume. Whilst we expect our instructor’s diaries to fill up fast, all lessons will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

We will be prioritising all pre-paid lessons and we will not be accepting cash as payment. Please book your driving lessons online.

Booking Your Test

If you had a test booked that has been cancelled, we do request that you do not rebook this until advised to by your instructor. 

All theory and practical tests have been suspended and you will be able to find the up-to-date information here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-driving-tests-and-theory-tests/

The Steps We’re Taking

Declaration of Symptoms

If you do experience any symptoms, please advise your instructor as soon as possible as your lesson will need to be cancelled or postponed. We do request that if you are experiencing symptoms, you should contact the NHS 111 service and take a test immediately. Please note that instructors will be following the same precautions.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

All instructors and students will be required to wear a mask at all times when in a vehicle. Our instructors will be following industry best practices for PPE requirements during every lesson.

Vehicle Sanitisation 

To protect not only our students but also Acclaim Driving instructors, between each lesson, we have advised instructors on increasing hygiene in the car including wiping the door handles, steering wheel, gear stick, indicators, seat adjusters, parking brake and light controls before and after lessons that the instructor or students will have come into contact with during every lesson. Hand sanitiser will also be provided in the car.

We do request that there are no handshakes, windows are down, air-conditioning is switched off and that you co-operate if your instructor requests to take your temperature prior to your lesson.

Additional Training

Whilst we have remained open during this time for key workers, we have ensured that all instructors are provided with extensive training on how to protect themselves and our students. They have been trained on how to reduce viral contamination and how to operate best practices for a safe driving lesson.

Thank You

Acclaim Driving would like to thank all instructors and students for their cooperation and patience during this time of uncertainty. 

Please support the campaign to reduce the spread of COVID-19 as outlined here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

We will keep you informed of any changes.

If you have a test booked and are concerned about cancellations then check out how to change or cancel your driving test here.

Drive safe and be safe,

The acclaimdriving team