Learner drivers in the UK are increasingly turning to YouTube and TikTok for driving tutorials due to high costs of formal lessons, which average £35 to £50 per hour with learners needing around 45 hours of instruction. Megan Kielthy, who recently passed her test, found online resources helpful but also encountered misleading information that could confuse other learners. The Driving Instructors Association warns that while digital education can be beneficial, it should complement practical lessons for safety reasons, as the total cost to learn to drive has risen to £2,460 since 2020.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
- Published
Learner drivers say they are turning to online tutorials to help with the cost of obtaining a driving licence.
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they → publish → licence
Driving lessons in the UK are now about £35 to £50, according to the RAC, with the average learner needing 45 hours of lessons and a further 22 hours of practice.
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learner → accord → practice
Megan Kielthy, who passed her driving test in August, said social media videos "definitely" saved her money, but she also had seen AI-generated images and misinformation that she had warned could confuse learners.
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she → pass → learners
The Driving Instructors Association (DIA) said while digital education could be "excellent" it should go "hand in hand" with practical lessons, and that road safety was a matter of "life and death".
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safety → say → life
Megan, 18, opted for a trainee instructor to save money but said learning to drive had still cost her more than £1,000.
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learning → opt → 1,000
She earns £10 an hour babysitting, which she said had gone towards her £30 lessons alongside help from her parents.
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she → earn → parents
"I don't think that I would have been able to do it without the financial support from my parents," she said.
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she → think → parents
"I found that having access to YouTube allowed me to cut costs.
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me → find → costs
I would learn all the content with my instructor but then I was able to revisit content and then if there was something in a YouTube video that I didn't know, that I didn't fully understand, I was able to go back to my instructor and ask him."
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I → learn → him
She added: "I had part of high school online because of Covid so I already knew how to use recorded content for learning so it felt very natural for me."
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it → add → me
Megan warned that not all of the content she had seen online had been helpful.
"
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she → warn → content
I stumbled across an AI image of a roundabout showing which lane to be in for the exit and it just made no sense.
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it → stumble → sense
I showed it to my driving instructor and he agreed it was ridiculous.
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it → show → instructor
"If people solely relied on online content it could lead to people going on their test unprepared or misinformed of what they're going to experience on their test and driving after."
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they → rely → test
The total cost of learning to drive is about £2,460, according to the DIA, a rise of more than £570 since 2020, external.
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cost → learn → 2020
Learners also need to pay for a theory test at £23, a practical test at £65 and temporary driving insurance in personal cars which can cost £40-£50 a month.
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which → need → 40-£50
Betsi Seward, 18, is currently learning to drive alongside studying at college and working part-time.
"
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Seward → learn → college
I am lucky I have a part-time job and can afford to fund it myself but if I didn't, it would be so difficult," she said.
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she → have → it
"Over the last couple of months my whole TikTok and Instagram is just people learning to drive.
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TikTok → learn → months
It's like my algorithm knows, it's quite scary," she said.
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she → know → ?
"I find them helpful.
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them → find → ?
I was practicing how to do an emergency stop and I was watching videos on how to do that and
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I → practice → that
it really helped to see like where to put my foot on the clutch and stuff like that."
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it → help → that
But Betsi said not all the content she had seen was helpful.
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she → say → ?
"When you post people making mistakes, that is what is going to get the attention and interaction," she said.
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she → post → attention
She said there were also "random accounts of people using AI to generate mock tests like the routes... and it's obviously not real.
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it → say → routes
"But then if you're just learning to drive and you haven't had a few lessons, you wouldn't know that and it's quite scary actually, because if you take that information into the car with you and it's wrong, then it's quite dangerous actually and quite scary."
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it → learn → you
Savannah Jones, 20, from Cardiff, who works in childcare, passed her driving test in June.
Her dad paid for her lessons, which totalled about £2,000.
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which → work → 2,000
He was very chuffed when I passed first time," she said.
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she → pass → time
"I was watching a few YouTube videos.
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I → watch → videos
I saw a lot of TikToks.
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I → see → TikToks
It was very much most of my algorithm was learning to drive, tips and tricks.
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most → learn → algorithm
"I think it could help someone cut the cost but not for me personally.
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someone → think → me
I would watch to understand it a bit more and apply that when learning."
'It needs to be used responsibly'
John Reynolds has been a driving instructor for 13 years and started making his own social media videos last year.
These include clips showing test routes, common mistakes and videos of manoeuvres.
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These → watch → manoeuvres
"I started making short videos for learner drivers to actually learn something outside of driving lessons and to learn things which they need to know for the driving test," he said.
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he → start → test
"I also do long videos on YouTube so people who can't afford driving lessons have got the opportunity to find out the correct way to do things for the test.
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who → do → test
"So by doing these extra lessons online, it can help bring down those costs."
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it → do → costs
He said while his videos could be a useful tool, they did not mean learners should opt out of formal lessons.
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learners → say → lessons
"I know straight away [if] they have been watching another video," he said.
"
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he → know → video
I found that there was a lot of things on there where instructors would say 'this is how you do it, this is how you shouldn't do it' and being very specific to the car they're actually teaching.
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they → find → car
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
