You must have a provisional driving licence for Great Britain or Northern Ireland to learn to drive.
You must be supervised. That can be a driving instructor or someone else who meets the rules, such as family or friends.
You must put an L plate on the front and back of your vehicle, where they can be seen easily. In Wales, you can use a D plate instead.
You can drive at any time, day or night, on single carriageways, dual carriageways, and city and country roads.
You can drive on motorways only if all of these apply:
- you’re driving in England, Scotland or Wales
- you’re with an approved driving instructor
- the car has dual controls
Practising with family or friends
Anyone who supervises your practice without being paid must:
- be over 21
- be qualified to drive the type of vehicle you are learning in (for example, they need a manual car licence to supervise you in a manual car)
- have held their full driving licence for 3 years (from the UK, the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein)
- make sure the car is in a safe and legal condition
Insurance
If you practise in a car you own, you need your own insurance as a learner driver. Your family member or friend will usually be covered on it.
If you practise in someone else’s car, you need to either:
- make sure the car owner’s insurance policy covers you as a learner driver
- take out your own policy that covers you as a learner driver in that car
Some insurance companies require the person supervising you to be over 25.
The LearnerBrake system can help you reduce the risk of an accident and make practice a much better learning experience.