Pathfinder Under 17 Driving

Fantastic experience: A fantastic opportunity for my daughter to begin learning to drive. The course was exceptionally well organised and proved to be a thoroughly worthwhile and enjoyable experience.

Fantastic experience: I cannot recommend this course enough to any young person between the ages of 15-17 who wants to learn to drive. The instructors were incredibly knowledgeable and patient, making every session both informative and enjoyable. The course was structured in a way that gradually built confidence and skills, from understanding the basics of vehicle control to navigating complex driving scenarios. By Friday, my son was driving a police car and a Porsche at high speeds, something we weren't expecting after driving around cones on Monday morning at 10 mph! It isn't all about the driving either. With daily briefings everyday we talked about road safety, causes of accidents and the consequences after. Every session was presented perfectly to educate and engage the young drivers. It’s a full-on and tiring week, but it’s a week we will be talking about for a long time and highly recommend to anyone wishing to learn to drive. Thank you to all the instructors at Seighford who gave up their own time to put on this brilliant week and to all the other people who came in too (I won't name them as I don't want to give all the fun away).

Fantastic experience: Brilliant course - really established a strong comprehensive foundation for driving, can not recommend enough.

Fantastic experience: This is the most incredible, engaging and truly amazing gift you can give a young person. LGBT and Neurodivergent friendly, a safe, exciting, expertly guided experience of introducing the skills and abilities one needs to be respectfully in control of a motor vehicle, building on structured skills every day. The highlights are too much to state here, though some were observing and adhering to rules of the road and awareness of other road users, prompting their possible next moves, whilst recognising the control within your own hands from turning the steering wheel correctly on day one, to expertly dealing with collision avoidance at speed and strategically manoeuvring into the tightest parking spaces. The exceptional welcoming manner of ALL staff were outstanding, with continual clear, calm and precise instruction being exemplary. Everyone was totally genuine and expertly knowledgeable and totally invested in your progression throughout, with special gratitude and respect to Tom and to Dave for their calm, courteous good humour and direction, thank you so so much, This is an absolute must for all parents to book for their offspring. Do it now!

Fantastic experience: I attended the Pathfinder course between 28 Oct 2024 to 01 Nov 2024. The short of it: In 5 days, I've gone from not driving and being quite terrified of it to driving and actively enjoying it! The course includes both theory and practice, and I recommend it to anyone looking at the somewhat daunting process of obtaining a full Driving Licence. The definitely-not-short of it: You get: your progress folder for the course, a copy of Highway code, a copy of IAM's "How to be a better driver," and a team of volunteers very invested in your success. Oh, and a pen - which you will need, but not for any tests. I'm not in the typical age group for Pathfinder, but was able to participate due to space available. Any thoughts about feeling self-conscious fled on day 1 - the lovely team of volunteers treated me exactly like other participants, and I felt welcomed and supported throughout. I've gained skills, experience, knowledge: basic mechanical checks of the car, break and avoid maneuver, reverse and parallel parking, reversing, overtaking, forward planning for road hazards, 3 point turn (box) maneuver, emergency stops, situational awareness, a ton of good practices. The course is designed to offer the experience of driving different types of vehicles. Manual? Automatic? Doesn't matter - by the end of the course, you will have driven both. But it's not just the manual vs automatic experience: I've driven several different vehicles, including a van and a police car. And still there is more! A fun mini-course on a mobility scooter has a catch: you do it wearing "drunk goggles" the second time around. Just for a very informative comparison. (Surely the cones moved?!) You climb into a lorry, sit on the driver's seat and verify with your own eyes what they can and can't see. Hint: your instinct to give lorries a wide berth is absolutely correct. You watch several cars perform an emergency stop (braking for dear life) at various speeds, illustrating actual stopping distance for each speed. It's a very good perspective to have, confirmed even by some parents I spoke to at the course. All in all: it's a packed and exhausting week. It's the best thing I've done to overcome my terror of driving. Am likely to volunteer to pay it forward. Hope to see you there!