From £1,229 for 30 hours, an intensive course in Old Street compresses months of lessons into days. It finishes with a mock test before your Wanstead slot. What most learners here need time on is the rebuilt Old Street 'Silicon Roundabout', now a signalised junction rather than a gyratory, feeding the busy City Road and Great Eastern Street, which shapes how the lessons are ordered. Lessons start wherever suits you across EC1V, at home, at work or at college, and there is no charge for the pick-up. Seven days a week, 7am to 10pm, anywhere in EC1V, settled by cash or bank transfer at the end of the hour.
Thinking about intensive driving course in Old Street? Here's what we do, what it costs and how quickly we can start.
The Old Street junction switched to two-way running in 2021 and the rebuild finished in 2024, so multi-lane signal discipline is the key local skill. We collect you anywhere in EC1V, and work up towards the Wanstead routes from there. There is more background on intensive driving course if you want the general picture first, or you can see everything we teach in Old Street on one page.
The junction outside Old Street station is signalised now, not a gyratory, and cycles run on their own phase. City Road and Goswell Road both feed into it, so a fortnight of full days means you read that phasing dozens of times rather than twice. Great Eastern Street brings you in on another approach again, which is where a compressed course earns its keep.
At a Glance in Old Street
Why Old Street Learners Get Something Different
From Old Street, Wanstead is 10km and around half an hour, so the course is built in long blocks. The upside is that the rebuilt junction outside your door teaches something no test route does: signals that run cycles and vehicles on separate phases, which takes several sessions to read properly.
City Road and Goswell Road are close to unusable between eight and ten, so morning starts here are pushed back to about half past ten. That also means the outbound run to Wanstead falls after the peak. Bath Street and Peerless Street get the reversing work in before the day's longer drive.
Working Up to Test Standard in Old Street
Bay parking and reversing happen on Bath Street and Peerless Street, since nothing beside the junction offers a safe kerb. The daily work is stopping short of the segregated cycle track on City Road rather than across it. Great Eastern Street adds lane holding when buses stack up, and Wanstead comes later asking the opposite: speed, not signal reading.
By the end you should clear the Old Street junction without a prompt, in the right lane and on the right phase. The run out to Wanstead changes the job entirely, from reading signals every hundred metres to holding position where nothing prompts you at all.
The Old Street Specifics
The congestion charge boundary runs along Old Street and Great Eastern Street. That is a planning problem rather than a driving one, but it decides where forty hours can sensibly go. Blocks here are built to work north and east, on City Road, Goswell Road and the Bath Street grid, rather than crossing south into the zone and paying for the privilege on every single day of the course.
The car meets you on Bath Street, because nothing on City Road allows a wait. Reversing and pull-ups go in first around Peerless Street, then City Road northbound while the peak is still draining away. The junction itself comes mid-morning, several circuits from different approaches including Great Eastern Street. The long leg east towards Wanstead follows, and the block ends back near St Luke's.
Two groups book here and they want different fortnights. Studio and office staff on the City Road side take leave months ahead and hold their dates rigidly, which is exactly what a block needs.
Residents of the St Luke's flats off Bath Street book late and loosely, usually once a family reason has forced the issue, and they are the ones who gain most from starting the hours before a test date is confirmed rather than after.
A Second Angle on Intensive Driving Course in Old Street
Office hours dictate the shape of the block. City Road is unusable at nine and again at five, so blocks here run half ten to half two or start at seven, and several clients take annual leave in two chunks rather than one. Sessions can start from an office address as easily as a flat, provided we have a legal kerb.
The obvious complaint from EC1V is paying for time spent reaching Wanstead. It is a real cost and long blocks are the only honest answer. Some clients cut it by starting sessions from an address further east, and we would rather say so than bill the mileage.
What We Spend the Most Time Correcting in Old Street
Most of what costs Old Street learners marks starts with the rebuilt Old Street 'Silicon Roundabout', now a signalised junction rather than a gyratory, feeding the busy City Road and Great Eastern Street.
Closer to Wanstead a different habit costs people: choosing the wrong lane on the approach to Charlie Brown's and having to correct inside the roundabout. The Wanstead marks come off the dual carriageways, not the reversing exercise, so that is where the hours go.
Nothing exotic: the quieter streets just north of the junction around Bath Street and Peerless Street for the slow-speed work, then repeated full routes until the day itself is unremarkable. The trade-off is worth having: reading traffic lights that run cycles and vehicles on different phases, which most junctions never test.
What Old Street Learners Say
“Ali was my instructor, a tremendous guy and a great teacher. I passed well before reaching the recommended 40 hours of practice with him.”
“Coming from North America, Ali helped prepare me for the test here in the UK. He showed me what I needed to know for the practical exam and helped me understand what I needed to pass.”
Your Next Step in Old Street
Ready to begin? Ring or message 07706 876263, or send us a quick enquiry online. We'll pair you with the right instructor for Old Street and book your first session around your schedule. We will also point you at the Wanstead centre page so the routes are familiar before you drive them.
Intensive Driving Course in Old Street: FAQs
Which Old Street roads will I be driving?
Mostly City Road and Old Street and the residential streets around them, with manoeuvre practice somewhere calm. The demanding part locally is the rebuilt Old Street 'Silicon Roundabout', now a signalised junction rather than a gyratory, feeding the busy City Road and Great Eastern Street.
Does an intensive course from Old Street waste time getting to the test centre?
Some, and we are straightforward about it. Wanstead is 10km out, roughly 24 to 32 minutes, so short bookings would be poor value. Four- and five-hour blocks fix that, and we schedule the outbound leg after the morning peak so it takes closer to 24 minutes than 32.
Is it cheaper to book several lessons at once?
Ten hours booked together is £350 rather than £37 an hour. There's no obligation to start that way; plenty of people take a single hour first.
Will I be driving inside the congestion charge zone on my course?
Rarely, and never by accident. The boundary sits on Old Street and Great Eastern Street, so the block is routed north up City Road and Goswell Road, and the leg east clears the zone within a few minutes of setting off. If a session genuinely needs to cross it, you are told before the day rather than after it.
Can I fit an intensive course around a full-time job near Old Street?
Yes, though not as a series of evening hours. Wanstead is 10km away, so short slots after work are poor value. What works is two blocks of annual leave with a normal week between them, or half ten starts on flexible days. Tell us your fixed commitments first and the diary is built round them.
What if thirty hours is not enough by the time my test comes?
You buy them at the normal hourly rate, and we flag it early rather than on the last day. The Old Street signal phasing is what usually adds hours, because it is a habit rather than a skill. City Road at five is where it shows. Most people who need more need four to six, not another block.
What Else Runs in Old Street
Each of these runs in Old Street too, with the same free pick-up and the same Wanstead route practice.
Intensive Driving Course Across East London
Our Old Street instructors cover these neighbouring areas too, without changing anything about your lessons:
Related Pages
Book the coursePrices and Wanstead route details reviewed August 2026 by the Wharf Driving School team.