Terms & Conditions

Last updated: 18 June 2026

These terms are the basis on which Wharf Driving School provides driving lessons and courses. Booking a lesson means you accept them. They are written to be read, not skimmed past, so if anything here is unclear, ring us before you book rather than after.

Booking & Payment

• You can book by phone, by email or through the contact form on this website. We will confirm the instructor, the time and the pick-up point before the first lesson.
• We teach in automatic cars only. Manual tuition has been discontinued, so every booking is an automatic lesson in a dual-controlled automatic car.
• Current prices: automatic and beginner lessons £37 an hour, or £350 for a block of ten hours; refresher lessons £41 an hour; a mock test with debrief £50; intensive courses from £1,229 for 30 hours or £1,580 for 40 hours; prestige and motorway lessons priced on enquiry. The full list is on our prices page.
• There is no joining fee, no registration charge and no charge for pick-up. The hourly rate covers the car, the fuel, the insured tuition and the travel to reach you.
• Payment is by cash or bank transfer. We do not take card payments. Single hours can be settled at the lesson; blocks of ten and intensive courses are payable in advance unless we agree otherwise with you.
• Prices change from time to time. The price we confirm when you book is the price for that booking, and hours already paid for are not repriced.

Where and When We Teach

We are a service-area business. There are no premises and no office to visit: your instructor drives to you and the hour begins at your door, or at your workplace or college if that suits you better. We cover 51 areas across East London and the City (the full list is on our areas covered page) and the rate is the same wherever in them you are.

We teach seven days a week, from 7am to 10pm, bank holidays included. Standard lessons are one or two hours. The pick-up and drop-off points are agreed in advance, not decided on the day, and we will not change them without your agreement.

Cancellations & Rescheduling

Plans change. If you need to move or cancel a lesson, tell us as early as you can so the slot can go to someone else.

We ask for at least 48 hours’ notice to cancel or reschedule without charge. A lesson cancelled with less notice, or missed with no notice at all, may be charged in full, because a slot that empties the day before usually cannot be filled. We are reasonable about genuine emergencies, but 48 hours is the standard, and it applies to lessons inside a block as well as to single hours.

If we have to cancel a lesson (illness, a car off the road, weather that makes tuition unsafe), you are not charged, and we will offer you the earliest replacement slot we have.

Lateness & No-Shows

Please be ready at the agreed time and place. Your instructor will wait a reasonable time and try to reach you; after that the lesson may be treated as a no-show and charged. A lesson that starts late usually cannot be extended, because the hour after yours belongs to another pupil.

What We Need From You

To take a lesson you must:

• hold a valid UK provisional or full driving licence, and bring it if we ask to see it;
• meet the eyesight standard, which means reading a number plate at the required distance;
• be fit to drive, and not under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any medication that affects your driving;
• tell us about any medical condition that could affect your driving, and make the DVLA declaration yourself where the law requires one: that duty sits with the licence holder and a driving school cannot discharge it on your behalf.

A lesson can be ended without refund if you are not fit to drive or you behave unsafely. Telling us about a disability, health condition or additional need is different: that is welcome, it is covered by our Accessibility Statement, and it helps us teach you properly.

Pupils Under 18

Lessons can begin on your 17th birthday. A booking for anyone not yet 18 needs a parent or guardian to know about it and agree to it, and we are happy to confirm times, pick-up points, payment and progress with that adult. Our Safeguarding Policy sets out how those lessons are handled.

Changing Instructor

You can ask for a different instructor at any time, for any reason, and you do not have to explain why. Hours already bought stay yours and transfer to the new instructor. A request for a male or female instructor is one we will meet where the rota allows, and we would rather say no plainly than leave you waiting; see our Equality & Diversity Policy for the full position.

Driving Tests & Use of Our Car

Where you have trained with us, you can usually use our car for your practical test for a small additional charge, provided your instructor agrees you are at test standard. That judgement is about your driving and nothing else; we will not put you in for a test we do not think you are ready for.

The DVSA’s own test fee is separate and paid by you directly to the DVSA. We are not responsible for tests the DVSA cancels, moves or reschedules, and we cannot refund a DVSA fee.

Liability

Our cars are fully insured for tuition. Nothing in these terms limits our liability where it would be unlawful to limit it, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence. Otherwise we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for events outside our reasonable control.

Conduct

Lessons are a professional appointment and instructors are held to the standards in our Safeguarding Policy. The same respect runs the other way: we may decline or end tuition where there is abusive, threatening, discriminatory or unsafe behaviour towards an instructor. If that happens we will tell you why, and any unused hours are handled under our refund policy.

Your Information

What we hold about you, why, and how long for is set out in our Privacy Policy. What this website does and does not put on your device is in our Cookie Policy.

Complaints & Refunds

If something goes wrong we would rather hear about it. Our Complaints & Refund Policy explains how to raise a concern, how quickly we respond, how refunds on unused hours work, and how to escalate to the DVSA if our answer does not satisfy you.

Governing Law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of its courts. Nothing here affects your statutory rights as a consumer, including under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.