A standard automatic is £37 an hour, or £350 for ten. A prestige automatic is priced on enquiry. Both follow the same DVSA syllabus and lead to the same test, so the choice is about the car, not about how hard the course is. If you would rather commit to a block than pay week by week, the beginner, refresher and intensive courses cover the same ground on a fixed schedule.
This page is here to help you pick. It sets out what separates the two cars, what each option costs, whether paying by the hour or booking a course makes more sense for you, and what to sort out before your first lesson. Every option is taught by a DVSA-approved instructor in an automatic car; we no longer teach manual.
Automatic Driving Lessons
£37 / hour • £350 for ten
The standard car and what most pupils book. A small automatic is easier to place on a narrow terraced street and easier to park, which is most of what East London asks of you.
Automatic LessonsPrestige Car Lessons
On enquiry
A larger automatic with parking sensors, a reversing camera and a higher driving position. Mostly booked by people who already drive something similar, or who want the extra room.
Prestige LessonsWhich Car Should You Choose?
The syllabus, the examiner and the marking are identical either way. The only thing that changes is what you sit in.
Take the standard automatic at £37 an hour unless you have a specific reason not to. It is the cheaper option, the block of ten brings it down to £35, and a smaller car is the easier one to learn gap judgement and parking in when your lessons run through Mare Street traffic or the terraces off Roman Road.
Take the prestige car if you already drive, or are about to buy, something of that size, or if you are tall enough that a standard hatchback is uncomfortable for two hours. It is priced on enquiry rather than by the hour; the prestige lessons page explains why and what to send us for a quote.
You do not have to pick once and stick with it. A common pattern is the early hours in the standard car and the last few, including mock tests, in the prestige one.
Pay by the Hour, or Book a Course?
Hourly is the default and the lowest-commitment option: book two hours a week, pay after each lesson, stop whenever you want. Nothing is owed in advance.
A course makes sense when you have a deadline, or when you already know roughly how many hours you need.
- Beginner course: £37 an hour for people who have never driven, starting on quiet residential roads before anything else
- Refresher course: £41 an hour, for people who already hold a full licence and have not driven for a while
- Intensive course: from £1,229 for 30 hours or £1,580 for 40, spread over weeks rather than months
- Mock test: £50 for a full rehearsal on your own test-centre routes, marked as an examiner would mark it, with a fault-by-fault debrief
Switching is straightforward. Plenty of pupils start hourly, find out how quickly they are picking it up, and only then decide whether an intensive is worth booking.
Prices at a Glance
- Automatic driving lesson: £37 an hour
- Block of ten automatic hours: £350, which is £35 an hour
- Prestige car lessons: on enquiry
- Refresher lesson for full licence holders: £41 an hour
- Mock driving test: £50
- Intensive course: from £1,229 for 30 hours, £1,580 for 40
Payment is by cash or bank transfer; we do not take cards. There is no registration fee and no charge for pick-up or drop-off inside our coverage area, so the hourly rate is the whole cost. Full breakdown on the prices page.
Why Every Lesson Is Automatic
We used to teach manual and stopped. With no clutch and no gear changes there is nothing to stall, and the attention that would have gone on your left foot goes on mirrors, positioning and reading the road instead.
The trade-off is real and you should know it before you book. An automatic licence is what you come away with, and it does not let you drive a manual. Getting manual entitlement afterwards means starting again with a manual school and a second practical test.
What that licence does and does not let you drive is set out in full on the automatic lessons page, along with what a lesson looks like hour by hour and how many hours people typically need.
The Three East London Test Centres
Whichever lessons you take, you will be tested at one of three DVSA centres, and they are not equally forgiving.
- Wanstead, on the A113 between Wanstead and Snaresbrook. A 44.4% pass rate overall and 42.1% in automatic cars, the strongest of the three, though Charlie Brown’s Roundabout and the A406 North Circular still decide most tests. There is no on-site parking, so tests start from nearby residential roads.
- Goodmayes, at 98 Goodmayes Road in Ilford. A 43.7% pass rate overall and 41.5% in automatic cars, leaning on the A12, the A13 and the Seven Kings junction.
- Chingford, north of Walthamstow: a 39.9% pass rate overall and 38.3% in automatic cars, the hardest of the three, taking in the A112 Chingford Mount Road, Larkshall Road and the North Circular.
We teach the routes around whichever centre you are booked at, so the roundabouts, box junctions and timed bus lanes on your route are ones you have driven several times before the examiner ever sits next to you.
Each centre above has a page here on its routes, its parking and what tends to catch people out: Wanstead, Goodmayes and Chingford.
How to Get Started
Three things, in this order. Apply for your provisional licence at gov.uk if you do not hold one, and check you are 17 or over. Call 07706 876263 or email info@wharfdrivingschool.co.uk with your postcode and the days you are free, and we will match you to an instructor who covers it.
Then start revising for the theory test, because you cannot book a practical without a theory pass and the East London centres book out weeks ahead.
You do not need the theory pass to start lessons, so there is no reason to wait. Bring your provisional licence to the first one, which your instructor has to see, and wear flat shoes with a thin sole so you can feel the pedals.
If you want to read what pupils say before you ring, we hold 5.0 from 48 Google reviews on our Google Business Profile; the 40 reproduced on this site are the ones we have permission to publish.
Driving Lessons FAQs
How much are driving lessons in East London?
Automatic lessons are £37 an hour, or £350 for a block of ten hours, which works out at £35 an hour. Refresher hours for people who already hold a licence are £41. A mock test is £50. Prestige car lessons are priced on enquiry. Payment is by cash or bank transfer.
Do you teach manual driving lessons?
No. We teach in automatic cars only. Passing in an automatic gives you an automatic licence, which covers automatic vehicles. With electric and hybrid cars, almost all of them automatic, now the norm on London roads, that covers the overwhelming majority of what you will realistically drive.
Should I pay by the hour or book a course?
Hourly suits most people: £37 an hour, paid after each lesson, nothing committed beyond the next one. A course is worth it if you have a deadline or already know roughly how many hours you need. An intensive starts at £1,229 for 30 hours; a refresher is £41 an hour for full licence holders. You can start hourly and switch later.
Where do you pick up from?
Home, work or a station, anywhere in our East London coverage area, at no extra charge. We run seven days a week between 7am and 10pm, so early mornings before work and late evenings after a shift are both possible. Tell us the address that suits you each week.
Which test centre will I be sent to?
One of three: Wanstead on the A113, Goodmayes at 98 Goodmayes Road in Ilford, or Chingford north of Walthamstow. Which one depends on where you live and what slots are free. We teach the routes around whichever centre you are booked at.
How do I book and how do I pay?
Call 07706 876263 or email info@wharfdrivingschool.co.uk. We will ask where you are, what your experience is and when you are free, then match you with an instructor. Payment is by cash or bank transfer, with no joining fee and nothing to pay up front beyond the lesson itself.
Driving Lessons Across East London
Start with your own area. Each page below is the overview for that patch: what we charge, where we can collect you, which test centre you are likely to be sent to and how far away it is, and links through to the automatic, prestige, beginner, refresher and intensive pages for the same area.
Tower Hamlets & the Docklands: test at Wanstead or Goodmayes
Hackney, Shoreditch & the City Fringe: test at Wanstead
Newham & Stratford: test at Wanstead or Goodmayes
Waltham Forest & Redbridge: test at Wanstead, Chingford or Goodmayes
Barking & South of the River: test at Goodmayes or Wanstead
Redbridge & the Roding Valley: test at Wanstead, Goodmayes or Chingford
Barking, Dagenham & Havering: test at Goodmayes
Book a Driving LessonReviewed and updated August 2026 by the Wharf Driving School team.