Sheffield driving lessons are some of the most expensive in the UK with students paying £1,900 to pass on average

An analysis by Bill Plant Driving School and finance company NimbleFins claims lessons in the Steel City are some of the most expensive in the UK, clocking in at £35 a session on average, compared a nationwide hourly rate of £32 a time.

Together the average costs to then get behind the wheel for real – such as paying £60 for a practical test, £34 for a provisional licence, £23 for a theory and £250 for the first five months of learner driver insurance, and how it typically takes 44 hours of lessons to be ready for an exam – means Sheffield drivers are spending over £1,900 to get on the road. And that’s without the cost of your first car, and newly-qualified driver insurance can be over £1,000 in some parts of the UK.

The survey places Sheffield as the fourth most expensive city for learner drivers in the UK. The most expensive for Brighton & Hove at £40 a lesson. Swansea was the cheapest, at £23.50 an hour. The difference between these two cities across the average of 44 hours needed to learn how to drive is £726.

The data by NimbleFins also claims the average price per lesson in 2019 was £23 – meaning today’s prices are 47 per cent higher.

Many driving instructors offer discounts for bookings blocks of lessons – but the average amount save nationwide amounts to between six and 10 per cent.

It comes as driving examiners at centres across the country, including two sites in Sheffield, are preparing to strike over four weeks in a dispute over pay, pensions and job security.

Learner drivers are being urged to check if their practical tests across December and January have been cancelled or rescheduled as examiners join other civil servants in a wide-ranging series of strikes organised by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS union). Recent figures revealed that candidates in some areas face a wait of up to six months to get a test appointment as almost half a million learners try to secure a slot.