Automatic Driving Lessons in Stratford cost £37 an hour and run seven days a week, 7am to 10pm. We teach on the roads that feed into Wanstead. The part of driving here that takes the most practice is the multi-lane two-way junctions along the Broadway, the A118 High Street and the constant Westfield and Olympic Park traffic, so that is where the early hours go. Pick-up is free right across E15, and it can change from one week to the next if your routine does. We run early and late in E15 rather than office hours, 7am to 10pm daily, cash or bank transfer after each session.
This page covers automatic driving lessons in Stratford: what they cost, where we pick up, and where you'll sit the test.
Your nearest test centre is Wanstead, about 11–19 minutes' drive away, and we cover every road between it and your front door in Stratford. Our main automatic driving lessons page covers how the service works in general; this one is about Stratford specifically.
The Broadway decides your lesson before you reach it. Lanes are chosen several hundred metres out, and the markings funnel a late reader towards the A11. Romford Road needs the decision made early. Around it sit Westfield's approaches, the Stratford Centre and a constant flow of people crossing wherever the barriers allow. Great Eastern Road and Angel Lane are the calmer edges, and beginners spend their first hours there.
What to Know Before You Book in Stratford
The Stratford Detail
Lanes on the Broadway are decided several hundred metres out, and reading them late funnels you towards the A11 when you wanted Romford Road. In an automatic the whole approach is free for mirrors, signs and lane choice, which is what actually gets people through Stratford cleanly.
Westfield's car park ramps are the other useful bit of Stratford. Holding still on a sloped ramp with the footbrake, then moving off into a queue that stops again ten metres later, is real automatic control, and it is the kind of driving you will do here every week.
How the Driving Works in Stratford
Manoeuvres happen east of the Broadway, on the streets around Vicarage Lane, ordinary residential roads despite everything nearby. The main work is multi-lane discipline: signs read early, one lane held the whole way through, and a clean turn onto the A118 Stratford High Street. You sit the test at Wanstead or Goodmayes, and both feel gentle after this.
Test standard is crossing the Broadway once, in the right lane, with no late correction and no following the car in front. The drive out to Wanstead is short, which tempts people to skip it. We do it anyway, so the roads by the centre are familiar before the day.
The Stratford Specifics
A two-way cycle track runs alongside Stratford High Street, and every left turn off the A118 crosses it. Riders come from both directions, which is the part that catches people, and a bus lane sits between you and them for much of the way. Turning left here is a three-stage job: mirror, check the track both ways, then turn. Rushing it is the fault this road hands out most often.
Most lessons begin on Angel Lane or the streets around Vicarage Lane, east of the Broadway, where the manoeuvres get done. Then Great Eastern Road past the station and the bus stands, which is the busiest few hundred metres in the area.
The Broadway follows, then out along the A118 High Street towards the Bow end and back. You finish east of the Broadway again rather than in the middle of it.
Westfield and Stratford Centre staff who finish after the last useful train, hotel and events people working the Olympic Park calendar rather than office hours, and parents doing a nursery run that takes fifteen minutes by car and fifty by bus. Test slots and lesson slots both have to fit round the shifts, so nearly everyone here asks for an evening or a Sunday.
Small Things That Make a Difference in Stratford
- when you turn off the Broadway for the A118 Stratford High Street, get into your lane at the junction before the one you want. The signs come late and the markings are worn, so being early is the only way to avoid a last-second move
- practise your manoeuvres on the quieter residential streets east of the Broadway around Jupp Road and Vicarage Lane: quiet enough to get them right, close enough to use often
- play to what Stratford teaches you: quick, decisive multi-lane roundabout work with traffic moving on both sides of you
- have the vehicle-safety questions off by heart before test week
- do one complete rehearsal with no prompting from your instructor
Common Ground with Stratford Learners
Stratford runs on the retail and event calendar. Saturdays from late morning, the run-up to Christmas and any stadium event turn the Broadway and its approaches into stop-start traffic with heavy pedestrian flow. Midweek mornings are far more workable. If weekends are your only option, we start east of the Broadway and keep the town centre for later in the session.
A reasonable objection is that Stratford is a lot for a beginner, and it is. The counterweight is that once you can handle the Broadway, the Wanstead and Goodmayes test routes feel undemanding by comparison. Nobody is thrown at it: the first hours go on Jupp Road and Vicarage Lane.
Reviews and Results
“Huge thanks to Kay! Clear, patient instruction the whole way through.”
“Ali was amazing; I passed in Goodmayes. Highly recommend.”
Everything pupils have written ›
Book Your First Lesson in Stratford
Call 07706 876263 or email info@wharfdrivingschool.co.uk. We'll ask three things: when you can drive, where in E15 to collect you, and whether you've driven before. It is worth reading up on the Wanstead test centre before you book, since that is where the drive ends up.
Automatic Driving Lessons in Stratford: FAQs
Which Stratford roads will I be driving?
We start on the quietest streets we can find and build up to the A118 Stratford High Street and the Broadway and its multi-lane two-way junctions. The bit that takes most practice here is the multi-lane two-way junctions along the Broadway, the A118 High Street and the constant Westfield and Olympic Park traffic.
Do you do automatic driving lessons around Stratford Westfield and the Olympic Park?
Yes, and pick-ups from Stratford station are straightforward. Lessons run at £37 an hour or £350 for ten. We tend to use the quieter streets east of the Broadway, around Jupp Road and Vicarage Lane, for the slower work, then take on the Broadway and Great Eastern Road once you are ready.
Are automatic lessons in Stratford affected by events at the stadium?
They are. On event days the roads around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park carry closures, extra crossings and very large numbers of people on foot, mostly in the two hours before and after. We either move the lesson to a different part of Newham or start earlier in the day, and we let you know ahead of time.
What happens if the Broadway is at a standstill?
We use it, then leave. Stationary traffic teaches queue discipline and box-junction judgement, which is worth twenty minutes on the Broadway and not a whole lesson. After that we drop east to the streets by Vicarage Lane for manoeuvres, or run out along the A118 Stratford High Street where the traffic is at least moving. Nobody learns lane choice sitting still.
Do you use the Westfield car park for bay parking practice?
Sometimes, and it is useful for tight ramps and for holding the car still on a slope. It is not what the test asks for. The bay park on the day happens in the car park at Wanstead, where the bays are straight, marked and mostly empty, so the bulk of our practice goes on the quiet streets around Vicarage Lane instead.
Can I book a block of lessons in Stratford?
Yes. Ten hours for £350 works out cheaper than paying hourly, and most Stratford pupils switch to a block after their first lesson or two.
Our Other Stratford Services
Beginners, returning drivers and people with a deadline all end up in different places. Here is the rest of the Stratford range.
The Same Lessons, Nearby
The same automatic driving lessons, in the areas next door:
Pages Worth a Look
Book a lessonChecked and updated in August 2026 by our instructors.